Historic Ball Parks Making It Work- Part 1

Over the past two months I was extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to visit two of this country's most historic ball parks. In a world of bigger is better, these ball parks are making it work by resting their laurels on their nostalgic history. Clearly I'm talking about Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago. Fenway is two years older but who is counting. Attending games at these parks made it apparent to me that when you are a smaller park you need to be creative to find ways to display sponsorships while still preserving the historic nature of the park.

Wrigley Field may have been the foundation for many sports sponsorships to come. The building of the park precedes the name Wrigley Field, which is named after William Wrigley who owned both the gum company and the team in 1926. Ahh the wonders of the internet. Below are some of the sponsorships that I saw while enjoying the game. I promise I watched some of it, and wasn't sponsorship hunting the whole time, the Cubs won! The first set of photos are from before we even stepped into the building.
This was at a dining area right outside the stadium. A lot of eye balls walking by that area. Very good to create the awareness of the partnership.

I snapped this pic because it was pouring when we first got to the park. I felt like not having these ponchos sponsored was a huge miss. EVERYONE was wearing them.

Like I said the origins of sports sponsorships...kinda :)

This was an eating and drinking area outside the stadium. How many fans do you think were inspired to purchase a Captain Morgan and Coke? Also, if they have pouring rights at the stadium that is a HUGE win.

 What is that I spy there? Under Armour? But Under Armour isn't the official sponsor of the MLB. Each company has the right to strike individual deals with teams and players. But why are there not more logos? Is it because they are trying to preserve the vines because they are staple of Wrigley Field? I think so. There is a balance of giving the sponsors good recognition in highly viewable areas and protecting the pieces of the stadium that give it character.

  Because there is a lack of space at Wrigley Field they had to be creative, and here is a couple of examples of how they got creative. I will say though that buying the roof of a new by house is pretty damn creative. Hats off to United Airlines. Still won't fly United, but hats off nonetheless.

 Wrigley Field is so dedicated to preserving their park that they only digital sign is the one you see below. That scoreboard looks like an original. I get the preservation, but it also makes it harder to enjoy the game from every angle. Also, much love to Culver's Restaurant. Wonder why? ;) The logos rotated. It is very precious space.

Our friends at Merrill Lynch are involved in more ways then one around the ball park. I do not know if I agree with the logo placement below because Merrill Lynch is not a brand that everyone can relate to. If we were sitting in a VIP area I would say this is perfect, but come on do you really think we were sitting in a VIP area. Bank of America would have been served to sponsor these then Merrill Lynch. With that said, I do think the sponsorship of remembering an old player does make sense because the content is more sophisticated like Merrill Lynch's brand. They need to find areas of the stadium that the brand can relate to.

 

Lastly, I want show you what I think is the best logo placement of all. On top of the dugout. Brilliant because all eyes are on that part of the field for a majority of the game, and its Scott's Lawn Care. What do you need to take care of a baseball field? Scott's Lawn Care. Again, makes sense for the brand and gives your logo lots of exposure.

So that is Wrigley Field through the eyes of a sponsorship enthusiast. I know I didn't get everything. Even the next morning while watching ESPN I saw an additional VERY smart logo or logos placement. On the wall behind the players so every time a camera pans to the players in the dugout you are inundated with the Wrigley gum logos like Double Mint and Juicy fruit. Ahh the perks of having the naming rights.

Look for Part 2 tomorrow when I dissect the sponsorships at the Red Sox game and the awe inspiring Fenway Park. First though, let me know what you think. Have you been to Wrigley or other parks? How do they compare?

Happy Hump Day!

Go Forth...

Chicagoland?

Hi Blog World! Sorry I have been MIA for a week. It was a lot with moving and a wedding, but I'm back in action.

 I headed off to Chicago with my roommate . Since we are price chasers, wish I could be loyal, but the salary won't allow it, we took the cheapest flight on whatever airline we could find thus our adventures or misadventures with Spirit Airlines. This would be the first sponsorship of the trip, or at least the first one I can remember, it was earlier so cut me some slack. Spirit Airlines has partnership with Cartoon Network. The extent of the partnership is unknown, but it didn't seem to really benefit either side. Well I'm guessing Spirit gets money for the placement, but what does Cartoon Network get out of it. The awareness? It didn't seem to me that my fellow travelers on Spirit skewed towards families, and their are not any TVs (that would be WAY too much to ask for, especially when you had to pay for water, and to bring a bag with you on the plane) to display the programming. Interesting...well anyways here is a photo that I took at 6:30 AM as we boarded:

