Here comes the Hino Valke: union signs new partnership
The Valke have teamed up with truck manufacturing company Hino South Africa to form a new partnership
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THE Valke Rugby Union has announced an official partnership with one of South Africa’s leading Truck Manufacturing Companies, Hino South Africa.
The union was officially re-branded and will now be known as the Hino Valke.
Valke Rugby chief executive officer, Jurie Coetzee, expressed his gratitude to Hino South Africa for its support and belief in the Valke Rugby brand going forward.
“Our negotiations with Hino South Africa were positive from the onset and we are grateful for their support. We believe that both our brands will benefit immensely from this partnership. We are excited for what this partnership will bring in future,” Coetzee expressed.
Rudy Joubert, the Valke director of rugby added: “The players and coaches are also excited about this new agreement and are looking forward to the association with Hino. It is wonderful to have a company of this calibre put such trust in the Valke brand, as we work through our current re-building phase.”
Hino South Africa vice president, Ernie Trautmann, said the company had been looking for new opportunities for brand expansion and brand collaboration for their campaign, and that the new partnership with the Valke suited both the organisations’ visions very well.
“Hino has for some time now been exploring various options to expose and grow our brand. We have been looking for opportunities where brand association or co-branding can form part of our campaign, and sport, with rugby in particular, have obvious complementary associations for us. We were very pleased when the opportunity to partner with the Valke became a possibility,” Trautmann said.
“The fact that the Valke is, at this time, a relegated side, is for us an added value as we want to be part of their rejuvenation. We want to be a part of one of the country’s most respected rugby unions reclaiming its rightful place within the rugby world. We are more than happy to be part of this process. As a brand we don’t only want to be associated with winners, we want to be associated with becoming winners!”
Trautmann continued to say that their brand wanted to be associated with “determination, dedication and a winning attitude”, and that with Hino having pioneered the industry for a long time, the company knows what it takes to keep going.
“We are very proud to be in partnership with the Hino Valke and look forward to highly successful Vodacom Cup and Currie Cup seasons, and to their re-entry into the top tier of our domestic rugby arena, which we believe will be just as successful.”
The Hino Valke start their Vodacom Cup campaign at home at Barnard Stadium on Friday, March 6, against neighbours the Vodacom Blue Bulls. Kick-off is at 3pm.
