ieg sponsorship report · 2015-04-06 · 2015 ieg, llc. all rights reserved. 2 ieg sponsorship...

© 2015 IEG, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 1

IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT

PRO SPORTS

NFL SPONSORSHIP REVENUE TOTALS $1.15 BILLION IN 2014 SEASON NFL posts hefty increase in revenue despite off-field controversies.

Although media pundits last year speculated about potential sponsor fallout following issues related to domestic violence, the controversy had little impact on the National Football League’s ability to attract and retain sponsors.

Sponsorship revenue for the NFL and its 32 teams grew 7.8 percent to $1.15 billion in the 2014 season, according to IEG Research.

Demonstrating the league’s resilience to controversy, the spending increase is nearly double the 4.2 percent increase in the overall sponsorship industry and 4.9 percent increase in the sports category in 2014.

The NFL signed three new league sponsors during the 2014 season: Dannon, TD Ameritrade and Nationwide insurance.

Insurance is by far the most active sponsor of the NFL. Insurance companies are 6.7 times more likely to sponsor the NFL than the average of all sponsors, according to IEG Research. Quick-service restaurants are the second most active category (5.0), followed by automakers in third (4.8).

NFL League/Team Sponsorship Revenue

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IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORTTHE LATEST ON SPORTS, ARTS, CAUSE AND ENTERTAINMENT MARKETING

APRIL 6, 2015



NFL Most Active Sponsors (League/Team)

*One-hundred percent of NFL properties report Gatorade as a sponsor.

NFL Most Active Categories (League/Team)

*Insurance companies are 6.7 times more likely to sponsor the NFL than the average of all sponsors.

NFL Team Sponsorship Revenue Rankings



2014 NFL Sponsors & Categories



CAUSE MARKETING

HOW MIZUNO USES SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE BRAND PURPOSE Sporting goods company uses cause marketing to promote the transformational power of sports.

Looking to add a real-world component to its “What if Everybody Ran” campaign that celebrates running’s ability to inspire positive change, Mizuno in 2014 created a cause platform around which it donated one dollar for every mile run by consumers who downloaded a mobile “baton” app.

Consumers passed the baton through social media to build a virtual relay in support of Back on My Feet, a nonprofit that helps the homeless get back on track.

In his presentation “Using Social Media to Connect Consumers to Brand Purpose” at IEG 2015, Ahmet Abaci, Mizuno USA vice president of brand marketing and management, discusses the thinking behind the program and its success.

Below are edited excerpts from his presentation.

On Building On “What if Everybody Ran?” “What if Everybody Ran?” was the first part of our campaign. The second part was the ‘walk the talk’ part of it. Call it story-doing instead of storytelling. We couldn’t just put the question out there and leave it to the rest of the world to figure out. That’s where the idea for the app came from.

We knew from the beginning we needed a cause marketing partner to bring credibility to what we wanted to accomplish. We had a few criteria. The first was fit with brand purpose. The organization had to make a real impact on using running to make a change for the better.

The partner also had to appeal to running specialty channels. We do a lot of grassroots activation with one-on-one interaction, and we needed specialty running channels to work with us.

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WHAT IF EVERYBODY RAN?

To answer the question ‘What if everybody ran?” Mizuno worked with the University of North Carolina to identify the health, social and economic benefits of running.

Below, some key findings:

• $143 billion in health care savings• Twenty percent increase in memory• Thirty-two percent increase in better sleep• Ten percent more earning potential• Twenty million more grandmothers• Forty-six percent fewer homeless people



The partner also had to appeal to our most loyal runners. We don’t have a huge media budget. Word of mouth recommendations work best for us. That’s the number one driver in our category, whether its golf clubs or running shoes.

And finally, employee engagement. We are a passion brand. Most people work for Mizuno not because we are a big brand but because we do some meaningful things. We look for ways to drive employee engagement with everything that we do.

The Thinking Behind Back On My Feet Back on My Feet is a charity that helps homeless people through running. They have 12 chapters and work with shelters to find individuals who show an inclination to do something better.

