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RELATIONSHIPS | RESOURCES | RESULTS

Tom Brady2 time Super Bowl MVPwith the New England Patriots

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4 Brilliant Results | April 2005 www.brilliantpublishing.com

featuresMARKETING IN THE NBA 24

Brilliant Results hits the hardwood to interviewDeclan J. Bolger, Chief Marketing Officer for thePortland Trail Blazers, to get the inside story on

marketing in the high-powered NBA

TOP HATS 28Six of the leading cap suppliers talk to corporate

America about their unique products

WHAT BRINGS FANS TO THE BALLPARK? 32

Sport management experts discuss and evaluatethe power of promotions in the sports world

By Daniel A. Rascher, Ph.D. and Nola Agha

MAJOR SUCCESS IN THE MINOR LEAGUES 38

There are literally thousands of minor and inde-pendent league teams throughout the UnitedState. Brilliant Results scouted out one of the

best of the best when we spoke with DerekSharrer, Executive Vice President and General

Manager, of the St. Paul Saints who sold out vir-tually every game for the last 12 years.

SPORTS BRANDS PLAY AT LIFE STYLE 44

The journey from sports to life style brand isfilled with the glory of success and the agony of

defeat. A branding expert talks to some of thewinners to find out their secrets for success.

By Alycia de Mesa

Contents

16 28 38

ColumnsdepartmentsPUBLISHER’S LETTER 6

ADVERTISING INDEX 76Get FREE information from this

month’s advertisers

CALENDAR 78

THE LAST WORD 80Brilliant Results talks to Jim Tooley,

Executive Director of USA Basketball,about basketball, marketing, and

the Olympics

OFF THE CUFF 82

HOT PRODUCTS…THINGS WE LOVE 52

Brilliant Results looks at innovative products for sports fans.

BRILLIANT IDEAS...FROM THE SOURCE 60

Marketing ideas that deliver winning results

WHAT WORKS 62Marketing ideas for your next

powerful promotion

COVER STORY 8SPORTS MARKETING AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Brilliant Results talks sports, marketing and corporate sponsorships with Dr. Charles Steinberg, ExecutiveVice President of Public Affairs for the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox and Lou Imbriano, Vice

President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.

TMbrilliant resultsVol. 2, No. 4

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 11:09 AM

They’ll look like Tiger. Even if they putt like Larry from HR. Chances are, nobody you buy for can golf quite like this guy.

But how they dream. So let them dream bigger. Order Nike

Golf apparel and equipment. From balls to jackets, bags to

umbrellas, the full line is waiting to tee up your logo.

Why Nike Golf? On championship courses everywhere, we’ve

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pros. Which means, everyone who plays golf will appreciate

the chance to wear and use our gear.

From the CEO with a 2 handicap, to the guy who spends

more time in the rough than on the fairway.

Visit our new corporate sales site to find Nike Golf apparel,

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MPublisher’s Letter

Brilliant Publishing LLC9034 Joyce Lane

Hummelstown, PA 17036Ph: 717.608.5869Fax: 717.566.5431

PUBLISHER / ADVERTISINGMaureen Williams

[email protected]

EDITORIALEditor in Chief

MaryAnne Morrill

Senior EditorsMichelle Donofry, Pierce Roberts

Style EditorCharity Plata

Asst. EditorMildred Landis

Contributing WritersNola Agha, Alycia de Mesa, Jim Dunne, David

Goldfarb, Michael Hirsch, Fred Parker, Daniel A.Rascher Ph.D. , Chris Smith, Amy Tillotson, Raf

Vanreusel,

ContributorsGlenn De Bacca, Kellie Claudio, Diane Goldsholl,Crystal Howard, Jennifer Lee, Rob Robinson

PRODUCTION / DESIGNArt Director

Percy Zamora

Photos Courtesy:Boston Red Sox ® all rights reserved

New England Patriots ® all rights reservedPortland Trail Blazers ® all rights reserved

St. Paul Saints ® all rights reserved

Brilliant Results is published monthly by Brilliant PublishingLLC, 9034 Joyce Lane Hummelstown PA 17036 (717) 608-5869; Fax# (717) 566-5431. Postage paid at Mechanicsburg PAand additional offices. POSTMASTER please send addresschanges to Brilliant Results, 9034 Joyce Lane, Hummelstown PA17036. Volume 2. Number 4. Brilliant Results subscription rates:one-year $120; Canadian $160 USD; one-year foreign $225USD. All subscriptions are non-refundable. Copyright © 2005Brilliant Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. The publisherreserves the right to accept or reject any advertising or editorialmaterial. Advertisers, and/or their agents, assume theresponsibility for any claims against the publisher based on theadvertisement. Editorial contributors assume responsibility fortheir published works and assume responsibility for any claimsagainst the publisher based on published work. No part of thispublication can be reproduced in any form or by electronic ormechanical means, including information storage and retrievalsystems, without written permission from the publisher. Allitems submitted to Brilliant Results become the sole property ofBrilliant Publishing LLC. Editorial content does not reflect theviews of the publisher. The imprints, logos, trademarks or tradenames (Collectively the “Marks”) displayed on the products fea-tured in Brilliant Results are for illustrative purposes only andare not available for sale. The marks do not represent the impliedor actual endorsement by the owners of the Marks of the prod-uct on which they appear. All of the Marks are the property of therespective owners and is not the property of either the advertis-ers using the Marks or Brilliant Results.

