smart has been an official partner of the Nestea European Championship Tour for the last three years. “Beach volleyball and smart are excellent partners because they both stand for fun and joy of life,” says Anders Sundt Jensen, Vice President Marketing and Sales at smart. “The competitors in the tournament are dedicated, enthusiastic men and women who are open to new ideas — and those are exactly the brand values that smart represents. That’s why we’re continuing our long-standing sponsorship.”

The 2007 Nestea European Championship Tour kicks off on May 17 with the Austrian Masters in St. Pölten. This will be followed by the Russian Masters in Moscow (May 31 to June 3, 2007), the German Masters in Hamburg (June 14 to 17, 2007), the Swiss Masters in Lucerne (July 5 to 8, 2007) and the Dutch Masters in The Hague (August 9 to 12, 2007). The final for the European Championship title takes place in Valencia, Spain, from August 23 to 26.

smart will be prominently featured in all seven tour locations, and it will conduct a cross-media campaign with a marketing mix of promotion, sponsorship, media partnerships and online communication. “This year we’re once again focusing on below-the-line marketing activities,” states Jensen. “Without doubt, the smart brand and the sport of beach volleyball share a tremendous emotional appeal.” By combining a variety of advertising means, smart aims to target specific groups of potential customers and avoid the scatter losses of conventional advertising. Each kind of activity is designed to increase the brand’s emotional appeal and to demonstrate that smart represents activity and vitality.

The players with the greatest number of points in the European Championship rankings at the end of the season can look forward to winning a new smart fortwo. The new model, which made its European market debut in April 2007, is even more comfortable, more agile, more ecologically friendly and safer than its predecessor.