Bank seals deal with English Premier League team

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THE employees at Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd are embracing Liverpool as their favourite club in the English football contest.

Recently, the financial institution sealed a four-year deal as the main sponsor of the Reds starting from the 2010-2011 season.

At the announcement of the partnership with one of the most highly rated football clubs on Monday, local staff were excited in anticipation of Liverpool donning their stripes with the bank’s name and logo on it.

Embracing the Reds: (From left) Wynter presenting the gifts to Chan, Chong and Chuah.

In getting the ball rolling to celebrate the venture, they even conducted an internal contest through e-mail for their workers.

Five lucky winners were rewarded for providing the correct answer on the name of the anthem of the established club.

The trio of Melissa Chong Mei Lan, William Chan and Adrian Chuah received Liverpool merchandise from their managing director Julian Wynter while the other two winners Lim Soo Wai and Jason Teoh Kian Seng could not join the occasion.

Showmanship: Teh rendering ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to his colleagues.

Considering the club has a database of two million followers locally and a substantial fan base around the world, Wynter said it was a great combination and perfect fit for the two well known names in different fields to leverage on the branding opportunities in gaining the extra commercial value.

“Our foundation is in excellent condition enjoying exceptional growth in revenue and profit over the past five years.In the first half of this season alone, we have also achieved a record-breaking performance.

“We are raising our profile on a global scale. And Liverpool is a club with a global reach. It is going to be an ideal partnership for mutual benefits.

“Our top priority is to strengthen and reinforce our position as a strongly recognised brand in a competitive market,” he added.

Meanwhile, collection manager Simon Teh did not hesitate to step up to the challenge in rendering You’ll Never Walk Alone to mark the special moment.

The 34-year-old said he had been following Liverpool since 1999 and was excited that the bank was going to be part of the club through the sponsorship.

“It did not take me long to remember the lyrics of the song because I have been hearing it very often. I just mastered it naturally,” he added.

For the local Liverpool fans, Wynter said they can look forward to experiencing the rare opportunities to get close to their stars as they plan to line up various programmes for them in the future.