y favorite line in this entire issue is theopening line to this month’s cover fea-ture: Few industries evoke the kind ofpassion, allure, drama and dreams likesports.

In the basketball section of that samestory, Declan Bolger, the chief marketingofficer for the Portland Trail Blazers,summed it up perfectly when he said:“As a marketer, that’s exactly where Iwant to be – where people are passionate.” Wow. It gives me a chilljust reading it.

Even as a non-professional athlete, I clearly remember, as a kidgrowing up, how passionate I was about the sports I was involved in.My personal habit of choice was running track. However, if you haveever been active in playing or even watching sports at all, you canrelate to that passion.

So, if you’re wondering how all this passionate and dramatic sportsstuff relates to business and marketing, I can sum that up for you easi-ly in three words: strategy, exposure and money!

Literally every business, in every industry, in every geographicregion, can learn something from how the world of sports creates thehype, engages its customers, involves itself in the community and gen-erates revenue.

I am so honored this month to bring you examples from the crèmede la crème. What more could you want from a national business mar-keting magazine than to get unique and exclusive insight from all threemajor sports leagues, including both the Super Bowl Champion Patriotsand the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox?

I’ve got to tell you, even I’m amazed with this month’s issue, andI’m not one to be amazed very easily.

This issue is full of ideas about what various corporate sponsors aredoing throughout the broad landscape of professional and minorleague sports. Since the inception of this magazine, our goal has beento consistently give you ideas about what other companies are doingto make their businesses successful, so you can take the parts andpieces that may be of value to your business. Furthermore, we con-nect you with the suppliers and distributors that are helping our fea-tured companies make it happen. And, as always, our What Worksand Things we Love sections showcase great products that you canuse in your direct marketing strategies. As our tag line says:Relationships. Resources. Results!

The entire Brilliant Results team is working passionately everymonth continually to elevate the quality of our magazine and its con-tent for you, our readers. We would love to hear your feedback.

As always…Have a Brilliant Day!

TM


brilliant resultsbrilliant results

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BaseBall

Few industries evoke the kind of passion, allure, drama and dreams likesports. Whether professional, minorleague, high school or littleleague, many of us connect

with our favorite team(s) on an emo-tional level that is unrivaled by anyother industry. Of course, this opensup an abundance of unique opportuni-ties for marketers to align their prod-ucts and services with this huge groupof passionate consumers. However,integrating a corporate business strat-egy into a marketing opportunity tosports fans may be different than youthink. This month Brilliant Resultsselected three experienced and savvymarketing leaders from the big three professionalsports leagues – National Basketball Association,National Football League and Major LeagueBaseball – to give you an insider’s point of viewabout what marketing approaches are home runsand what are strikeouts.

Over the last few issues, Brilliant Results hasbrought you in-depth insight into the worlds of non-profit organizations, the tradeshow industry, the gamingindustry and corporate America’s favorite game – golf.

The more we do these in-depth inter-views, the more we see a common thread,regardless of industry, that direct marketing,relationship management and integratedstrategies are requirements for long-termsustenance in today and tomorrow’s successful companies. This month, the world of professional sports echoes similar sentiments.

Perhaps no sport has more intimateappeal than baseball. And, perhaps, noteam in baseball has more mystique thanthe 2004 World Series Champions, the

Boston Red Sox. Yes, it is hard to believe, butafter all these years, the “Curse of the Bambino”finally has been lifted. One of the men to exor-cise that demon is none other than Dr. CharlesSteinberg, the executive vice president of publicaffairs for the Boston Red Sox.

A one-on-one with The World Series winning Boston Red Sox


Strong Promotions Put Up Power Numbers

“We see a common thread, regardless of industry, that directmarketing, relationship management and integrated strategiesare requirements for long-term sustenance in today and tomorrow’ssuccessful companies.”

SPORTS MARKETING

Dr. Charles Steinberg,Executive Vice President ofPublic Affairs for the WorldSeries Champion BostonRed Sox

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BR: Give our readers a little background on who Dr. Charles Steinberg is.

CS: I think the best way I can answer that question is totake you back about 30 years. I am a Baltimore native, andat age 17, I had the dream of a lifetime come true. I wasgiven an opportunity to intern with the Baltimore Orioles.The job was only supposed to last one month, and therewas no pay. But, I didn’t care because I was living thedream. Now 30 years later, the pay is a little better, but I’mstill living the dream.

