DBS throws weight behind Singapore National Paralympic Council as sponsor

DBS has come on board as a sponsor for the Singapore National Paralympic Council. According to Channel NewsAsia, DBS' initial commitment will last until the Paralympic Games 2024 in Paris. This means that DBS's funding will also cover the ASEAN Para Games, Asian Para Games, and the Commonwealth games. DBS was approached by the Singapore National Paralympic Council to come on board as a sponsor.

As part of its sponsorship, DBS also matched the Council's Athletes Achievement Awards (AAA), a cash incentive scheme for Singapore Paralympic athletes who win medals at major games, CNA reported. According to The Straits Times (ST), under the AAA scheme, 20% of the total cash award will go to the Singapore Disability Sports Council and the Singapore National Paralympic CouncilC to help fund future training and development, as well as support Singapore's participation at major competitions. 

As a result, five-time Paralympic gold medallist Yip Pin Xiu received SG$800,000 for winning two gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games - double what she would have originally received. Prior to DBS' sponsorship, Yip would have been awarded SG$200,000 for each gold medal she won at the Games, CNA said. Yip said that she is glad that Singapore is taking active steps towards achieving parity for the cash quantum. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to DBS for comment.

This comes after public discussions over the disparity in cash rewards, as Joesph Schooling received one million for the gold medal he won at the 2016 Rio Olympics - five times what Yip was originally slated to receive for each of her gold medals, ST reported.

The disparity between the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics Games was apparent when it came to marketing as well. Statistics by Truescope provided to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously showed that the Paralympics gained lesser traction overall compared to the Olympics in the last two months across Asia. From 1 July to 31 August, the Paralympics had a volume of 13.3k mentions and a reach of 487 million compared to Olympics, which had 21.7k in volume and 779 million in reach. 

Jonathan Drakes, Asia Pacific head of Omnicom Media Group's sports and entertainment practice, Fuse, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE previously that the exposure for the Paralympics is significantly lower on a global level, hence less marketing is done around the games. "The exposure for the Paralympics is much less and it's often harder to find. That exposure isn't there and that is one of the reasons why you won't see brands getting heavily involved," he explained.

At the same time, Paralympic athletes are generally much less recognisable than Olympic athletes. "Paralympians such as Yip probably won't become a household name in the way Schooling did five years ago [in Singapore]. And it's even rarer that people would know a Paralympian before they compete in the games," he said. As such, this poses "a real barrier" because brands want to associate themselves with athletes that have strong levels of recognition, which Drakes said is totally understandable.

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Photo courtesy: 123RF

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