P&G, NBA team up for Hope Schools

Personal care brands from Procter & Gamble (P&G) are teaming with NBA China to bring basketball fun and excitement into communities this summer - right in the heat of the 2009 NBA Finals that began early this month.

The joint campaign by P&G's Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Rejoice and Safeguard brands, with support from retailers including Wal-Mart, Trustmart, Beijing Hualian, Tesco, Watsons, Carrefour, RT-Mart and CR Vanguard, will offer free "basketball fun" for customers at the stores.

According to P&G, a Fortune 500 company, not only will the entertainment travel to major Chinese cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the next two months, it will also reach out to help needy children in earthquake-affected Hope Schools in Sichuan.

The campaign also offers the opportunity for shoppers to play a part in providing needy children with better sporting facilities in their schools. Donations will be made toward providing a standard set of sports facilities to schools valued at 20,000 yuan each.

A basketball experience pavilion with challenge games and in-store activities will feature as many as 30 games in which more than 100,000 shoppers and basketball enthusiasts are expected to test their skills in dribbling, free throws and speed shooting against one another.

NBA legend and six-time NBA Championship title holder Scottie Pippen - named one of NBA's 50 greatest players of all time - visited Beijing to launch the event and a star-studded line-up of NBA players is scheduled to make special appearances at selected stores in the coming weeks.

"This cooperation between P&G and NBA China certainly came at the right time - while the much-anticipated NBA Finals are happening - and in the right places where we have the firm support from our retail partners who provided the platform to host these games," said Henry Karamanoukian, general manager for customer business development at P&G China.

He added that the company hopes the partnership will bring NBA excitement to shoppers and meanwhile help children enjoy sports fun.

P&G China supports Hope School construction in China's rural areas and encourages other partners and consumers to take part.

The company had donated 49 million yuan by the end of May to build 170 P&G Hope Schools for more than 100,000 children. Among them, 50 are jointly named for P&G and its 25 business partners. More than 323 million consumers each year have participated in P&G China's annual Project Hope in-store charity campaigns.

(China Daily 06/15/2009 page8)