HSBC woos female golfers

Hong Kong - As female golfers are readying to tee off at the inaugural HSBC Women's Champions next week, the bank shares how sponsoring golf forms a key part of its brand strategy.

Giles Morgan, group head of sponsorship for HSBC, said the company's aim of sponsoring golf is to make the game more relevant and accessible to more people.

He said that in 2007, HSBC has staged more than 300 golf events in more than 25 countries.

"We believe that golf is a key platform in our brand strategy, both in Asia and globally".

This year, HSBC Champions has extended its golf sponsorship to include women, with the first Women's Champions to be held in Singapore at Tanah Merah at the end of this month.

"As a bank, we are great believers in sexual equality and it was important to us that we offered a similar opportunity in the women's game, hence the birth of the HSBC Women's Champions", Morgan said.

An Asia Pacific wide marketing campaign to promote the Women's Champions has already kicked off with creatives developed by JWT and media buying and planning duties handled by Mindshare.