The rest of Thursday was somewhat a blur because we had been up since 4:30 AM, but we walked around the city and took in the sites. Our biggest struggle of the day was to figure out which stops to get off at on the, I believe they call it, "L". Our first guess was a fail, but we managed to find our way to downtown. We ate at Gino's East, which I highly recommend, and the Pizza was delicious, very much authentic deep dish. The next day we headed to the Navy Pier and lake front area. We were very much pleasantly surprised with what we found when we got there. I was mostly excited about the sponsorships that were abundant, ok and the open container allowance. It was great to see them all because I could report back on how sponsoring different areas of the city shows a commitment to the city by those companies that inhabit it. It shows the citizens of the city that the company is giving back and believes in keeping the city alive. They want the city to thrive just likes the citizens of the city do thus you should business with them over their competitors. Below are the sponsors I spied at the Navy Pier:
I spy: Bank of America...

 I spy: Land Shark (and good for them for making the partnership about their product)

 I spy: American Airlines...

 I spy: Pepsi...

We also rode the Ferris Wheel brought to you by none other then McDonald'. There a lot of families on that ride, and where do you think all those kids wanted to go to lunch after? Certainly, NOT Burger King. Our ride was made more awesome because there were fighter jets flying by because they were getting ready for the Air and Sea Show that weekend. The Air and Sea Show brings to light another sponsorship that we spied while wondering around Chicago. I spy Shell...a lot fuel needed to power boats and planes going by, and those attending the event are boat and plane enthusiasts that then need to fuel their own planes and boats.

The last sponsorship or set of sponsorships I want to point out comes from Millennium Park in Chicago. We stumbled upon it while trying to find the Willis Tower (better known as the Sears Tower), and there was a concert going on in a large venue in the middle of the park. People were flocking in from all directions. I said to my travel buddy, someone should be sponsoring this park, and that's when we found this brochure below:

McDoland's , American Airlines, and Target some of the big brands listed in this pamphlet and all brands match up well with the event or portion of the park that they are sponsoring. They are making sure that the sponsorship relates back to their speciality so it is easier to make the connection between the sponsorship and the brand.

So that is a not so brief recap of our trip to Chicago. Have you seen sponsorships in our city? Does your company give back to the city as a way to build their reputation?

Go Forth...

Venue on the Lake

Hello Blog World! I feel as if I have failed you because it has been so long. I made a trip to Chicago, and it was non-stop the whole time, but got some good sponsorships to report back on, think: Navy Pier and Wrigley Park. First, I want to go back in time to the weekend before this last one when I was lucky enough to see an idol of mine, Miranda Lambert, any girl that can sing like that and be married to Blake Shelton qualifies as an idol in my book. High standards I know, but we saw her at the Meadowbrook U.S. Celluar Pavilion on Lake Winnipesaukee in Gilford, NH. I know you are probably thinking "Its New Hampshire, Do they even know what sponsorship is?" Yes, and read on!

The first sponsorship that caught my attention was the Hino Truck parking sign. It makes perfect  for a car company to sponsor where cars are parked. It was consumers are thinking about cars when they are seeing other cars around them so why not offer a suggestion of the type of car to think about with your sponsorship? Also, you are in New Hampshire so trucks make sense. A majority of the shows are country at this venue so it goes with the demographic. The only down fall I see is that I'm not exactly sure what Hino Trucks is.

The next sponsorship is the most obvious. The naming rights of the for venue by U.S. Celluar Pavilion. It seems as if U.S. Cellular has found a region that makes sense for their coverage options. I also think that by sponsorsing this venue they are attempting to get the bang for the buck that won't cost them a lot of money. They are accomplishing their goal of awareness in the area without having to sponsor a large venue like the TD Garden. It helps them to localize themselves.

Above is the program for the show, and it includes the U.S. Cellular logo as well as the Eastern Propane logo because Eastern Propane sponsored the Country Concert Series for the U.S. Cellular Pavilion. Extremely smart on the part of the Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion because it is great creation of sponsorship opportunities. They went beyond the standard signage and sponsor set ups, and saw that there was value in sponsoring a concert series overall. Maybe one show isn't worth it for the sponsors to pay to sponsor, but a whole collection of similar shows makes sense. Throughout the show they did giveaways to other shows in the Eastern Propane Country Concert Series. I also received emails leading up to the show and throughout the year promoting the line up of shows that included the Eastern Propane logo and name. The tickets had the logo and placed the show as part of the Eastern Propane Series. All these logo placements add up to a very valuable partnership that didn't necessarily have to be created. They also received on site activation as part of their deal (as you can see from this photo below), which is smart of the brand because it isn't too consumer friendly so it allows for the brand education to happen.

