An association with football is a powerful one for Castrol who believe that it offers a strong business logic, as well as re-enforcing the Castrol brand values and positioning. The connection between Castrol and an event such as UEFA EURO 2008 is set to provide additional access to the massive football target audience worldwide, which overlaps strongly with the brand’s own 45 million engine oil customers. UEFA Euro 2008 is seen as a platform that will allow Castrol to communicate with the European and international sporting audience, as well as reflecting its position as the pre-eminent global motor oil brand.
Castrol welcomes the opportunity provided by the sponsorship agreement to highlight their product strengths and fierce brand competitiveness, within the exciting atmosphere of sporting passion. The partnership with UEFA EURO 2008 provides an ideal showcase to project the brands’ commitment to the values of passion, technical progress, performance and teamwork that it shares with football.
Roy Williamson, European Marketing Director, said:
” Our new relationship with football via UEFA EURO 2008 will give Castrol the opportunity to develop business building opportunities in a way that will add value to our business partners, excite and reward our consumers and motivate staff.” He continued:
“Expect Castrol to be innovative. Our intention is to bring something completely new to the football experience in a way that adds value, and informs and engages fans. Our commitment as a new sponsor is to be a partner to football in a way that enhances still further the incredible 2008 UEFA European Championship experience and spectacle.”
Lars-Christer Olsson, UEFA CEO, said:
“We welcome Castrol as a new sponsor to our global family supporting the UEFA European Football Championship. The addition of Castrol proves what a strong property the UEFA EURO has become in the global sports market. It is the second biggest sporting event globally in terms of TV viewers and continues to attract massive participation and involvement from fans and non-fans alike, drawn to the drama and excitement that comes with top national team football.”
Castrol’s world class expertise and engine oil technology means it is recommended by the worlds leading car manufacturers, commended by experts and trusted by over 100 million customers. Built on a history of technical innovation over the past 100 years, no other motor oil company or sponsor throughout history has displayed a stronger or more successful commitment to the Land Speed Record than Castrol. Castrol drivers and cars have been at the forefront of motor sport (http://www.castrol.com/castrol/genericsection.do?categoryId=82915260&contentId=6008945 ) and record-breaking competition for more than 75 years.
Castrol is part of BP and is the market and technical leader for specialised industrial and car engine oil lubricants (http://www.castrol.com/castrol/subsection.do?categoryId=82915271&contentId=6031207 ) for the retail consumer. Castrol is the market leader in marine lubricants and a key player in the aviation and commercial vehicles market. It is also the third largest marketer of lubricants worldwide.
The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2008, will take place in Austria and Switzerland, from 7 June to 29 June 2008. It is the second successful joint bid in the competition’s history, alongside the 2000 European Football Championship, hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands. Austria and Switzerland will automatically qualify as hosts. The remaining 14 teams will be determined in a qualifying tournament that started in August 2006.
The two countries jointly bid to host the games, and faced major competition from Greece/Turkey, Scotland/Ireland, Russia, Hungary and Croatia/Bosnia-Herzegovina. Austria had already bid with another country before, which was Hungary for Euro 2004. They had eventually lost to Portugal.
Austria/Switzerland, Greece/Turkey, and Hungary were recommended before the final vote. Greece and Turkey were rejected and let Hungary and Austria/Switzerland battle for the win.
Switzerland will play all of its group-stage matches at Basel, and Austria will play all of its group-stage matches at Vienna.
In 2004, the Zürich venue became a problem for the organisers. Originally, the Hardturm stadium was to be renovated and used as the city’s venue, but legal challenges delayed the plan to a point that would not have allowed the ground to be used in 2008. This created a problem, as the agreement between UEFA and the organizers stipulated that four venues would be used in each country. The problem was solved when the organizers proposed renovating Letzigrund instead; UEFA approved the revised plan in January 2005. The Letzigrund stadium will be ready in late 2006.
The draw for the UEFA EURO 2008â„¢ qualifying round took place in Montreux, Switzerland on 27 January 2006 at 12:00 CET.
The qualifying process commenced a month after the 2006 World Cup. Austria and Switzerland have already qualified for the tournament finals as host nations.
The qualifying format has been changed compared to previous tournaments. The winners and runners-up from seven groups will automatically qualify for the Championship, with the hosts filling the other two slots in the 16-team tournament. The change means there will be no play-offs between teams finishing in second place in the groups – they will qualify directly for the finals. Teams finishing in third place will not have any further opportunity to qualify. Six of the qualifying groups contain seven teams, and the other eight.
In December 2002, UEFA announced that Austria and Switzerland would jointly host the 2008 tournament, fighting off 7 other bids including another joint bid from Scotland and Ireland. It will be the 2nd time that the tournament has been joint hosted, the previous time was in 2000 by Belgium and Holland.
The finals will run from 7th – 29th June 2008 and the qualifying games will start on 16th August 2006.
Before the finals, 14 teams out of 50 will be competing to qualify. 16 teams will take part in the tournament with Austria and Switzerland qualifying as host nations. Anyone who has every seen Austria or Switzerland play at home will not be surprised at the passion shown by supporters in these countries. The Euro 2008 Championships is sure to be a success.
The first European Football Championships was held in 1960. Only 4 teams took part in the finals which were held in France. Since then the European Football Championships tournament grew to the 16 team format we will see in Austria-Switzerland during Euro 2008. The tournament was originally called the European Nations Cup and changed it’s name in 1968.