Vodafone 2008 Annual Report Download - page 25

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1,150
Number of directly
owned stores
6,500
Number of branded stores
Sponsorships
Vodafone’s global sponsorship strategy has delivered a strong
set of results across all Vodafone markets. Central sponsorship
agreements, including the UEFA Champions League and the title
sponsorship of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 team, have
supported multiple business objectives and enabled Vodafone to
provide customers with differentiating brand and product
experiences.
The strong performance of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1
team during the 2007 season enabled Vodafone to maintain a
dominant presence in one of the world’s most popular annual
sporting events. Vodafone successfully integrated the
sponsorship into a wide variety of business activities including
communications, events, content and the launch of three
bespoke handsets.
In Vodafone’s first year as a sponsor of the UEFA Champions
League, Vodafone became recognised as a leading sponsor of
the competition (Source: TNS Soccerscope, May 2007) and used
this association to showcase a variety of products and services
in a manner designed to build greater affinity with football fans
across all relevant territories.
In January 2008, Vodafone became a global partner of the
Laureus Foundation, which tackles various social challenges
worldwide through a programme of sports related community
development initiatives. This agreement complements
Vodafone’s long standing relationship with sport and aims
to help Laureus to use sport as a catalyst for inspiring positive
social change.
To maintain a relevant and strategic role for global sponsorship
investments, Vodafone is continually reviewing the portfolio to
maintain pace with business and customer needs. On this basis,
Vodafone has decided to discontinue the UEFA Champions League
sponsorship at the end of the 2008/9 competition and increase
emphasis in global music opportunities. Music’s broad appeal
and product relevance provides a host of new and exciting
opportunities for the business and the Group’s customers.
Distribution
Direct distribution
Vodafone directly owns and manages over 1,150 stores. These
stores sell services to new customers, renew or upgrade services
for existing customers, and in many cases also provide customer
support. A standard store format, which was tested in 2006, was
rolled out in 11 markets during the 2008 financial year. The store
footprint is constantly reviewed in response to market conditions
which resulted in, for example, Vodafone opening a further
90 stores in Spain and 21 stores in Romania during the year.
Additionally, all stores in India were rebranded as Vodafone and
over 40 stores were refurbished to the Group’s standard format.
The Group also has 6,500 Vodafone branded stores, which sell
Vodafone products and services exclusively, by way of franchise
and exclusive dealer arrangements.
The internet is a key channel to promote and sell Vodafone’s
products and services and to provide customers with an easy,
user friendly and accessible way to manage their Vodafone
services and access support. As a result, a specific Group wide
programme is currently being rolled out across all controlled
markets, in order to ensure Vodafone websites have state of
the art online capabilities and provide the customer with an
excellent and consistent online experience.
Additionally, in most operating companies, sales forces are
in place to sell directly to business customers and some
consumer segments.
Indirect distribution
The extent of indirect distribution varies between markets but
may include using third party service providers, independent
dealers, distributors and retailers.
The Group hosts MVNOs in a number of markets. These are
operators who buy access to existing networks and resell
that access to customers under a different brand name and
proposition. Where appropriate, Vodafone seeks to enter
mutually profitable relationships with MVNO partners as
an additional route to market. During the past year new
relationships established include Asda in the UK, Euskaltel
in Spain and Carrefour in Italy.
Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2008 23