When you think cars and sports sponsorships the first thing that might pop into your head is the relationship between Honda Canada and MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays, which has lasted for 30 years. Ford Canada has also participated in the sponsorship game with the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers, as well as the NBA’s sole-Canadian franchise, the Toronto Raptors. And we can’t leave off General Motors and their relationship with the Vancouver Canucks, their arena used to be named GM Place. 

Well there’s one more car company to throw into that pool and that’s Kia Canada and their relationship with Toronto’s MLS team, Toronto FC. Yes, the little South Korean company that could. To be clear, they are actually not so little any more thanks to being the world’s fastest growing automaker. They currently sit in the eighth position when it comes to sales in Canada, ahead of big names such as Mazda, Volkswagen and Subaru.

Kia Canada’s relationship with Toronto FC (TFC) dates back to 2007, TFC’s expansion year. They were named an official automotive partner and have been actively promoting their products with TFC fans during home games. Recently in 2012, Kia Canada stepped up their partnership with TFC by acquiring the naming rights to TFC’s Training Ground and Academy Program. It’s the only Canadian automotive company to have their name on a building that’s not affiliated with the manufacturer’s own facility or dealership. 

A large group of automotive journalists were provided an opportunity to visit these new facilities and hear about Kia’s marketing approach, oh yeah, and test out a bunch of their 2014 vehicles including the Soul, Forte and Sorento. What media event doesn’t include that?

The main attraction was the 2014 Kia Soul that starts at $18,595 and will go on sale this December. The new Soul gets a makeover from the world-renowned German designer Peter Schreyer, who is the Chief Design Officer for both Hyundai and Kia. His touches are hard to miss and has elevated the unique Soul into a modern and hip urban hatch with this aggressive new look.

We drove the vehicles for a short period of time, but the focus was clearly on the officially named Toronto Football Club Kia Training Ground and Academy. It's located on 14-acres of land at Downsview Park, in the North end of Toronto, also known as North York. We were provided a tour of this facility and you really need one, as it’s impressive and it better be after $21-million was invested in it by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. 

We had a quick session in the player’s meeting room to learn more about Kia. That was followed by a look at the three full-size outdoor grass soccer fields, the fitness and conditioning rooms and the lunch room that has an added focus towards healthy eating. There were some rooms in-between, but who could really keep track? 

According to the Shawn Jeffers, the Assistant Athletic Therapist and Strength and Conditioning Specialist at Toronto FC, “the TFC facility is the best in North America and rivals many of the elite European soccer clubs.” Players are amazed by the facilities when they arrive as it’s all first-class. It got me thinking that perhaps they players are pampered too much based on their historic dreadful results, but that’s another story for another day.

What we quickly learned was that these facilities were not just for the TFC first-team players, but for the second team and developmental players in their Academy. It was built to provide a facility that could build-up soccer in Canada and develop the next generation of players that will hopefully down the road suit up for TFC and their nation.

Kia Canada’s marketing plan involves a lot of active sports marketing and soccer seems to be where they focus most of their attention. Further to being involved with TFC, they are also partners with two other Canadian MLS clubs, the Vancouver WhiteCaps FC and the Montreal Impact. And if that isn’t enough they also sponsor the UEFA European Championships.

Sports marketing is only the tip of their affiliations as the list is as long as one of their soccer fields. This grassroots marketing movement that Kia started has allowed them to elevate their game by acquiring the naming rights to TFC’s world-class training facility. In return, Kia has seen a major boost to its brand recognition. There’s plenty of competition out there, but Kia has made it a plan to focus on producing top quality products at reasonable prices and in doing so are hoping to up there brand’s value from $2.7-billion to $6-billion by 2016. That’s a big jump for any company and an aggressive claim from Kia. I’m not sure they will reach their goal, but if they can increase its value to even $5-billion that would be impressive and the way Kia’s been growing – I wouldn’t bet against it.