 

On site activations are a popular way for venues to make money. The venue has patrons coming to the events, and the sponsors want access to these consumers. Especially if the venue is attracting the right demographic of consumers for the brand. As you can see below, there were a lot of outdoors type brands (i.e. boats and construction equipment), alcohol and food round out the other brand types on site. All make sense with the type of people that attend country concerts. The key to a good activation is having ways to engage people in order to encourage them to deter them from their other goals like getting food or drinks or using the bathroom. You also need to give them something to walk away with in order to make sure the message you are trying to relay to them sticks.

Also see the Jack Daniels Bottle below, this is great for Jack Daniels because they aren't paying staff to be there or paying for the materials that would be handed out, but by putting a large blow up bottle up you are getting recognition, and many people are going to stop and take a picture with the bottle. That picture will stay with the consumer as they leave the event so you got initial and continued awareness all from having a bottle blown up with no staffing or material costs. Genius!

Pop Corners handed out free samples of their product as the concert was ending and people were leaving. Very smart because even if you are making an initial investment of giving away free product, think of all the consumers that you could be gaining because you put the actual product in their hands.

So did I prove you wrong? New Hampshire and Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion do know how to do partnerships. Nothing too complex, but what they did do, did not go unnoticed. I feel comfortable singing their praises, but please let me know what you think. Have you gone to any concerts this summer or any venues at all that had good activation?

Look for a post soon about Chicago, as well as my thoughts on how Historic Ball Parks are making it work.

Go forth...

Guest Post- RecipeCan-Healthy Living Summit

Hi Everyone- Below is a guest post from a friend of mine from BC. She has her own blog about recipes and food overall. She found sponsorship in a conference she attended this past weekend, and wanted to share. This is awesome! If you want to join Katy's blog after reading below head over to http://www.recipecan.com/.

Hello! I am Katy from RecipeCan - a social network to share recipes and food blogs. I am also getting my MBA with Megan - go Eagles! Although I usually write about tasty treats and savory meals, I'm here to talk about sponsorship in the foodie world.

Last weekend, I attended the 3rd annual Healthy Living Summit in Philadelphia. The conference is aimed at healthy living bloggers, who are typically women in their mid to late 20s. There were 200 spots this year and it sold out within a day. These women are typically conscious of what they are eating, their fitness level, and their over all well being. While some bloggers are more fitness oriented, writing out daily running goals, others are more interested in cooking and making healthy, well balanced meals.

As you can see from the site, the biggest sponsor was Quaker.

They were prominently featured throughout the summit. Their name was boldly placed on the front of the t-shirt all the participants were given:

And then again on the back...with the rest of the little guys (Five Bamboo, Frito Lay, Together Counts, Attune Foods, The Fillo Factory, Stonyfield)

The shirt, made by Five Bamboo, is actually quite cozy and makes me consider buying more of their products.

In addition to a shirt, all attendees got an epic swag bag.

In the swag bag was (deep breath):

·       Sun Chips chips
·       Thewelldaily.com yoga mat holder
·       Nestles water bottle
·       Qakers oatmeal
·       Warrior Crunch granola
·       Love Grown raisin almond crunch
·       Barney Butter almond butter
·       Amazing Grass drink powder
·       Together Counts jump rope
·       Cliff bars
·       Odwalla bars
·       Musselmans apple sauce
·       Uncle Sam cereal
·       Shaklee cleaner
·       The Filly Factory mini fillo shells
·       Adora calcium supplements
·       Edeb organic pasta
·       Cascadian Darm organic granola
·       Vega shake & go smoothie
·       Larabars
·       Five Bamboo bracelet
·       Rinaldos organic garlic
·       Kelapo coconut oil
·       Mix 1 protein shake
·       NuGo bars
·       Go Mambo bar
·       Oh Nuts nuts
·       Amazing Grass Greens powder
·       Coupons to Attune foods, Stonyfield, Ayaka herbal water

In addition to goodies, sponsors provided several of the meals. Breakfast was provided by Attune, lunch was served with Great Harvest bread and the farewell brunch was sponsored again, by Quakers.

Finally, many sponsors had booths set up right in the conference area for attendees to stop by on breaks.

