JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 21 February 2013 – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, has wrapped up their sponsorship of the Orange AFCON, SOUTH AFRICA 2013 tournament that included 28 fan zones and interaction platforms in seven countries including; South Africa, Angola, DRC, Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast. Samsung would like to congratulate all teams for putting on a world-class event that was viewed by millions.
Samsung George Ferreira, VP and COO of Samsung Electronics Africa: “Samsung have been very involved in this year’s Orange AFCON, SOUTH AFRICA 2013 tournament as an official sponsor – and certainly we were proud to be associated with such a continent-wide event. Congratulations to all of the teams involved, and thank you for the professionalism, dedication and great soccer skills displayed throughout the tournament.”
Across the continent, over 80,000 fans visited the Samsung fan zones, cheering for their national teams and using Samsung’s latest technology such as Samsung AllShare to write inspiring messages and post pictures of their favourite team and players.
In addition to 28 Samsung fan zones, the company also leveraged their social media platforms to increase the number of opportunities that the public had to get involved in the tournament. On Samsung’s dedicated Facebook page, fans could upload their pictures related to the tournament, sing the Samsung Football Anthem which was composed for the campaign, or guess the score of upcoming matches to win great Samsung prizes. The Samsung Facebook page gained 144,583 likes during the campaign and additionally across the continent individual Facebook pages scored high.
“Samsung is very committed to the growth and development of Africa – where we feel that this sponsorship is an excellent platform that allowed us to engage with our customers to provide new experiences for African football in a fun and interactive environment,” added Ferreira. “Under our campaign theme ‘Our Passion Powers Africa’, we were able to leverage our latest technology to give fans new experiences while demonstrating their passion for the games.”
Amr Shaheen, Director of TV and Marketing at Confederation of African Football, added: “The tournament this year was a big success and this is largely due to the support and enthusiasm we received from our sponsors. As our technology partner for the Orange AFCON, I believe that Samsung’s campaign fueled the fans’ spirit and excitement around the tournament through innovative ways.”
Samsung started sponsoring the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana 2008 and is in partnership with CAF to continue this initiative until 2015. Samsung has also taken a very active part in the excitement of African football at the Orange African U-20 Championship.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 236,000 people across 79 countries with annual sales exceeding KRW 201 trillion. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.