RAF looks for new sports opportunities

LONDON - COI Communications has appointed consultancy Capitalize to find new sporting sponsorship opportunities for the Royal Air Force among its target youth market.

The brief for the RAF Careers service is the first the COI has awarded since it drew up its three-strong sponsorship roster recently.

The consultancy has been briefed to attract potential recruits and promote the RAF as an equal opportunities employer, offering a diverse range of careers.

The RAF has sponsored field hockey and basketball for a number of years and is thought to want to find further sports-related programmes that will directly appeal to its core recruitment audience of males and females aged 13 to 18 years old.

Earlier this month, RAF Careers signed a £75,000 three-year contract with England basketball to support the game at grassroots level. The deal includes sponsorship of the under-18 junior and under-16 cadet leagues and was negotiated by COI Communications.

According to Richard Moore, managing director of Capitalize: "We have an in-house system of sponsorship and analysis that we offer to all clients that effectively enables us to assess how sponsorship -- existing vehicles or concepts that we've developed ourselves -- can effectively deliver a significant return on investment."

The RAF's main recruitment advertising account is held by J Walter Thompson.

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