Ediz Haksal, General Manager of Herbalife Nutrition Turkey, which has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Women’s Basketball Super League for the last two years, said, “We believe in the power of women and we owe it to encourage them.” Haksal answered Fanatik’s questions…
Can you tell us the story of your company from its foundation to sponsorship?
We are a company that offers entrepreneurship opportunities to women in the direct sales sector. At Herbalife Nutrition, we strongly believe in the power of women. Woman means perseverance, means struggle, means success. We know that women are very successful in every field, basketball is one of these fields. At this point where we focused on women, we gave our name to the Women’s Basketball Super League. We decided to sponsor this sponsorship, inspired by the struggles and successes of all women. The inspiration given to us by female basketball players who break prejudices is our biggest support…
What is covered by your sponsorship agreement?
Turkey is a country of basketball and great successes continue to come to our country, both national and club teams. We, as Herbalife Nutrition Turkey, are happy to accompany the exciting race of the Women’s Basketball Super League. When we started our cooperation with the Turkish Basketball Federation (TBF), we said “We are coming to give the game its name” and this is a great pride for us. The goal of our cooperation is to emphasize the achievements of our women, who have left important traces in social life, in sports, and to stand by exemplary personalities in sports as well as in all areas of life.
What is your company’s perspective on sports investments?
We have over 200 sponsorship deals around the world in numerous disciplines, including elite athletes, teams and events. Our longest-running work in Turkey took place in 2015-2018 with Spor Toto Basketball Super League. We have been the name sponsor of the Turkish Women’s Basketball Super League for the last two years. We can count the sponsorship of professional football player Cristiano Ronaldo, the US football club LA Galaxy and Atlético Madrid, one of the football teams competing in the Spanish Women’s First League, as examples from around the world.
‘The added value to the economy is important’
How do you evaluate the development of sports economy?
Today, the sports industry is accepted as an important discipline in terms of both production and consumption and in relation to other sectors. The effects of the sports industry and its components on the national economy are increasing day by day. I think that the added value of the products and services produced within the framework of the sports industry to the economy is very important. When we look at the relationship of sports with other sectors, the sports economy has the capacity to create an important competitive power for countries.
‘We operate in 94 countries’
In which countries do you operate?
As Herbalife Nutrition, we reach millions of people with our thousands of distributors in 94 countries across the Americas, from Europe to China, from India to South Africa. Herbalife Nutrition, which has supported an active life, proper nutrition and sports since the day it was founded, continues its struggle to change life and nutrition habits in the world for the better.41. We are the 3rd largest direct selling company in the world. We encourage women both in the pot and in business life, and we see active life as an important source of motivation.
‘Interest in active living has increased’
What were the effects of the pandemic on your industry?
With the pandemic, awareness of active living and proper nutrition has increased. As a result, many people preferred our products. As a result, Herbalife Nutrition’s sales in Turkey grew by double digits. We conducted a research with Nielsen in 12 provinces. In this study, which was conducted with 2 thousand 43 people between the ages of 18-55, we saw that the rate of attention to healthy nutrition, which was 25 percent before the pandemic, reached 44 percent with the pandemic. In addition, 4 out of 10 people say that they use food supplements to increase their immunity against the corona virus.
‘Our agreement will last 3 years’
Will your investments in sports be limited to basketball in the future?
Our sponsorship agreement for the Turkish Women’s Basketball Super League will last for 3 years. We are open to different sponsorships and all kinds of sports. We are currently sponsoring Turkey’s national triathlete and Ironman Triathlete İpek Onaran. We will continue to work with the federation to spread basketball among the grassroots, to introduce basketball to more of our young girls, and to strengthen the infrastructure of women’s basketball.
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