BR: How did you get involved in baseball as a career?CS: After that first summer, the Orioles kept inviting

me back. At that time, I didn’t dare to dream that youcould actually have a career in baseball, so while I con-tinued to intern I also went to the University ofMaryland, where I went through my four years ofundergraduate work, then on to dental school. I figured,heck, if I can’t make a living in baseball, I’ll be the teamdentist so I could still be involved in the game I love.While being the team dentist may sound a little funnyat first, my timing was actually perfect. In 1982, theUniversity of Michigan founded the Academy for SportsDentistry. That first year, I was the first and only stu-dent in the program. I actually did my doctoral thesison sports dentistry, with an emphasis on baseball.

In 1985, the Orioles were among the first teams to get agiant color video screen (diamond vision), and they offeredme the opportunity to head up the project. I figured, look, Iwent through eight years of school, and I’m a practicing den-tist. If I can do that, I can certainly do this. So, I accepted,and it was awesome. We began this foray into a new worldof ballpark video. It was amazing. It was like a giant canvason which you could paint the most romantic visions of base-ball, add a new dimension to the fans’ ballpark experienceand use it to enhance our corporate sponsors’ presence.

I remember those were intensedays. I would teach at theUniversity of Maryland dentalschool from 8-5. Then, take care ofclients in my private practice from6-9 and back to ballpark to workon the diamond vision project untillate into the night. All the while,the baseball PR and marketing piece grew, so I eventually gotinvolved full time.

BR: Since the Orioles days, weunderstand you’ve been with acouple of other teams. Tell usabout that.

CS: In 1998, Larry Lucchino was thepresident and part owner of the Orioles.He and I saw eye-to-eye on a lot of top-

ics, and perhaps most importantly, wehad good synergy regarding ballparkambiance. You know, how it “felt” to go to a game. In 1995, Larry and hispartners bought the San Diego Padresfranchise. After 19 years, I decided toleave my beloved Orioles to join Larryout West. For seven years we went at itfull force and turned that franchisearound. We finished first in our divisiontwice and won one National LeaguePennant. We also put the concept ofbuilding a new ballpark to public voteduring the course of those seven years.The initiative passed, and that basicallysaved baseball in San Diego.

In 2002, Larry, Tom Werner andJohn Henry bought the Red Sox, and

most of us made the move back tothe East Coast. To have had theopportunity to live this dream withprimarily the same group of keyguys for 30 years makes me aboutthe most fortunate guy in the world.Then to be involved as the BostonRed Sox win their first World Seriessince 1918 is not only stunning, butalso truly heartwarming.

BR: How have your marketingstrategies varied from city to city?

CS: It’s interesting. All three mar-kets have been distinctively different.Here in Boston, the traditional in-ballpark promotions do not seem tohave the same allure as they did in

“To be involved as the Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since1918 is not only stunning, but also truly heartwarming.”

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Baltimore and especially San Diego. For example, in SanDiego a good in-ballpark promotion was the definitive rea-son we could sell out the 60,000-seat stadium. In fact, inone year we had nine sell outs, and, let me tell you, 60,000seats is a huge number. To put it in perspective, Fenway isabout 34,000 seats. In Baltimore, promotional products weredefinitely a well-received thank you. However in Boston, itseems to me as though the fans say: “Yeah, thanks but wereally just want you to win.” or “Don’t spend your moneyon gifts for me. I’d rather see you spend it on a better play-er.” Of course, the two are not connected, but it is interest-ing to see the different approaches in different markets. Onthe other hand, we do view each of the 81 home games asan opportunity to both market and communicate a useful,cultural marketing message to our guests. In summary, yourreaders might take that as a helpful hint for any industry:understand the audience you’re going to marketing to.

BR: Let’s talk about understanding your target audi-ence. How do you work with your corporate sponsorpartners to ensure their efforts are well received?

CS: As I mentioned, the fans here in Boston are differ-ent than the other two markets I have been intimatelyinvolved in. However, we do truly view each of the 81home games as a unique opportunity to market as wellas communicate a culture and message. For example,one night might be disability awareness night. The nextgame may be a salute to the people of New Hampshireor a salute to the 1967 Sox that won the AL Pennant.We view this legendary ballpark as a unique communi-ty-gathering place where we can communicate and cele-brate health, diversity, etc., 81-plus times a year. Wehave microphones, the scoreboard, the video, etc. All ofthese are tools to market and communicate.

