The logos under the scoreboard, the screens on the edge of the pitch, the interview walls… Watching Les Bleus take on the Red Devils on Monday in the 8th finals of the Euro, you will have a hard time escaping the sponsors. And to miss the offensive of the Chinese brands. There are five of them among the thirteen international partners of the competition: the electric car manufacturer BYD, the Vivo smartphones, the e-commerce giant AliExpress and its payment solution Alipay. Not forgetting the household appliance specialist Hisense, the first firm from the Middle Kingdom to have attached its name to the European competition in 2016.
“For brand awareness,” recognizes the vice-president of Hisense France, Rémy Journé. Established ten years ago in Europe, it has since grabbed market share from the leaders in the sector. “We have an explosion of traffic on our website and our Wikipedia page during all the matches,” he laughs.
