2010 FIFA World Cup sponsorship voted as Ayoba

It's official! The sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup by MTN SA has been voted as Ayoba. MTN was officially awarded the Best Sponsorship of a Sport Event at the inaugural Virgin Active Sport Industry Awards award ceremony, at Emperor's Palace, on 17 February.

In addition, MTN activations agency EXP received the award for the Sport Agency of the Year, and the 'MTN Last Fan Standing' campaign received the award for Best Use of PR in a Sport Campaign. This follows the Best Network Improvement and Best Marketing Campaign awards MTN won at the 2010 AfricaCom Awards, in Cape Town, last year.

The fever pitch campaigns, FIFA Fan Fests, MTN Fan Zones and MTN eKasi TV sites were just some of the initiatives that brought the Ayoba campaign into billions of households around the globe - with the word 'Ayoba' being voted as a “word of the World Cup”.

“This is truly a defining moment for the thousands of MTNers who worked day and night to ensure the success of the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” says Serame Taukobong, chief marketing officer of MTN SA. “It is a great honour to be recognised by our peers and the sporting community at large for our efforts around the event, and we will display this award with pride.”

From the conception of the Ayoba theme through to the delivery of hospitality programmes, Last Minute Ticketing initiatives, the bustling Fan Fests and the community programmes staged in the build-up to the event, more than 2 000 MTNers pulled together to help all of South Africa benefit from a successful World Cup.

The event is rated as one of the most challenging branding and sponsorship opportunities for any organisation to undergo, and while the rewards are enormous, the logistics, planning, staging and execution are placed under huge demands by governing bodies, teams, players, communities, global spectators and governments around the globe.

During the event, MTN, its suppliers and partners were required to manage the logistics of more than 20 000 tickets for staff, media and clients, the associated hospitality options and the hosting of a total of 874 events in just one month.

“The experience around the World Cup gave us all a true sense of what it means to work together as a team and as a nation. We weren't just doing this for ourselves as MTN, but for every single South African - so, while the last game has been played and the event is over, the true spirit of Ayoba lives on,” ends Taukobong.