Some sponsors did seem out of place...like the Shaklee cleaner. Is it sexist to assume the women will be doing the dishes? Or does it make sense, since most attendees cook frequently. Also, nothing against Quaker Oats, but aren't they owned by Pepsi? Also, Sun Chips and Frito Lay aren't the healthiest companies. Maybe they are trying to improve their reputation by sponsoring healthy events.
Overall, I think the sponsors were appropriate for the event. There was a good mix of healthy eating and fitness sponsors that seemed to appease everyone.

Way Back Wednesday- Installment 2

Hello Marketing World...after a short break I'm back! I'm very sorry about the lack of posts last week, but I was a little busy with summer classes ending and my finance final! (eeek happy to say I passed the class) I know you are probably saying excuses are for the weak and they are so I'm just going to get down to it. Below is my second installment of Way Back Wednesday. This advertisement comes to us from a little company you might know called Coca-Cola, yeah they have been around a for a while and are pretty strong.

This advertisement is from a partnership with the Olympics. They have been a partner of the Olympics for many years, and it is an incredibly smart move by Coca-Cola. Sponsoring the Olympics is worth its weight in gold (get it gold, gold medal) because the games incorporate so many sports that it is hard to find someone that isn't interested enough to tune in at least once during the two week span. The games also are an unifying force that brings whole countries together and despite other conflicts that might be happening people across countries get excited about these competitions and unite. You might say well the World Cup does that too, and it does, but the Olympics offers a wide breadth of sports combined with this sense of unity. To be apart of all that is extremely beneficial for a brand and is a reason why Coke has been so successful.

Courtesy of  www.beautifullife.info

So with all that praise for the choice of partnering with the Olympics is there more that Coke could have done with this ad? I like the message because it makes sense with what the Olympics stands for with being the best. It incorporates the sediment that the entire world comes together to appreciate the games and Coke. The message is simple too, they used two very strong symbols in the Olympic gold medal and the Coke bottle. They resonate so strongly with consumers that not much more is needed because flipping through a magazine these images will make you stop. The message adds a heightened awareness of the connection. Overall, I give this ad an A. Not an A+ because the imagery capabilities have become increasingly better since this time which would have made this ad that much better.

Let me know what you think. Did Coke only earn a Bronze or Silver for this ad or did this get them a Gold?

It feels good to be back, and expect another post about my attendance of a Miranda Lambert concert in New Hampshire this past weekend. Maybe even the end of today?

Happy Hump Day!

Go forth...
Megan

Beach to Beacon Sponsorship Overivew

The Beach to Beacon is a 10K (or 6.2 miles for those that don't operate in kilometers). It was started by Joan Benoit Samuelson, who is a gold medalist in the marathon. I'm almost there...NOT. It is run through the best town in America, Cape Elizabeth, ME. Well known for being home to one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, if not the most. Over 6500 people ran the race, as they so kindly announced as I stumbled over the starting line. It was a beautiful day, but a little humid, which didn't fair well for my hair or time in the race.

So Yay..the race didn't go so well for me, but the same can't not be said for the sponsors of the race. The efforts  made by both the sponsors and the race committee were excellent. I was extremely impressed with how the logos seemed to be placed in all the right places. The key to good sponsorship execution of an event is strategically thinking about where eyeballs are going to be to ensure that the sponsors get the worth from their dollar. You want to identify where cameras and people will be looking so there is every opportunity for recognition. Below are some of the great placements that I saw from throughout the day:

TD Bank was the race's presenting sponsor. Their logo was all over the place, the first time I saw it was on the race tshirt and my number bib. All places that the runner is consistently looking at as well as these are items that they will hold on for the future so there will be repeated exposure to the logo.

Below is the netting near the end of the race that is a continuum of the TD logo. This was a great placement because there were lots of cameras and media near the end of the race covering the race so the likelihood of catching the logo in a photo or a piece of video that would be on the news were greater.

And this is the money shot right here:

Courtesy of www.beach2beacon.org

*Side note: Congrats to Adidas Group: The women's winner wore Adidas in her winning photo, and the male winner pictured above wore Reebok.
The same goes for these sponsors below who lined the fencing at the top of the hill that they made you walk up after the race was over! As if I wasn't in enough pain, I had to walk up a hill to get water. Torture! But putting the logos here was extremely smart because all runners had to pass by this area, but so did the family and friends of the runners. They all gathered here to meet their runner after the run was over.

