Yamaha Motor bags 3-year naming right for LRT-1 Monumento station

YAMAHA BAGS NAMING RIGHT FOR LRT-1 MONUMENTO STATION – Shown from left are: Prem Bhatia, Phar Managing Director – Asia; Jude Camus, Marketing Section Senior Manager; Alfredo Lejano, Corporate Administration Director; Akihiro Maruo, Sales and Marketing Division Head; Mr. Lin Jarvis, Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director; Valentino Rossi; Maverick Vinales; Toru Osugi, President, Yamaha Motor Philippines Inc.; Juan Alfonso, LRMC President and CEO; Kouichi Tsuji, President of Yamaha Motor Racing and General Manager of Motorsports Development Division, Yamaha Motor Company; and Department of Tourism Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre.

Yamaha Motor Philippines (Yamaha) recently signed with Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1) operator Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) for a three-year naming rights under the rail operator’s Station Partnership Program through its ancillary revenue partner PHAR.

Yamaha is the first company that has committed to a long-term investment on the LRT-1 station with the highest foot traffic at more than 50,000 daily average. Revenues from the Station Partnership Program will fund the station improvement which included improved lighting, roofing, and the overall cleanliness and maintenance of the station.

PHAR, an international media and marketing agency, has launched the Southeast Asia’s first Naming Rights program in 2016 in Kuala Lumpur where it forged partnerships with banks, real estate companies, and airlines for Malaysia’s Rapid KL stations.

“Railway operators around the world have successfully taken on naming rights programs to fund station improvements,” LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso said. “We are giving our partners high visibility at the station and, in turn, they contribute to significantly improving customer experience on LRT-1 facilities.”

“We have been working with LRMC for over a year now to design the Naming Rights program – everything from the logo, to the branding, to the improvements in the station. This is win-win for everybody. Yamaha gets valuable marketing rights, LRMC gets revenue which goes back into station improvements, and passengers get better facilities,” said Prem Bhatia, Managing Director of PHAR.

He added, “With Yamaha it was very clear from the outset. Although they valued the ridership and the branding, Yamaha wanted to give back to the city of Caloocan – they wanted to improve the city in a measurable, visible and tangible manner. With LRMC they found the right partner to help them realize that ambition.”

PHAR works with a number of transport majors like Transport for London, Jewel Changi Airport, Manchester Airport Group, Air Asia, Philippines Airlines, Jetstar, Rapid KL, to name a few.

Naming Rights is a trend that began with sports stadiums in the USA, and has now seen several companies targeting transport hubs as marketing opportunities, given that it gives brands the opportunity to be seen by passengers 365 days a year.