| The recent sterling success by Kenya at the 17th Africa Athletics Championships and the World Junior Championships was not just the apex but the end of a long chain.
And just as Rome was not built in a day, neither did the winning local athletes hit the peack in a short time.
The sterling performance witnessed in Nairobi was the end of a process that began some time back through good preparation and molding of talent and sponsors which such as the National Bank of Kenya (NBK), New KCC and Safaricom deserve due credit.
Last year, NBK sponsored all youth activities in athletics in a Sh16m agreement and was handsomely rewarded when the Kenya team for World Youth Championships in Bresanonne, Italy won the event. The feat was repeated at this year’s World Junior Championships in Moncton, Canada with seven gold medals just days before the continental event.
The success in Nairobi that saw Kenya bag the overall title with a record 10 gold medals is also as a result of the New KCC Athletics Tour, started four years ago to identify talent.
The key factors in the decision making process of offering sponsorships are cost, the likelihood of product image enhancement, resulting in increased sales, and the likelihood of a significant amount of positive media exposure.
At the 17th Africa Senior Athletics Championships, Safaricom was the title sponsor with a donation of Sh23.5 million, while NBK donated Sh20m, Samsung Sh8m, New KCC Sh3.5m and East Africa Breweries Limited Sh2m.
All the sponsors earned value for their money through signage at the five-day event, local and international media coverage, promotional opportunities before and after the event, and the opportunity of entertaining clients and prospective customers
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