Philips Consumer Lifestyle Extends F1 Sponsorship with AT&T Williams to Stay Ahead

Sponsorship broadened to span across Philips’ entire Consumer Lifestyle sector to boost brand awareness and generate sales uplift from a global and scalable marketing platform

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – In today’s economic climate, organisations need to be strategic with their expenditures. Philips could think of no more important investment than its brand. In line with this, Philips today announced the extension of its multi-year Formula One (F1) partnership agreement with AT&T Williams into its Consumer Lifestyle (CL) sector, following three successful years of sponsorship with Philips Shavers. The F1 partnership extension reflects Philips’ long-standing commitment towards making a difference in consumers’ health and well-being.

The new sponsorship has been broadened to span across all six business units of Philips’ CL sector to boost brand image, awareness and loyalty, as well as generate sales uplift founded on a global and scalable marketing platform.

“The AT&T Williams team and Philips’ partnership is a strategic alliance that brings together two companies with similar values and culture. AT&T Williams is one of the world’s leading Formula One teams and has secured 16 FIA Formula One World Championship titles, while Philips is one of the world’s leading health and well-being companies,” said Eddie Ong, General Manager, Consumer Lifestyle sector, Philips Malaysia Sdn Bhd at the Philips Healthy Living Innovation Showcase today.

The positive experience of Philips’ Shaving category has been instrumental in influencing the extension of the sponsorship programme to all aspects of CL’s marketing communications. Philips’ Shavers business saw exceptional growth with a 10% increase in Q2 2008 sales compared to the same period in 2007. This was driven in part by a cohesive and appealing marketing effort built on the F1 partnership with AT&T Williams.

Philips Consumer Lifestyle “Health and Well-being” Concepts
Philips CL today also unveiled a range of innovative and original concepts for Health and Well-being at its Lifestyle Condo in Saujana Villa. The Healthy Living Innovation Showcase highlights areas identified by Philips in which the company has the ability to innovate and make a difference to both people and the environment.

Philips CL offers rich, new consumer experiences that meet consumers’ desire for health and well-being, starting from consumer insights and guided by Philips’ brand promise of “Sense and Simplicity”. Philips attributes the demand for its CL solutions to consumer lifestyle trends of the pursuit for health and well-being and increasing demand for personal care products categories and technology-advanced, easy-to-use customer solutions.

According to Ong, “Consumers are interested in enhancing or adding to their lifestyle. This could either mean offering them a new piece of technology, or enabling them to enjoy a healthier and more rewarding lifestyle. Philips seeks to deliver experiences, not just technology, based on a clear understanding of what consumers want and involving the right partners to deliver it.”

“In pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, consumers are seeking a balance between wellness and pleasure. They don’t recognize boundaries and nor should we. “Lifestyle” is about whatever makes the mood – and that includes lighting, leisure, and the experience of well-being in our homes and beyond, such as the products you see on display at our Healthy Living Innovation Showcase here,” Ong added.

The products featured at the Philips’ Healthy Living Innovation Showcase underlines Philips’ approach in addressing consumer well-being by providing comfort and enjoyment in all aspects of people’s lifestyles, whether it is entertainment, looking good, eating well or sleeping right.

Philips’ focus on “Health” is not only on the prevention, treatment and management of illness but also on the creation of a healthy lifestyle, such as keeping fit and eating a balanced diet. Philips also seeks to enhance people’s sense of “Well-being” by contributing to their safety, ease, relaxation and enjoyment in any environment they find themselves.

Williams’ celebrated F1 driver, Kazumi Nakajima also made a special appearance at the press conference and mingled with the press during the Healthy Living Innovation Showcase.

Background on Philips’ Healthy Living Innovation Showcase
Philips’ Healthy Living Innovation Showcase demonstrates its latest range of home entertainment and home appliances products such as a Do-It-Yourself day spa, which maps back to the business units within Philips CL sector, under three innovative and original concepts as follows: