Great input and four-year continuous efforts by Philips, the Netherlands electronics giant, in China's university soccer development have paid off.

Nearly 50 percent of college students nationwide know the Philips-sponsored China University Football League, which has become the No 1 university sports game and has attracted nearly 10 million young students since it was launched in 2000, according to an independent survey commissioned by Philips Electronics China Group.

"We cherish the youth market because we want to take root in the future China's most influential group, which is a reflection of Philips' long-term strategy in China," David Chang, chief executive officer of Philips Electronics China, said in the capital city of central China's Hubei Province on Saturday, before the final of the men's soccer Fourth China University Football League kicked off.

Before shifting its strategy to foster the youth market, the group had sponsored the Chinese Professional Football League championship for six years from 1995 as an effective way to quickly promote its brand in the world's most populous country tied to the Chinese people's enthusiasm for soccer, Chang said.

The charm of the youth market is in that the university students eventually becoming potential consumers of Philips. They were a great consumption power, potential business partners and valuable talents that could share their wisdom and knowledge with Philips's, all vital to the group's long-term development in China, he said.

Philips' target youth market in China is so big that it's estimated there are at least 15 million university students in the Chinese campuses as a result of the country's policy of allowing more youngsters to receive undergraduate education.

"It's hard to measure the effect of our efforts in developing university soccer in quantity, but we know the group has benefited and will benefit from it directly and indirectly," Chang said.

According to a global survey commissioned by Philips to find out brand recognition of the transnational companies among university students, in the China market, it found that a growing number of students wished to work for Philips after graduating, pushing the group's rank in a long line of multinational companies into the top 10 from the previous 20 or 30 places, said Chang, who attributed the gain partly to Philips' involvement in university soccer.

The input, though he is reluctant to reveal the exact amount, is always on the rise along with the expansion of the game. It mainly includes the sponsorship fees and promotional costs.

Nearly 400 male university soccer teams from all over the country joined the first China University Football League in 2000, playing about 1,600 games, company figures indicate.

University women's soccer was included in the China University Football League again with Philips' sponsorship starting in the 2002-03 season, bringing the total participating soccer teams to 484, of which 60 were female teams. The number of spectators rose to 2.65 million.

To implant the Philips brand into the young students' minds, the group began to set up open showrooms on the campuses of the hosting universities for major soccer events in November, 2003, where students can try out Philips' audio and videos products, computer monitors, mobile phones and other products.

Meanwhile, they gave forums to convey information such as Philips' technologies, marketing and management philosophies and human resource strategy to the students. While taking advantages of the sound relationship with a variety of universities, Philips could access the campuses to promote its major products such as household appliance, consumer electronics and lighting to the students.

China, the second-largest market of Philips after the United States, has become increasingly important with a greater revenue contribution. It recorded US$7.5 billion revenue last year, up 11.9 percent from a year ago, contributing more than 20 percent to the group's global revenues.

The China branch is expected to overtake the United States to be the group's largest market by 2007 under an ambitious plan to increase annual revenue in China to approximately US$12 billion by 2007.

(China Daily July 1, 2004)