We are very fortunate that every game last year wassold out. Most of these people come to the game seeking aunique personal experience, so we advise our sponsor part-ners that when marketing to this audience, a more “soft-sell” approach likely will be more effective. A supportiveapproach will be better received than imposing a messagethat is too commercial in nature. If you’re going to have suc-cess reaching your market, you have to do it in an emotion-al way and be associated with the good message. This is afundamental for us. You have to connect and empathize. Istrongly believe in this soft-sell approach because there isan inherent romance to a baseball game. It is a very person-al experience – people give you their hearts. If you bombardthem and interrupt their thinking, it’s an intrusion. Youdon’t need to intrude to connect. It’s not about screaminglouder, but more so, penetrating their hearts.

BR: You referenced “81-plus.” What is the plus?CS: Fenway is America’s most beloved ballpark, so we

open it up to the community for more than the 81 homegames. For example, on Halloween, we partnered withone of our corporate sponsors (Stop & Shop Grocery) toopen up the ballpark free of charge. Stop & Shop donatedthe candy, and the team’s players and executives wenton field and handed out candy. In this instance, wewanted to solve the parents’ dilemma of child safety, thetrustworthiness of the candy, etc. This way, we are usingall of our resources to support positive experiences thatinvolve Fenway, corporate partners and the community.

We opened the park again on Father’s Day. This wasan absolutely beautiful experience. We invited grandfa-thers, fathers, sons and grandsons to come play catch on


"Truly creative approaches are a force multiplier for any promotion or marketing

campaign. Any good marketer knows that anemotional buy has far more price flexibility

than an analytical buy."

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Now Available for Corporate SalesFor more information contact your promotional products distributor or Idea Workshop

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the Fenway grass. We asked only for a nominal contribu-tion to the Red Sox Foundation. We also arranged tohave players, past and present, be there to toss the ballwith the families. It was quite an experience to see ayoung boy catch a ball from Charlie Wagner as the kid’sgrandfather explained that Charlie was the RogerClemmons of his day. It brought a tear to your eye.

We have also invited the community to come out forspecial events. For instance, Ted Williams passed awayon July 5, 2002. On July 22, Fenway hosted a celebra-tion of his life. The ceremony included his former team-mates and his comrade in war, Senator John Glenn.More than 25,000 people came out to witness thissweet and emotionally exhausting event.

BR: What was the most impactful promotion youhave been involved in over your 30-year career as amarketer in Major League Baseball?

CS: Wow. There were so many, but one comes tomind right away. My first official day as an internfor the Baltimore Orioles was Monday, May10. Twodays prior to that, bright orange Brooks Robinson T-shirts were given to the fans. I can even rememberthat the shirts were sponsored by Crown CentralPetroleum, and by the way, the fact that I canremember the sponsor of a $2 gift I received over 30years ago is probably considered good ROI, don’tyou think? Anyway, my boss asked me to move theboxes of T-shirts to the gates to be given away tothe fans that would come to the ballpark that day,and I was lucky enough to be the guy that go to dothat. They wound up selling out the park that nightin 1976. I remember the stands were like an orangewave. That night was the beginning of my learningan important lesson in using promotional merchan-dise as part of a marketing strategy. People may notrespond to a simple T-shirt offer, but when you candecorate a simple T-shirt to give it an emotionalconnection, it can be a very powerful marketingtool. Furthermore, in the case of Crown Gasoline,the recipients were appreciative that Crown madethe gift happen, but were also pleased that theirlogo was understated and didn’t intrude on or over-power the intended message.

Some of our great corporate sponsor partnersinclude: Dunkin Donuts, McDonald’s, Giant Glass,Volvo, Sports Authority and CVS. Bank of Americastands out in my mind as a good current example of athoughtful, conscientious company whose peoplebased in Boston have come to us and said: “We wantto do something impactful and profound for kids in thecommunity. Let’s work together to develop a plan.” Inmy opinion, that is the how you get great results.Imagine sitting at a dinner table with good friends. Anidea comes out and everyone says: “That’s great! Howcan I help?” That is how we prefer to interact with outcorporate sponsor partners.

Another example is Beth Israel Deaconess MedicalCenter, the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. Aspart of that sponsorship, we created a very specialscholarship fund. Select kids will find out in middleschool if they are being awarded this scholarship. Itcomes with a message saying, “You get this if youkeep doing well.” Both the hospital and the teamprovide personnel as mentors for these kids to helpensure they stay on track. We’ll teach them abouteverything ranging from career options for theirfuture to illnesses they can avoid in adolescence. Thekids get special access such as being escorted on tothe field in a pre-game ceremony acknowledgingtheir efforts or having shadow days with the frontoffice staff. Of course, having a corporate partner likeBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center adds a newdimension to educate them about healthcare in addi-tion to just sports.

In San Diego, I can make a more broad statementthat caps were huge. Any cap, as long as it was cool,fashionable and well designed, increased ticket sales.The bottom line is: for a promotional item to be effec-tive, it must be an integrated part of a bigger marketingstrategy, and truly creative approaches are a force mul-tiplier for any promotion or marketing campaign. Whenit is a unified effort, the impact can be very emotional,and any good marketer knows that an emotional buyhas far more price flexibility than an analytical buy.

