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Social Commitment at the German Production Sites:
Bayer to Concentrate on the Promotion of Recreational Sports - Donation of EUR 10 Million for Education of Young People
- EUR 14 million a year for company-sponsored sports clubs
- From summer 2008: Focus in professional sports on soccer only
- Investment in youth education: Sponsorship of projects and modernization measures at schools
Bayer AG has restructured its sponsorship system for social activities and sports in the regions around its German sites, and recently approved a three-point plan: The promotion of recreational, youth and disabled sports for people living in the vicinity of Bayer's German production sites will continue to be one of the focal points for Bayer AG's social commitment. The company will donate around EUR 14 million a year to support the activities of its 27 sports clubs and their 50,000 members. This makes Bayer one of the biggest sports patrons and sports sponsors in Germany. In professional sports, Bayer will, from the summer of 2008, concentrate exclusively on soccer, and will withdraw in the medium term from sports advertising in basketball, handball, volleyball and athletics. The money saved as a result will be invested in the education of young people. For this purpose, Bayer will, as part of the reorganization of its foundations, donate an additional EUR 10 million to the "Bayer Science & Education Foundation," which has already been established. The money earned from this will go every year to help schools finance projects and buy furniture and equipment for classrooms.
Sports promotion has a long tradition at Bayer, a tradition that goes back more than 100 years. "Sports are very important indeed for people's health and for social togetherness. That is why we will continue to generously sponsor recreational sport and sports for the disabled," says Bayer Management Board Chairman Werner Wenning. The company will also continue without restriction its sponsorship of sport for young people, including the performance centers and the Cologne-Bonn-Leverkusen Olympic training center. Bayer will also remain chief sponsor of the German Disabled Sports Association.
Under the new sports concept, a clearer distinction will, however, be made between patronage and sponsoring, in other words between promoting recreational, youth and disabled sports as a social commitment, and sponsoring professional sports under image aspects. "Spending advertising money on professional sports has the aim of increasing people's awareness of our company and its products, and promoting the image of the Bayer Group on a lasting basis. Without these targets, such investments can nowadays no longer be justified towards our stockholders," explains Michael Schade, Head of Corporate Policy and Media Relations in Bayer Corporate Communications. That was why the company had decided to concentrate its image advertising in professional sports on the Bayer 04 Leverkusen soccer team, which had just qualified for a European competition for the fifteenth time in twenty years.
Regular analysis has proved clearly that the advertising value of the team is very much greater than Bayer's annual expenditures. Because Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH has, in the last few years, been placed on a solid financial footing again through the successful implementation of its restructuring process, the decision was recently taken to expand the Leverkusen BayArena stadium as the first step in Bayer's long-term commitment. By increasing the capacity to more than 30,000 spectators and creating a modern infrastructure, the basis will be created to give the club a successful future – with the possibility of additional income.
With the long-term concentration of its image advertising on soccer as a widely perceived, highly effective form of advertising, the company is also hoping for increasing success internationally – especially in the markets of Asia and Latin America, which are very important for Bayer. The team's successes in the last few years have resulted in a proven increase in people's awareness of Bayer there.
The current advertising agreements for the ladies' and men's handball and volleyball teams, and the Leverkusen basketball team will be terminated at the end of the coming season in summer 2008. The youth section will not be affected by this because all the activities to support upcoming sports talent will be financed from the club budget, which will be sponsored as before by Bayer. With a secure financial basis for next season, the clubs will have sufficient time to plan for the future and perhaps seek new advertising partners. The clubs themselves will decide on which course they will pursue with their Bundesliga basketball, handball and volleyball teams.
In athletics, the sponsorship will continue for another two years. This will ensure that athletes who are currently training for the Summer Olympics next year in Beijing and the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin will be able to continue their preparations without restriction.
The money spent on Bayer's sports image outside soccer will be redistributed: Bayer will spend a large amount of the budget originally planned to be spread over the next few years in the form of a donation of EUR 10 million to an existing Bayer foundation to promote, on a lasting basis, the educational situation in schools in the regions around the Bayer's German sites – especially in the field of natural sciences. The annual income from this donation will help to balance out deficits in schools quickly and unbureaucratically. The schools can apply for project-related grants to modernize classrooms – for example, for chemistry, biology or physics in academic high schools or for the creation of biotopes at schools for children with special needs. The sponsorship is open to project suggestions from all types of school and aims to help improve the educational situation.