Poland Springs was another sponsor of the event. A very smart move for them because water is a natural fit for a sponsorship for a race. Who needs hydration more then a runner of a 10K in humid summer heat? NO ONE! From other events I have been apart of, I know that Poland Springs is a company that is very good about donating water to any race that requests the product. This is smart for them because think about how this investment in donating the water for free is then creating organic brand infinity. This is the type of connection a consumer makes that can't be done through marketing or advertising. The ROI is definitely there for Poland Springs. They did a good job activating as well, making sure Poland Spring cups were used so fans knew where there water was coming from so it was easy for them to make the connection, and they had a set up at the top of the hill where the water was being given out at the end of the race. This inflatable water bottle made them very hard to miss and could be seen from farther away then a simple set up could be seen from. Great way to attract attention to!

Another smart opportunity I saw was that each mile marker was sponsored by a different company. You see this a lot in golf tournaments that each hole is sponsored by a different company, and it is a great way to extend your money making capabilities. Finding creative places to put logos enables the race to make more money because they aren't places where it is a necessity to have logos. Also, a mile marker is a place that everyone was is looking at, you want to know how you are pacing yourself. Good work Beach to Beacon! Delta Dental is featured here, but each mile marker was a different company.

Other mentions, but no photos (I had to focus on running at some point):

•  Nike provided these amazing breathable t-shirts for all runners and volunteers. Again, a great way to promote your product is to actually get it in the hands of the consumer. Next time the runner goes to the store they will buy a Nike over others because they already tried it for free, and if they liked it no risk!
• Hannaford Bros. was giving out coupons. Driving people back to the store, which is a good use of provided space and crowd. Also, a mile marker sponsor.
• Captain Eli's Soda (a sister brand of Shipyard Beer...Pumpkin Head is out for the fall!) was giving out free bottles of Root Beer. Again, get the product in the hands of the consumer to drive them to buy at the store.

My lasting memory of the race will be the sight of the banner marking the finish line, mostly because I couldn't have been more happy to see it, but also because it perfectly displayed all of the sponsor's logos. I apologize but my heart attack as I finished made it difficult for me to capture the moment. Just trust me on this one. All eyes were on that banner so it was prefect placement that wasn't entirely necessary for the race committee to do.

Overall, great work by sponsors and race committee. Sponsoring a race like this allows for brands to connect with runners and the connection with a runner and their sport is extremely special and unique. Runner's are a dedicated (and slightly psychotic) bunch, and when they find something that works they don't tend to stray. Get a runner hooked and you have a customer for life. Also, the proceeds of the race got to charity so sponsoring this race is also way of giving back. Everyone loves to see a company giving back and showing good will. Congrats to all runners, sponsors, and the committee!

Were you at the race? What did you think? Have you seen other races do things well or not so well. Help me stay on track with what else goes on. (get it track, running?) Let me hear your thoughts.

Happy Monday!

Go forth...

Fun Foto Friday- Round 1

Hi All! Back again, and I have another weekly post idea. This one is called Fun Foto Friday, again my twist on an established twitter/blog habit. So the premise of this one is that I'm going to find Fotos (or Photos to be proper) of obscure events, concerts, or games that no one is partnering with, and I would like some ideas from all of you on who a good partner would be. Sound good?....Well, if doesn't sound good I'm going to do it anyways so lets get started. This first photo comes from an event that is very near and dear to my heart: The Maine Lobster Festival. If you haven't noticed by now I'm a little obsessed with Maine (Going again this weekend, I know, I know it is a little insane, but I'm in love damn it...maybe even borderline addicted).

Below is a Foto of the event and a link to the site:

Courtesy of http://www.destination360.com



Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is a giant lobster on a float!

Check out the link here: Maine Lobster Festival

The Festival has a lot of offer a potential sponsor including: 14,174 likes on facebook and 558 followers on twitter. It is a week long event that includes the normal festival fare like contests, rides, and crafts! Plus lots o lobster. Every year the festival hosts a fairly well known musical act on Saturday night this year it is Emerson Drive and a few years ago it was Eric Church (a huge personal favorite of mine). The best part about it all is probably the setting, right on the water in downtown Rockland, ME. So check it out, and let me know who you think would be a smart partner....Remember Maine gets a lot of tourist in the summer :)

I'll be posting later this weekend about the Red Sox game the other night. You may have seen my tweets. If not follow me: @MeganMainer. Also, running a 10k in Maine this weekend called the Beach to Beacon, look for a post coming soon about the benefits of local sponsorships and race sponsorships. I'll be running with my phone! Don't worry I'm not in line to win this thing by any means, the photo taking won't thwart my chances at gold.

Until then, Have a great weekend, and...

Go forth...
Megan