BR: Do you have any other strategy suggestions forour readers?

CS: What I think we have done with a great deal ofconscientiousness is to always start with the creativefirst. If you go to a corporate sponsor with this in mind,rather than the other way around, you are far morelikely to resonate with the target audience. For exam-ple, we do a promotion with McDonald’s. If a fan catch-es three balls, then every attendee gets free Frenchfries. This is a good promotion, but the problem isyou’re starting with a Big Mac, not a baseball park. Ifyou start with something like our Father’s Day catchand work to determine if McDonald’s is a good tie-infor that event, well, let’s say we’ve found the emotion-al impact to be greater.

We always try to make sure our sponsors and ushave a point of origin that is common ground. You wantthem to put their name to something that is already aheartwarming, emotionally provocative element, ratherthan be overly commercial in a society that is over-loaded with commercial messages. We look for corporatepartnerships that are full of heart and conscience. Wedon’t want our people ever to say, “I just sold this newcompany. Let’s develop a promo to make it work.” Inthat case, I would more than likely say no. I would feellike we would have ultimately sold part of our souls fora short-term gain. And for me, that’s just not somethingI’m willing to do. •

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FootBall

For the football perspective, we reached out toLou Imbriano, the vice president and chief market-ing officer of the Super Bowl Champion NewEngland Patriots.

BR: Please give our readers a little backgroundon you as an individual.

LI: 2005 will be my ninth year with the team, andit has been an amazing ride so far. I amnot your stereotypical marketing execu-tive for an NFL team, or for a big corpora-tion for that matter. I don’t have a mar-keting degree, and my background is inTV and radio programming. To me, thatmeans my “lessons” came from being inthe trenches. From real-world successes,not things I read in books. Don’t get mewrong. I’m not knocking formal educa-tion; it just isn’t how I came up.

I ran a sports radio station here inBoston, WEEI 850AM, an Entercom stationand now the No. 1 sports talk station inUnited States. At one point, our marketingperson left the station, and I pursued taking on thatrole in addition to my programming responsibilities.They gave me a shot to run both, and it just kind oftook off. I always enjoyed radio, but I also knew thatsports radio was not my life dream. Through that posi-tion, I had gotten to know most of the local sportsexecutives and had become good pals with the gener-al manager of the Patriots.

My shift to the Patriots started about 13 years ago,after the success of a specific event we created at thestation called “Sports Jam.” The event was the firsttime all the Boston teams worked together. We referredto it as “jamming all the sports under one roof.”

In the first weekend of the event, we attracted over20,000 people and raised over $500,000. At that time,Dan Kraft was running marketing for the team. He

came up to me after the event and said, “You shouldcome do this with us.” It was as simple as that.

BR: How about a little background on your team?LI: Really, the place to begin is when the Kraft fami-

ly bought the team about 10 years ago. MarcusDiNitto, managing editor of The Sports Business Daily,put it best when he said: “Their storybook reign is the

result of nearly a decade of strategic plan-ning, sound financial management and mas-terful marketing. The Kraft’s have taken thePatriots, previously one of the most moribundprofessional franchises in sports, and madethem into a thriving $1 billion sports andentertainment property producing record rev-enue. By running their sports operations withmodern-day business principles, the Kraft’shave significantly increased the value of their

investment, while delivering a quality productand experience for their consumers.”

Four years ago, the team achievedunprecedented popularity in the six-stateNew England region, which led to record

merchandise sales and innovative new productofferings. Meanwhile, our Super Bowl success andthe timing of moving into a new facility set the tablefor our sales and marketing staff to develop creativepackages for our corporate sponsor partners.

BR: Tell our readers about your approach toforming corporate sponsor partnerships

LI: The previous ownership was focused on win-ning games and selling tickets. Today, you still needthose two things; however, you also need great mar-keting partnerships to help supplement the business.To pay the players what they make today, you have togenerate additional revenue. TV has definitely beenthe cornerstone of the league, but we’re not talkingabout just that. The individual teams need to first

A one-on-one with The Super Bowl winning New England Patriots.

“Our whole existence is based on spending time with our corporatesponsor partners to better understand their businesses and howwe support their goals. What better way to do that then spendinga weekend together when you are hosting them in that kind of“royalty” environment?”

Lou Imbriano, VicePresident and ChiefMarketing Officer of theSuper Bowl ChampionNew England Patriots

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BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 11:54 AM


understand what the league’s goals are, then what theycan accomplish within their territory. It is our job to cre-ate programs and concepts that will help local compa-nies flourish. However, due to the team’s on-the-fieldperformance over the last few years, we are in a uniquesituation where we have both a local and national brand.

We are extremely service oriented towards our cor-porate partners. I have 36 people on staff, which ishuge for a pro sports team, and they don’t know howto say no. It is our job to create revenue-generatingextensions that provide a great value, then find theright group to tap into it.