A foundation board and a special committee consisting of external experts and representatives of the local communities will decide on the distribution of the funds.
"The education of our children is a very important topic in Germany," says Werner Wenning. "That is why we want to supplement our very far-reaching activities to support schools with this additional financial donation to improve conditions for learning. It is an investment in the future of our country and the upcoming generations."
Sports promotion has a long tradition at Bayer, a tradition that goes back more than 100 years. "Sports are very important indeed for people's health and for social togetherness. That is why we will continue to generously sponsor recreational sport and sports for the disabled," says Bayer Management Board Chairman Werner Wenning. The company will also continue without restriction its sponsorship of sport for young people, including the performance centers and the Cologne-Bonn-Leverkusen Olympic training center. Bayer will also remain chief sponsor of the German Disabled Sports Association.
Under the new sports concept, a clearer distinction will, however, be made between patronage and sponsoring, in other words between promoting recreational, youth and disabled sports as a social commitment, and sponsoring professional sports under image aspects. "Spending advertising money on professional sports has the aim of increasing people's awareness of our company and its products, and promoting the image of the Bayer Group on a lasting basis. Without these targets, such investments can nowadays no longer be justified towards our stockholders," explains Michael Schade, Head of Corporate Policy and Media Relations in Bayer Corporate Communications. That was why the company had decided to concentrate its image advertising in professional sports on the Bayer 04 Leverkusen soccer team, which had just qualified for a European competition for the fifteenth time in twenty years.
Regular analysis has proved clearly that the advertising value of the team is very much greater than Bayer's annual expenditures. Because Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH has, in the last few years, been placed on a solid financial footing again through the successful implementation of its restructuring process, the decision was recently taken to expand the Leverkusen BayArena stadium as the first step in Bayer's long-term commitment. By increasing the capacity to more than 30,000 spectators and creating a modern infrastructure, the basis will be created to give the club a successful future – with the possibility of additional income.
With the long-term concentration of its image advertising on soccer as a widely perceived, highly effective form of advertising, the company is also hoping for increasing success internationally – especially in the markets of Asia and Latin America, which are very important for Bayer. The team's successes in the last few years have resulted in a proven increase in people's awareness of Bayer there.
The current advertising agreements for the ladies' and men's handball and volleyball teams, and the Leverkusen basketball team will be terminated at the end of the coming season in summer 2008. The youth section will not be affected by this because all the activities to support upcoming sports talent will be financed from the club budget, which will be sponsored as before by Bayer. With a secure financial basis for next season, the clubs will have sufficient time to plan for the future and perhaps seek new advertising partners. The clubs themselves will decide on which course they will pursue with their Bundesliga basketball, handball and volleyball teams.
In athletics, the sponsorship will continue for another two years. This will ensure that athletes who are currently training for the Summer Olympics next year in Beijing and the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin will be able to continue their preparations without restriction.
The money spent on Bayer's sports image outside soccer will be redistributed: Bayer will spend a large amount of the budget originally planned to be spread over the next few years in the form of a donation of EUR 10 million to an existing Bayer foundation to promote, on a lasting basis, the educational situation in schools in the regions around the Bayer's German sites – especially in the field of natural sciences. The annual income from this donation will help to balance out deficits in schools quickly and unbureaucratically. The schools can apply for project-related grants to modernize classrooms – for example, for chemistry, biology or physics in academic high schools or for the creation of biotopes at schools for children with special needs. The sponsorship is open to project suggestions from all types of school and aims to help improve the educational situation.
A foundation board and a special committee consisting of external experts and representatives of the local communities will decide on the distribution of the funds.
"The education of our children is a very important topic in Germany," says Werner Wenning. "That is why we want to supplement our very far-reaching activities to support schools with this additional financial donation to improve conditions for learning. It is an investment in the future of our country and the upcoming generations."
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