Insurance company AIG said that "it has already got business benefits from its sponsorship of the All Blacks," New Zealand's men's national rugby union team, according to Bradley & Grant of the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. AIG NZ CEO Cris Knell said that the firm "had got a number of leads" since announcing the five-year deal in October. Although the All Blacks deal is AIG's "big international sports sponsorship, in New Zealand it hopes to use it to build brand recognition and move beyond its mainly small business and corporate focus." Knell said, "We really felt that as an organization we had a lot of pride in coming through the challenges that we were faced with and we wanted to be able to associate with this [team]." AIG Dir of Global Branding Mark Clowes said that the company "worked for almost a year before taking the plunge with the All Blacks." Clowes said, "We looked at a lot of different sports properties and did a lot of research and due diligence on this and in terms of an iconic prestigious franchise -- and by most measures with the winningest record in sport -- we viewed that as a winning combination" (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 1/26).