BR: Why 36 people in your marketing department?LI: We don’t look at ourselves as a marketing

department for a team or stadium. We are very excitedabout how we’ve evolved over the course of time.

Here’s the thing, we place a great deal of emphasison sponsor, or customer, relations. The Patriots do, infact, recognize revenue from things like signs and pro-motions, but we’re really in the relationship develop-ment business. I tell all of our people that they are“relationship architects,” and you must build trust bydrawing up win-win concepts, then following throughby doing what you say you’re going to do.

The good news is that we have done a solid job ofcreating local partnerships, and as I mentioned previ-ously, because of winning, we now also have transcend-ed to a national brand with national opportunities. Forexample, one of our national corporate partners is Visa.Part of their package includes a deal where the onlyway you can get into Gillette Stadium is to use your Visacard. While that’s a huge deal for them locally, it’s alsosomething they can use to market nationally.

This year, we will spend a lot of time traveling aroundthe country talking to other national brands to show themwhat we can do for their businesses. We have a list of 10key companies that we believe we make the most sensewith. Even with all the technology in the world today,until we sit down face-to-face and talk to folks, we don’tknow if their strategies are well aligned with us or not.We always start with understanding what they want.What are they trying to accomplish? Our discipline, andquite frankly part of the Kraft family’s genius, is that theydon’t mind turning away revenue if it doesn’t makesense. We’re truly about the relationship. We view our-selves as a partner, not a sale. We always ask: “How canwe help you and your business?” As a result, 10 yearsago we had 50-60 partners. Now, it’s over 400.

BR: Let’s talk about your in-arena promotions.Approximately how many games a year incorporatepromotional giveaways?

LI: First of all, you need to understand that wedon’t do promotions to drive attendance. We actuallyhave a waiting list of over 60,000 people who wantseason tickets. We do them to enable companies tointeract with our fans. That being said, there is a big

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interest for our sponsor partners to interact with ourfans via that medium. I’d say in an average season,eight out of 10 home games incorporate a corporatepromotional distribution. We will have Pepsi giveaway foam hands. Comcast distributes fan bannersthat say “Defense” or “Go Patriots,” and so on.These promotions are usually distributed to everyfan, approximately 70,000, not to just the first 10,000or something like that. Imagine 70,000 foam handswaving with your logo on them. Everyone in the stadium sees it, the millions watching TV see it andthose items are usually kept and displayed by therecipients for years afterwards.

BR: What is the cost for a company to get involvedwith a team as popular as the Patriots are today?

LI: The beauty of the Kraft family organization isthey have the ability to control every thing. They ownthe land, the stadium, the team and most of the media,Web, radio, TV, etc. We have a robust profile of ele-ments, and because we control it all, we can developas large or as small of a sponsorship package as isappropriate for a sponsor. For example, on the lowerend of the scale, there is a great local company wework with, Lighthouse Computers. Media would be toocostly for their budget, so they’ve been the presentingsponsor for our Foundation golf tournament in whichplayers are paired with sponsors and all proceeds go tothe Patriots Charitable Foundation. The people atLighthouse are able to get involved with the team

at an intimate level and use the event to entertaintheir clients, etc. Also, Lighthouse is recognized on all of the direct marketing materials that promote theevent. The cost to sponsor an event like this is in thehigh five-figure range, so considering the impactopportunity, we believe the cost is quite reasonable. Ofcourse, on the high end of the spectrum, we have dealswith companies such as Gillette for the naming rightsto the stadium that are hundreds of millions of dollars.

BR: What kinds of products are given away atGillette Stadium?

LI: We have done it all – towels, pom poms, schedulemagnets and so on. We really try to select items thatwill incorporate fan interaction so it can be used in thestadium, but we also like our promotional items to havefunctionality after the game so a fan can take it homeand use it. This provides more value to the recipient andgives the sponsor longer advertising exposure.

I guess it really all depends on your goal. If yourgoal is to sell tickets, you would take a differentapproach than if you were trying to create the association

between the team, the sponsor and the fan. That’swhy you won’t see us doing a lot of T-shirts and bobble heads. The great thing about sports marketingis there are so many different things you can do, essentially limitless boundaries.

BR: How do you buy your promotional products, i.e.do you buy them from an agency or distributor and sellthe whole package to the sponsor, or does the sponsorpay for the “right” to sponsor the event then it’s up tothem to acquire and distribute the merchandise?

LI: We do it for them. We do leg work as far as get-ting ideas, bids, samples and all of the running around.We have about a dozen product suppliers that we workwith all the time. We typically will put an item out tobid to a minimum of six companies to make sure weare getting the best value for our corporate partner.

BR: What are some of the coolest campaigns youhave done?

