Brands eager to jump on the bike

• OCBC Cycle attracting more sponsors
• Plans to expand the event in 2010
• JP Morgan race in April

Singapore - Following the success of the inaugural OCBC Cycle Singapore staged on February 22, plans are  in place to expand the event next year and organisers say they are fielding plenty of sponsorship enquires from brands wanting to be involved in 2010.

Organised by Spectrum Worldwide, with OCBC as title sponsors, last month's event saw 5,400 participants line up and according to Spectrum's managing director Chris Robb, the feedback from all the partners has been positive.

"OCBC were delighted and we're confident that they're going to resign for next year," Robb said.

"Then the feedback we've had from all the other partners from a sponsorship perspective has been great. We've also had a number of cold approaches from people who saw the event or participated in the event and want to be part of it next year."

Plans are currently in place to grow the event into a festival of cycling next year which goes beyond the one-day event - potentially a 150km around-the island race.

"It's an exciting event in that it's got a bunch of properties within the property," Robb said.

"There's opportunity to bring other partners to the table to sponsor special categories and events and the round-island event could potentially attract another partner."

Spectrum Worldwide is also organising Singapore's JPMorgan Corporate Challenge on 15 April, an event which has also seen telco M1 come on board as a partner in recent weeks.

The event management and experiential marketing company is also working on an event called City Chase which it owns the Asian rights to in Hong Kong and Singapore, and is looking at some potential regional expansion in that space. Discussions are being held with a number of potential sponsors, while later in the year Singapore could also host another big global event which is currently pending a license agreement.