Back on My Feet puts people into running training programs. They run four times a week at five o’clock in the morning. The ritual starts with hugs and prayers and all of that. This goes on for a few weeks, and after they start to show discipline and commitment, they give them help with financial planning and their job search.

Nearly half of the people they touch go on to live an independent life. That’s a great result.

We knew Back on My Feet would be appealing to our most loyal customers. The previous year we ran a promotion offering a trip to the Amsterdam Marathon. To enter the contest consumers had to tell us their most memorable running story. The winning entry was about Back on My Feet.

That story alone told us Back on My Feet would be appealing to our loyal consumers and get them talking.

We also knew it would be appealing to our specialty running customers, because many of them are already involved with local Back on My Feet chapters.

How Mizuno Activated Back On My Feet So what did Mizuno do to activate the relationship? We created an app that users could use for one week. They could run as many miles as possible with the app, and we donated $1 to Back on My Feet for each mile they logged.

Consumers were given options on how they could share the baton. We wanted to make it easy for them via social, email and text. At the end of the week they were given the option to virtually pass the baton to someone in their network. They received a thank-you note from Back on My Feet when they were done.

We used a microsite to show the number of miles and dollars accumulated, all in real-time. We also had a leaderboard by individual and by state. We had a gallery of pictures that made it real for consumers.

Sharing was one of the biggest contributors to the program’s success. We ran digital ads that explained how running has changed your life and how it can change someone else’s life. It spoke to people who already knew this concept.

We had quite a bit of PR coverage by the media and influential bloggers. We had our largest-ever daily website traffic the day we launched the campaign.

We executed locally with runs with our specialty retail partners. We customized point-of-sale material for each retailer because they’re so involved with running in their communities. The branding was minimal, but we received media coverage we don’t normally get because of the way that we approached the campaign.



On The Results Of The Campaign Results were amazing. Our runners ran 87,000 miles with the app, and we donated $87,000 to Back on My Feet. That is a significant amount for a small charity.

There were 15,000 app downloads and 5,000 runners. One-third of the app downloads were used—that was tremendous. We also had 21,000 runs and 15,000 images on our photo gallery.

But we achieved even better social goals. One of our goals was to increase our fan base on Facebook. We’re very careful about just increasing our fan base. We want to be an authentic brand and don’t want a lot of people who are not engaged following us. We track engagement more seriously than anyone else, and we want to make sure our engagement rates stay above our competitors.

We were able to drive our fan base by 60 percent without a significant spend. That exceeded our expectations—we wanted a 50 percent increase.

Our challenge going into the campaign was our low spend and low awareness. It’s difficult when you talk about purchase funnel metrics—moving those metrics takes time and money. This campaign ran for six months, and we were able to move the needle on our purchase funnel metrics. That’s because of the word of mouth element and the purpose and meaning built into the campaign.

Brand familiarity and consideration both grew 10 percent.

Our employees are still very much engaged with Back on My Feet. They made friends with volunteers and members, and they continue to support and raise funds for the organization.

Source Mizuno USA, Inc., Tel: 770/441-5553



ACTIVATION

LEGAL WATCH-OUT: ACTIVATING SOCIAL MEDIA WITH CELEBRITIES Brands need to be part of the conversation without infringing on the rights of celebrities.

As evidenced by the number of lawsuits on behalf of celebrities, brands need to be careful how they use actors, musicians and athletes in social media.

In his presentation “Legal Watch-Outs For Successful Sponsorships, Promotions and Activations” at IEG 2015, Winston & Strawn’s Jason Gordon discusses potential pitfalls when using celebrities in social media.

Below are edited excerpts from his presentation.

Right Of Publicity: Interacting With Celebrities

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APRIL 6, 2015



What To Stay Away From: Lawsuits by Celebrities

Katherine Heigl and Duane Reade

Katherine Heigl was coming out of a Duane Reade store in New York. She comes out holding bags, someone snaps a photo and Duane Reade tweets “Love a quick #DuaneReade run, even Katherine Heigl can’t resist shopping at New York City’s favorite drug store.” She sued for six million dollars.

Use of a photo of a celebrity is particularly risky when you don’t have permission.

