AJE Group: what your contract with Real Madrid entails, what’s new to come and details of the agreement

Peru is once again in the international spotlight after Real Madrid revealed that Grupo AJE, a Peruvian company, has become one of its new sponsors. This multinational corporation, with a presence in more than 20 countries, seeks to strengthen its presence in various markets through its extensive product catalog.

In dialogue with La República, Jesús López, country manager of the company, released important information about the brand new commercial agreement between his corporation and the merengue team.

—What are the main objectives that Grupo AJE seeks to achieve through this sponsorship with Real Madrid?

—We made this great negotiation with Real Madrid, they really ‘signed’ us. In football jargon, we go from one team to another: from PSG to Real Madrid. As a group, we have used this sports platform to give many benefits to our ‘volters’, who are our consumers of the brand, who are always looking not only to satisfy their needs, in terms of the functionality that the product has, but also these events that help encourage them (customers) to use the brand.

We are very proud of this sponsorship, Real Madrid is the winningest football team in Europe, it is the champion of champions and Volt is the ‘champion’ of sports drinks in Peru. Volt is the most consumed energy drink in Peru and is the second most consumed in all of Latin America. We are present as a group in many Latin American countries, from Mexico, through Central America, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia; This sponsorship covers all these countries and some in Africa.

—How do you plan to take advantage of this sponsorship to promote your brand?

—The idea is precisely to use what we call the brand along with our packaging. The players are going to be present on the packaging, we are going to have relevant media investment and, in turn, we are going to be bringing news to consumers, just as we did last year with Paris Saint Germain. We did incentives and contests to bring Volt consumers to live the experience. We do not rule out taking consumers to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

—What made Real Madrid stand out as an ideal partner for Grupo AJE compared to other football clubs?

—We were talking to several clubs. Even looking at the sponsorships we have done in the past, a few years ago, with another brand in the group, we had FC Barcelona and recently with Paris Saint Germain, we had conversations with several. (Real Madrid) is the one that could have the most affinity with the brand, due to its proximity. In the end, it is a Latin club that has a fan base in the region, I think it was the ideal match.

We had long conversations with them, in fact, it is long standing. Like any signing, it is not from one day to the next, but I think we reached a good agreement, which benefits us mutually.

—What impact do you expect to see in Peru on the perception of the Volt brand and its market share as a result of this association?

—What we are looking for is that more and more drink consumers migrate to energy drinks. We, as category leaders, have the responsibility to grow (this rank). Volt, in the end, came to democratize the energizer category and we definitely seek to consolidate the leadership we have in Peru and grow the consumer base.

—Is this sponsorship part of a long-term strategy between Grupo AJE and Real Madrid? Are there plans to expand or extend the collaboration in the future?

—As Grupo AJE, we have always been involved in supporting sports and have partnered with different platforms. Since last year, we have been sponsors of our beloved soccer team for the Big Cola drink and we are also official hydrators with Sporade. The sports platform is something that is going to be alive, it is working quite well. The sports association with our brand is what we want to strengthen and continue developing, so we do not rule out that in the short term we will have good news with an association.

—After this agreement, what kind of presence could Real Madrid have in our country?

—Real Madrid has a foundation and is interested in continuing to develop football, the seedbeds in different countries. They do do clinics in countries and Peru is included. We are looking at how to actively collaborate. We also do not rule out, with this agreement, bringing legendary Real Madrid players, or people who can come to support this process.

Just as we did with Paris Saint Germain, last year we took a significant group of Volt fans and consumers and we are definitely going to do it because the idea is, in the future, to have some promotion from which we can be taking consumers.

The agreement that we have signed with Real Madrid is the use of the brand in the branding of our product; We are going to have the image of the players, the possibility of having the image of Volt in football matches, public roads, merchandising, definitely entry to the games for our ‘volters’. That is what the agreement marks.

—By becoming the first Peruvian entity to sponsor Real Madrid, how does Grupo AJE address the weight and responsibility of this historic milestone?

—We are the Peruvian company with the greatest presence in the world, we are present in more than 20 countries, 20 operations on three different continents, we are ambassadors of Peru in the world. If we see it, Real Madrid also sees us as a great possibility to continue strengthening its brand and its leadership in countries where we operate, through Volt, which is the second best-selling energy drink in Latin America. We must be proud that Volt, being a Peruvian product, is in many countries around the world, and it is the work that we have done as a company.

—After this agreement with Real Madrid, do you plan to close similar contracts with other international soccer teams or in Peru?

—In local terms, we are sponsors of League 1, through our Sporade brand, we sponsor various provincial clubs, mainly those that are in full growth and development, for example, Cienciano, Vallejo, which right now recently has Paolo Guerrero signed, and, above all, through the league, we support all those small teams. We do it selflessly, we support sport a lot because we believe it is something that the country needs.

—As for closing contracts with other international soccer teams, is it already planned or is it in the process?

—It’s not discarded; With Real Madrid we have a lot to do, but we are always searching, with other brands in the group, to do different things. Right now we don’t have any open conversations with another team. This is like a player, like Volt has signed with Real Madrid, he is not going to play with two teams.