bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Lilian Goh

Name: Raymond To Kim-fung Age: 33  Occupation: Senior sports marketing account director

Young Post: How did you get into sports marketing?

To: I studied marketing at university. I've always liked sports (I was a member of the university rowing team)  so I took a minor in sports science at the same time.

After graduating, I started working for the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association where I was responsible for promotional campaigns. A year later, I moved to the company I'm at now,  which is like a public relations agency that  focuses more on sports marketing.

I really like my job because I get to  use the marketing knowledge I learned at university and I also get to promote  a healthy, sporty lifestyle.

YP: Which sports events do you promote?

T: A lot, including the Rugby Sevens and the Standard Chartered Marathon. We have a different marketing strategy for each event.

The Rugby Sevens is already popular with westerners  so in recent years we've put more effort into promoting the event among locals. We've been distributing more handouts in Chinese and lining up interviews with the Chinese newspapers.

We've also launched programmes in schools to introduce rugby  and offer students discounts on tickets. The campaign is working because the number of locals coming to the Sevens has gradually increased.

The Standard Chartered Marathon is another big annual event I help promote. I'm proud of the work we've done  because the participation rate has surged  over the years.

The first race in 1997 only attracted 1,000 people but  this year, we had more than 40,000 runners. It proves our promotional campaign is successful.

A bigger event, however, brings with it problems. For example, this year we had more  technical issues to sort out and there were more  safety aspects to consider as well, which made the organisation more challenging.

YP:  Hong Kong people tend to work long hours. Doesn't this make it difficult to promote sports in the city?

T: There is still a lot more to do to raise awareness and get people involved in sports, but  I think there's  been a big improvement in recent years, especially since the Sars outbreak. More people have realised the importance of doing exercise. This helps explain why  more people took part in the Standard Chartered Marathon.

YP: Do you have to travel for work?

T: Yes, I work in a local branch of an international marketing firm. Sometimes I have to travel to our other offices to help promote their events such as  the Formula One in Shanghai. I also get sent to the other offices now and then to watch how other events are organised and promoted so that we can improve our own campaigns in the future.

YP: What advice would you give to those who want to get into  marketing?

T: There are many jobs under the marketing umbrella.

The best thing to do is pick an area you're interested in and go from there. For example, I picked sports but you could choose to specialise in financial marketing or fashion. I think being specific helps you move up the career ladder faster.



Sporting stance