LI: One of the ones the fans seemed to like the mostis when Bank of America did mini replicas of the Super

“The great thing about sports marketing is there are so many differentthings you can do, essentially limitless boundaries.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:29 PM

Now Available for Corporate SalesFor more information contact your promotional products distributor or Idea Workshop at 888-831-0401 e-mail: [email protected]

www.ideaworkshop.com

LACoste 2/21/05 2:21 PM Page 1

Bowl banner that is hanging inGillette Stadium.

Also, Comcast seemed to lovethe visibility and longevity of thefan banners we distributed forthem. Fan banners are 28-inch by

10-onch signs that read “Defense”or “Go Patriots” and are held up inthe stadium, but are also put it inoffices, kid’s rooms and cars afterthe event.

BR: Do you use promotionalmerchandise to reward employeesor thank sponsors?

LI: Absolutely. One of thecoolest things about the businesswe’re in is that corporate sponsorsand team employees are all fanstoo. We do this in a number ofways, depending on level of spon-sorship. It can be as little as hav-ing custom-logo merchandise in acorporate suite to bringing a spon-sor on the field to meet the team.This year, we had our players signmini versions of the Super BowlChampionship banner, then hadthem framed and hand delivered.For our bigger sponsors, we willeven take them on the team planewith us to away games. Thisapproach is incredibly valuableand is more important than it may

appear. Remember what I saidabout being relationship architects?Our whole existence is based onspending time with our corporatesponsor partners to better under-stand their businesses and howwe support their goals. What betterway to do that then spending aweekend together when you arehosting them in that kind of “royalty” environment?

BR: Any final thoughts or sugges-tions for our readers?

LI: I believe every team’s goalshould be the true win-win-winsolution, meaning the fan, thesponsor and the team. RobertKraft himself stated in a recentinterview: “The Patriots have wonthree out of the last four SuperBowls by subjugating the ego forthe good of the whole.” If we take this same approach into ourcorporate marketing efforts, weare sure to continue to developquality, long-term corporate partners and loyal fans. •

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:30 PM

BR0305_Section03 3/24/05 6:04 PM


BasketBall

For the professional basketball perspective, wewent out to the West Coast, where we attended aPortland Trail Blazers game and had the opportu-nity for a follow-up interview with Blazers ChiefMarketing Officer Declan J. Bolger.

BR: Please give our readers a little backgroundon you as an individual

DB: I grew up in England, which is not the tradi-tional route to getting into major league sports likebasketball and baseball, which are predominantlyled by U.S. leagues and teams. I came over to theStates one summer and got a liking for attendingthese events. I was fortunate enough to meetBernie Mullin, who co-authored the book SportsMarketing along with Stephen Hardy and William ASutton. Sports Marketing was the first comprehen-sive text and reference to cover the basic theoriesand principles of sports marketing. After getting myMaster’s Degree from UMass, I worked for thePittsburgh Pirates from 1988 to 1993, then theFlorida Panthers from 1993 to 1999, the WashingtonCapitals from 1999 to 2003 and now the PortlandTrail Blazers since November of 2003.

BR: Please give our readers a brief backgroundon the Portland Trail Blazers.

DB: The Portland Trail Blazers are an NBA fran-chise that has enjoyed a special place in the heart ofthe Northwest. This has been a very successfulteam, although we are currently facing new chal-lenges having not made playoffs this year for thefirst time in 21 years and recently terminating ourhead coach. These challenges have not stopped usfrom working very hard at marketing the team. Infact, even given the circumstances I just mentioned,attendance for the year has been approximately 3percent ahead of last year.

BR: Approximately how many games a yearincorporate promotional giveaways?

DB: We actually do promotions and distributedirect marketing tools for our corporate partners in anumber of ways. We play an 82-game season, and ofthose, 41 are home games plus four additional pre-season games. Every one of those home court eventsoffers a plethora of direct marketing opportunities,ranging from special limited edition “gift-night” pro-motional products to items that drop from our blimpor are slung from our slingshot. We even have spe-cial party areas, like our “Rip City Row” sponsoredby Burger King. In this case, they buy the seats, andwe incorporate added value. Our overall strategy isto make the event more fun then it already is. Youknow, create those magical moments.

BR: What seems to be the most popular promo-tional products? What will fans actually buy a tick-et to get?

DB: I don’t believe we can say that independent-ly a $5 hat, the chance to win a $50 gift certificateto a local restaurant or the chance to get a player’sautograph will sell an $80 ticket. We stronglybelieve it is a combination of all of the elementsthat add up to the overall experience. In addition tothe promotions, we have our mascot, Blaze the TrailCat, who provides a platform to entertain people,particularly the younger audience. When he’s notentertaining in the arena, he is involved in a varietyof outside events like visiting area hospitals withour players or BlazerDancers. It’s really all aboutcontinually growing all the touchpoints. One thingis for sure: variety is good.

