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[이데일리 스타in 주영로 기자] Park Inbi is Benz, Park Sunghyun is Audi, Kim Hyojoo is BMW.
The love of female professional golfers of imported car brands sold in Korea such as Mercedes, Audi, and BMW is continuing. The competition between imported car brands and official dealers to capture female pros is fierce.
The reason Imports are active in sponsoring female golfers is in the aspect of brand marketing and customer service. This is because major customers have a high preference for female golfers.
Mercedes-Benz Korea appoints female golfers Inbi Park (33), Soyeon Yoo (31), and Jihyeon Oh (25) as brand ambassadors and sponsors cars. Park In-bi has been sponsored by Mercedes since 2016, Yoo So-yeon has been sponsored by Benz in 2017, and Ji-Hyun Oh joined as a public relations ambassador in 2019 to ride a Benz to the venue. Mercedes-Benz Korea is sponsoring female professional golfers and said, “We are choosing the person who best matches the brand image as an ambassador by practicing’the best’, the core value of Mercedes-Benz in each field.” “We plan to realize the core values of the brand in a variety of ways by following a special companion as an ambassador.”
In 2013, Park Inbi was sponsored by a sports car Ferrari to ride around. The vehicle supported at the time was an FF model that boasts high performance with a top speed of 335 km/h, and the standard vehicle price at that time exceeded 300 million won.
Besides these, Lee Da-yeon and Kim Ji-hyun are sponsoring Benz through official dealers.
BMW sponsors Kim Hyo-joo (26), Lee Bomi (33), and Choi Na-yeon (34). The three are on tour activities in the United States and Japan, but each time they enter the country and participate in the competition, they receive vehicle support. You don’t have to decide on a vehicle type, and you get support for different vehicles depending on the season.
Ko Jin-young, 26, who ranked first in the women’s golf world ranking, was sponsored by BMW until last year, but the contract period has ended. Currently, we are looking for a new sponsor.
Park Seong-hyun (28), Jo A-yeon (21), and Anna Lin (24) are sponsored by Audi. The relationship between Park Seong-hyun and Audi, who are active on the LPGA tour, has continued since 2016, when they were active on the domestic stage, for the sixth year this year. Even after Park Sung-hyun advances to the LPGA tour in 2017, he continues to sponsor. Park Sung-hyun rides on the Q7 in the US and gets support for other cars such as the A6 when entering Korea.
Lexus supports Choi Hye-jin (22), Park Hyun-kyung (21), and Lee So-mi (24) who play in the Korean Women’s Professional Golf (KLPGA) tour. For the convenience of moving players with a lot of luggage, SUVs are mainly supported.
The 2020 KLPGA Tour rookie king Hae-ran (20) is sponsored by Lincoln Continental Black Label. Kim Ji-young (25) rode Ford, Park Ji-young (25) and Kim Min-sun (26) rode Maserati and Cadillac.
There are two main types of sponsorship for imported cars. Depending on the contract period, a certain amount of down payment and vehicle support are received, and only vehicles are supported without a down payment. It usually rides for about a year and replaces it when a new one comes out. Rather than being sponsored by vehicles, athletes wear brand logos on their race clothes. In addition, athletes participate in customer events run by the brand, play rounds, and participate in events such as lessons and talk concerts.
Compared to female golfers, there were not many male players who ride with imported cars sponsored by imported cars, but they are increasing little by little recently. Benz’s official dealer KCC Auto has sponsored male golfers Kim Dae-hyun (33), Lee Jae-kyung (21), Kim Han-byul (25), and Seo Yo-seop (25) from this year. In-jin Ryu, CEO of KCC Auto said, “We decided to sponsor this time because we judged that the dynamic and healthy images of male professional golfers and Mercedes-Benz match well.”
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