This year, Primeo Energie has joined the Tour de Suisse as its main sponsor. The Tour de Suisse is the perfect platform for the company to position itself across Switzerland – and it’s ideal for the company. A discussion with the CEO, Dr Conrad Amman.
Why did Primeo Energie decide to sponsor the Tour de Suisse?
The reasons lie in our growth strategy, which envisages raising awareness of Primeo Energie across Switzerland. We therefore looked for a sponsorship deal that is well-known beyond the region and hit upon cycling and the Tour de Suisse. The Tour de Suisse passes through the entire country, giving us the opportunity to make our brand known across the country.
Primeo Energie became the main sponsor this year, in 2022. How did that happen?
We had been involved as a premium partner since 2018 but had said from the beginning that we wanted to become the main sponsor at some point. You are much more prominent as the main sponsor. When Vaudoise-Versicherungen stopped sponsoring the race, we seized the opportunity and took over the role of main sponsor for three years initially.
Why did Primeo Energie choose cycling as an area to sponsor?
Sport provides the best opportunity to raise awareness through sponsorship. For example, sports reporting is much more in-depth than reporting on the cultural sector. If you look at the sporting activities that are of interest across Switzerland, you end up with tennis, football, ice hockey or the Tour de Suisse itself.
To what extent is cycling a good fit for Primeo Energie?
Cycling can be combined very effectively with energy. Cyclists must manage their power to ensure they have enough energy to get them to their destination. It is also a team sport. You have to work as a team, you have to work together effectively, you have to generate power and cycling is also associated with technology. It’s highly innovative and exciting.
This time, one of the stopping points, Aesch, is right in the area supplied by Primeo Energie. Has sponsorship played a role there?
Of course, the main sponsorship role provides the opportunity to have some influence over the management of the stages. And we managed to get one stopover point in the area we supply. But that is not everything: this year, the race starts in Küsnacht on Lake Zurich. Many municipalities in this area purchase electricity from us. Grenchen in Solothurn is also a stopover point and we also operate in the Canton of Solothurn. There are therefore one or more stages that have points of contact with us.
