Polo & More, Singapore 2017 Polo & More, Singapore 2017 | Page 103

BMW & Polo
BMW Group Asia’s Marketing Director, Sonja Piontek discusses the
brand’s connection to polo and how the luxury car marque and
sport share a common ethos.
Polo is a sport with a great deal of heritage
and history, with Singapore Polo Club being
one of the oldest Clubs in the world. BMW
is also a company with a lot of history and
tradition, what are some of the synergies
between the two?
2016 was an important year for both BMW
as well as the Singapore Polo Club with BMW
celebrating its centenary and the Club celebrating
140 years of history in Singapore. BMW, as
well as polo, are not for the faint-hearted. They
are about passion, performance and prestige
– an obvious brand fit that makes BMW and the
SPC such good partners.
What do you see as the potential for an
affiliation between BMW and polo, not only
in Singapore, but globally?
Based on the unique brand fit
and strikingly similar target groups,
BMW has been involved in the sport
of polo in many countries around
the globe for decades. Some of
the most prominent being South
Africa, New Zealand, America,
the snow polo activities in Switzerland
and many more. I am proud that
Singapore has now also joined
the group of international BMW-
Polo partnerships and would like to
personally thank the Singapore Polo Club
for their trust for the first successful year
of our joint partnership. ◼
103
“BMW, as well as polo,
are not for the faint-
hearted. They are about
passion, performance
and prestige.”
Polo is an addictive sport... You are an
experienced rider and endurance rider as
well, are you tempted to pick up the mallet?
Being a passionate rider I am certainly quite
tempted to pick up the mallet and give it a try.
I’ve recently ridden some polo ponies and was
quite surprised how beautiful and easy they
are to ride.
What attracted you to endurance riding, and
what was your last adventure?
Years ago I went to Namibia for a week of
‘bucket list’ safari riding at Okapuka Horse Safaris
near Windhoek. The sheer beauty of the country,
the vast bushveld, the pure-bred Arabians and,
most of all, the unique opportunity to ride closely
with herds of antelope, impala, giraffe and many
other wild animals overwhelmed me completely.
I’ve been going back almost on an annual basis
and have picked up endurance riding since. My
latest adventure was a 40km endurance race in
the heart of Namibia where my gelding Bobby and
I even came forth! Next time I’ll certainly try to do
an 80km or even a 120km race.
You first got involved wvith polo in Singapore
with the inaugural BMW Singapore Beach
Polo Championships. Was this a successful
partnership?
The BMW Singapore Beach Polo Championships,
which was held at the stunning Tanjong Beach
on Sentosa Island was the start of a successful
and hopefully long-lasting partnership between
BMW Asia and the Singapore Polo Club. Being
rated as one of the most unique beach polo
events internationally this is obviously the
kind of event BMW want to be associated with.
At BMW, we chose our partnerships very carefully
based on criteria like brand fit, the impact o