- Česká spořitelna provides different financial products and services for different target groups, hence we sponsor diverse music projects with the aim of offering all our customers an "added value". In human life music is a unifying element and Česká spořitelna is proud to support unique music projects and to introduce them to the public. Seen from the viewpoint of marketing, music events offer the sponsor a marvellous opportunity to introduce a brand or a product.
On the one hand our bank is traditionally a partner of classical music, for example we support the famous "Prague Spring International Festival" or smaller events such as the "Smetana's Litomyšl International Opera Festival". On the other hand we also attempt to introduce our clients to contemporary and international music by supporting festivals such as "Colours of Ostrava“.

- Well, for example there is the "Khamoro World Gypsy Festival", and the "Respect Festival“, which introduces music from India and Africa. And at "Colours of Ostrava" there is a special feature, the "Česká spořitelna Colours Talents“: as well as giving them the chance to perform there, we also enable young bands to bring out CDs.

- There are major projects with a long and successful history, such as the "Prague Spring Festival" referred to earlier, which was started back in 1946. It has not merely survived but has developed so well that it can now invite world-renowned musicians and classical music stars. But whereas the Spring Festival has been respected and appreciated everywhere for many years, in contrast, after the Velvet Revolution, there was a real boom in the current and world music scene: in Prague it was suddenly possible to see stars live in concert – like the Rolling Stones, for example, and that was truly a great experience! At the same time many local festivals already in existence were able to open up and to welcome international acts.
But the initial enthusiastic years are now over, audiences are becoming more quality oriented and they now take for granted that they can choose from hundreds of events, festivals and clubs. Therefore there is considerable pressure to search for new quality events.

- The situation is the same as in all European countries: there are some who like classical music, there are rock fans but there are also people who prefer a mixture of different genres and styles. I think that nowadays people are more selective. They want high-quality music, but they are also more open towards new things.

- No, here one cannot really identify focal points, there is an entire range of different directions in music.

- Although jazz is popular it has a rather small target group: upper middle-class people between the ages of around 35 and 60. Unfortunately there is not much more that I can tell you in this area: although I would like to I cannot go to clubs constantly, I simply don't have the time. But next year there will be a festival, "Jazz goes to regions" , during which jazz clubs throughout Prague and also regional jazz clubs will be used and we will also support this festival.

- In addition to the FAMUFEST student film festival we also support the "Finále Plzeň", festival that offers a good overview of Czech film. During one week the entire production of Czech feature films is shown, as well as a selection of the most successful and interesting documentary films. And we are partners of the international documentary film festival in Jihlava, which enjoys continually growing popularity

- For me personally spending three nights looking at student films was really a strong and intense experience. Some films were only a few seconds long, whereas others had a length of more than an hour. Perhaps I was most impressed by the fact that the students have such very different viewpoints – somehow or other they are not as spoiled by commerce.

- As was said our key area is music, to a lesser extent film and we also support a number of other individual projects. Our strategy is to develop long-term partnerships using important projects.

- Choosing the right projects is not easy. They must correspond with our brand values, our vision and our mission. We receive over a hundred applications for sponsoring every month. We evaluate them and then present those that seem most suitable to a sponsoring committee that meets every three months.

- Boris Marte, head of Corporate Sponsoring of the Erste Bank, as well as representatives of the bank as Jack Stack, CEO of Česká spořitelna. And of course we also hold discussions with experts from the culture scene.