Vodafone brand has been contributing to Turkish sports in many areas recently. How does it position itself as a brand in this field?
We are a brand that embraces society through sports. We have been investing in sports, which is the unifier of societies, for many years, with the aim of our brand adding value to social development as well as economic development in our country. We believe that the support we provide to both mass participation and specialized events makes our brand stronger and aligns our brand values with the values of the society. In this context, we see volleyball sponsorship as a new step that will strengthen our brand in Turkey and ensure greater integration of our brand with society.
Which institutions are sponsored by Vodafone and are you satisfied with the feedback?
To date, we have supported sports with long-term sponsorships in areas such as marathon, football and e-sports. The most comprehensive of these is our cooperation with Beşiktaş JK in the field of football, which has continued for more than 10 years. We have left behind a successful sponsorship process that includes men’s and women’s football teams, as well as the stadium name and smart communication infrastructure. Additionally, we have sponsored marathons for many years. We organized the Vodafone Istanbul Marathon and Vodafone Istanbul Half Marathon together with Spor Istanbul. We have also taken important steps in the field of esports in recent years. We have carried out various league and team sponsorships with institutions such as Bahçeşehir SuperMassive Esports, Riot Games, Turkish Esports Federation, Lokum Games, FUT Esports. Our FUT Esports collaboration still continues. We have successfully completed all our sponsorships. We now bring our strong experience in sports sponsorship to the field of volleyball and support women’s volleyball.
How much budget do you allocate and do you have any special requests from the institutions you sponsor?
We do not make sponsorships from a commercial perspective. We aim to achieve stronger and more meaningful work by blending our sponsorships with projects that make a difference and add value. We aim to create value in the areas we sponsor with our communication and promotional activities. We support our sponsorships with a strong marketing and communication plan that reaches large audiences. As a result of these efforts, we became the first brand that comes to mind in GfK’s research on sports sponsorships.
What do you pay attention to when choosing the areas you support?
We attach importance to sponsorships that will add value to both our brand and our country and direct people to sports. Of course, while doing this, we make sure that the sponsorship relationship coincides with our company vision. We take care to make sponsorships that will bring our brand values together with the values of the society. Sponsorships that support our goal of reaching large audiences while encouraging our people to engage in sports and healthy living are a priority for us.
You signed a sponsorship agreement with the Turkish Volleyball Federation. Türkiye has achieved great success, especially in volleyball. What would you like to say about Turkish volleyball?
According to GfK’s sports sponsorship research, women’s volleyball is the second most followed branch among all sports branches with 58%. 67% of women and 49% of men follow women’s volleyball. According to consumers, women’s volleyball is one of the sports branches in which Turkey is most successful with 72%. As these figures show, as a country, we are extremely successful in volleyball; We have successes at the international level. We need to announce these successes to wider audiences, raise our voices, so to speak, and do this with a sustainable understanding. As Vodafone, we want to be one of the brands that constantly support volleyball and make women’s volleyball, which is closely followed by sports fans, known to a wider audience. On the other hand, the success story of our female volleyball players inspires us all and deserves to be known to a wider audience. We want to bring this light and inspiration spread by them to every segment of society. With this understanding, we became the Title Sponsor of the Sultans League and the Main Sponsor of the Turkish Women’s Volleyball National Teams. Our main goal is to provide the best support to our National Women’s Volleyball Team, which ranks first in the world with its achievements, and to the Vodafone Sultans League, where the most successful volleyball players in the world compete.
After women’s football, you also support women’s volleyball. Is there a reason why you are particularly drawn to women’s sports?
We are a company that has given importance to the empowerment of women since the first day and has carried out exemplary work in this direction. We stand by women in every field. We believe that the sexist structure embedded in society and reflected in sports must change. We aim to show that women also exist in fields that are generally identified with men and thought to be male-dominated, and to break the sexist perception. With this understanding, we supported Beşiktaş female football players for 11 years as breast and title sponsors. Now we support women’s volleyball with the same understanding. Our female volleyball players are one of the best proofs that sports have no gender. With their success, they managed to break gender stereotypes. They showed the world how successful women can be if they are supported by constructive and rational instruments. We proudly stand by our successful and inspiring female athletes.