Welcome, Guest [Sign In]

April 19, 2004 - Strategy Magazine
News

The backdoor marketer
Cash-strapped advertisers tie into sports without paying for official sponsorship rights

by Lisa D'Innocenzo
page 1

Big time marketers like Molson, Labatt and Diageo (Smirnoff) are leveraging the emotional punch of sports without always paying for "official" status. Others, like MasterCard, say shelling out for franchises such as the NHL is well worth the hefty price tag. In the end, say the experts, it's not whether you go official or backdoor, it's how well you use the tie-in to deliver a genuine message that harmonizes with your brand.

It's not necessarily the élite, overpaid hockey players who shine in the Stanley Cup playoffs; sometimes it's the guys with the big hearts. Likewise, it's not always the marketer who pays big bucks for sponsorship rights with glitzy sporting properties like the NHL or the Olympics that dazzles consumers.

In fact, in recent years many marketers have found they can score with so-called "backdoor" marketing affiliations - provided they are creative enough and as successful at provoking emotions as Toronto Maple Leafs forward Gary Roberts in a game-seven situation.

Certainly the NHL has seen "ambush" marketing activity grow, in part due to companies' current obsession with ROI. "When marketing budgets continue to be scrutinized, every dollar needs to be optimized," says Andrew Judelson, group VP of NHL Corporate Marketing in New York. "Companies that don't have the [opportunity to invest] are thinking creatively about how to get around [rights] and associate with a sport or a brand."

As marketers have become more sophisticated in their ability to do that, it has become more difficult for the NHL to police, particularly when it comes to under-the-radar, grassroots tactics. Technically, anyone who uses or mentions NHL trademarks can be legally challenged, so the organization deploys staff to conduct in-market visits, and its partners also keep an eye out for unsanctioned trademark use.

Judelson insists there's a "difference in the value proposition of owning rights versus a generic association," because the NHL brand lends credibility and authentication. "Offering a chance to win tickets to the Stanley Cup playoffs - to a hard-core hockey fan, that's different than a generic message. The investment pays out and the point of difference is significant and valuable." To prove the point, the NHL cites a 2002 study by Denver-based Bonham Group, which found that 94.2% of fans consider sponsors "very" or "somewhat" important to the NHL.

MasterCard sure hopes so. The Toronto-based credit card company is an official NHL sponsor, a fact it communicates through its advertising and promotions. For instance, on April 7, MasterCard debuted its Priceless Moments collector cards, each of which features a moment in Stanley Cup Playoff history. Customers receive one as an added value whenever they use their MasterCard in participating restaurants.

Four instant-win platinum cards offer a trip for two to a finals game, and the cards also drive fans to a Web site where they can enter a PIN to win a chance to see the championship game of the World Cup of Hockey, held in Toronto this fall.

Quick Search