Michael Jordan and Jewel-Osco



Jewel-Osco did a deal with Sports Illustrated where they received an ad in exchange for distributing a special issue of the magazine. The retailer created an ad that congratulated Michael Jordan. The ad has the number 23. It doesn’t include Michael Jordan’s face.

Michael Jordan sued. Jewel-Osco said the ad was congratulatory and not a commercial use. ‘We’re not promoting any product or services.’ The court said ‘no, you’re promoting Jewel-Osco.’

Many companies want to send out a congratulatory ad to be part of the conversation when someone wins the Stanley Cup or the Super Bowl. They key takeaway is that simply congratulating a newsworthy event isn’t necessarily newsworthy in the eyes of the law. You might have to get legal permission or talk to your legal department about the risk because it could result in a lawsuit from a celebrity or a team.

Bogart Estate and Burberry

Here we have Humphrey Bogart in a Burberry trench coat in Casablanca. Burberry used the image, and his estate sued. The key takeaway is that even if you want to use a celebrity that is dead, you still might have to get permission from their estate.



Sandra Bullock and Toywatch

Even minor uses can result in significant lawsuits. You have this toy watch that Sandra Bullock wore in The Blind Side. A video was placed on YouTube and Sandra Bullock sued. She said, ‘Look, if you’re going to associate yourself with me and that watch, just because I happened to wear it in the movie, you need to get my permission.’

Jennifer Love Hewitt and Marz Sprays

Many of us want to engage celebrities by sending them free product with that hope that they’ll say thanks. In this situation Jennifer Love Hewitt received Marz Sprays. She accepted the gift, and they promoted that she used it.

Just because someone accepts a free gift doesn’t mean it gives us carte blanche to use their photo or their name or likeness without permission.



Celebrity Social Media Interactions That Haven’t Resulted In Lawsuits

Miller Lite Tweets After OSCARs Comment

Matthew McConaughey mentioned his father during his acceptance speech for best actor at the Academy Awards. ‘I know he’s up there right now with a big pot of gumbo, a lemon meringue pie and a cold can of Miller Lite.’

Miller Lite responded with a tweet that said “the official beer of award winning actor’s dads.”

This is evocative content. Content which isn’t the property of another, but which strongly brings to mind a person, image or third-party property.

Miller Lite was super creative. Everyone knows what Miller Lite was talking about, but it’s not using Matthew McConaughey, it’s not using the Oscars, and it’s not using any third-party assets that could sue. It’s simply joining the conversation and bringing it to life.



KFC and LeBron James

This is a great example with KFC. “I’m coming home with KFC.” This was the reference to LeBron James coming back to play in Cleveland after leaving Miami. It’s not about LeBron James, it’s not about the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it’s not about the Miami Heat. It’s simply evocative.

Branded Tweet Provokes Change in Presidential Policy

We sometimes run into risks. We have a situation where David Ortiz did a selfie with President Obama. After the great selfie that Samsung did everyone wanted to be part of the selfie game. But the president cut selfies out of his policy because David Ortiz didn’t do this for fun, he was paid by Samsung. He sort of ruined it for everyone.

A lot of celebrities are litigious. On the other hand you have creative ways that brands have thought about the right of publicity to make sure they could be part of the conversation without infringing on the rights of those celebrities.



ABOUT IEGIEG leads the way in sponsorship solutions. With over

30 years providing insights, evaluation, and guidance,

our teams bring unparalleled perspective and proven

methodology to every challenge.

We partner with top brands and properties to create fresh

strategies, evaluate opportunities and maximize results.

Our clients redefine what’s possible, exceed expectations

and achieve lasting impact.

A unit of WPP’s GroupM, IEG is connected to specialty

sibling communications companies in media, digital and

activation. GroupM is the leading global media investment

management operation that also serves as parent company

to WPP media agencies including Maxus, MEC, MediaCom,

and Mindshare.

For more information about IEG and the sponsorship

industry, please visit www.sponsorship.com or call

800/834-4850 (outside the U.S. and Canada, 312/944-1727).

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ieg sponsorship report · 2015-04-06 · 2015 ieg, llc. all rights reserved. 2 ieg sponsorship...

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