It is important to acknowledge that althoughwe enjoy some benefits of being the only profes-sional sports franchise in the state of Oregon,there is certainly no shortage of entertainment

A one-on-one with The Portland Trail Blazers.

“Our overall strategy is to make the event more fun then it alreadyis. You know, create those magical moments.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:30 PM

Brilliant Results | April 2005 25www.brilliantpublishing.com

options and other organizations biding for your timeand money. Making the Portland Trail Blazers experi-ence fun, entertaining and interactive is all part of ourformula for success.

BR: Does your organization use promotional merchan-dise in its effort to sell season ticket packages or toenhance other sales efforts?

DB: Absolutely. We use a variety of rewards andincentives to encourage season ticket purchases, thankour sponsors and support non-profit organizationsthroughout the community. This year, we gave all of ourseason ticket holders a basketball with Maurice “Mo”Cheeks’ image on it. Last year, we sent them all anautographed picture of Theo Ratliff. When I was withthe Washington Capitals, we gave everyone a piece ofapparel. There are so many ways to approach it, and itis so important to do because this kind of direct market-ing simply generates ticket sales while reinforcing pridein the team and the city.

BR: Why do you believe corporate sponsors do in-arenapromotions?

DB: There is definitely not a one-size-fits-all answer.Individual companies will tap into our variety of direct market-ing promotion options to accomplish their individual objectives– some to launch a new brand in the market and some to main-tain or strengthen their position. We have some sponsors whoprefer this type of marketing to build their brands and otherswho are looking for a bounce back opportunity to measure ROI.For example, Taco Bell does a promotion with us where everytime our team scores 100 points or more, every person in thearena wins a free chalupa. Taco Bell does this because theywant to be perceived as supporting the team’s success whileadding value to the fans’ in-arena experience.

I think certain companies are passionate about incorpo-rating these kinds of promotions into their overall marketingstrategy because they really identify with that one-to-oneconnection. In-arena promotions offer corporations an exclusive impact opportunity to a great demographic. There clearly is a strong value, even in down times.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:30 PM


BR: What specific corporations does your teamwork with as sponsors for these kinds of events?

DB: We are very fortunate to have several greatsponsor partners including: Bank of America, Century21, Coca-Cola, Dodge, Fox Sports Network, Franz, GIJoes, Jack in the Box, Les Schwab, Premier AutoGroup, NewsRadio 750 KXL, Taco Bell, VerizonWireless and many others.

BR: How do you buy your promotional products,i.e. do you buy them from an agency or distributorand sell the whole package to the sponsor, or does thesponsor pay for the “right” to sponsor the event, thenit’s up to them to acquire the merchandise?

DB: It varies based on the client. We do whatever ismost appropriate for their needs.

A corporate partner will pay a fee to sponsor a cer-tain promotion, so the cost of purchasing the actualitems is a pass-through.

BR: What is the cost range of sponsorship with the Blazers?

DB: We have sponsors that spend literally millions ofdollars with us, and whose packages include presenceat games, TV, radio, cable, Web, publications, courtsidesignage, etc. We have a lot of outlets to provide value.We can use all the tools in the chest. On the otherhand, smaller companies can participate in the $30,000to $40,000 range.

The days of bronze, silver and gold packages aredefinitely gone. We give them what they need to helpthem grow their businesses. Everything is tailored tosuit their needs.

BR: Any other comments you think our readersmay find of interest?

DB: What’s exciting to me is that in a world wheremany things are rather gray and bland, sports contin-ues to be one of the two things, along with music, thatpeople are incredibly, fanatically passionate about. Asa marketer, that’s exactly where I want to be – wherepeople are passionate.

As far as professional sports in general, I disagree

with those who say it has become all about big busi-ness and corporate suites. Some people may not go toas many games as they used to, but many, many morewatch us on TV, listen to our broadcasts on the radio,read about us in paper, talk about us in online chatrooms and so on. There are so many different ways wecan connect with our consumer.

The battle we fight 82-plus times a year is reallyfor time. The good news is our product is no longerlimited to the four walls of the Rose Garden ongame nights. Today, we host relationships withindividuals in and out of the building all year long.The Internet and other media allow us to interactdirectly with our customers 24/7/365. In fact, Iwould even argue that we are more of a direct mar-keting company than a sports franchise because wehave those relationships. Technology is a beautifulthing. It allows all businesses to connect aboutwhat you want, when you want, to whom youwant. New technology allows us to understand ourcustomers better and become more engaged withthem on a one-to-one basis. Since we all experiencethe passion of sports in our own unique way, youas fans and we as marketers in the sports businesshave a lot to be excited about. •

“In-arena promotions offer corporationsan exclusive impact opportunity to a

great demographic. There clearly is astrong value, even in down times.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:00 PM

C O R P O R A T E

w w w. a s h w o r t h i n c . c o m

STUART APPLEBY, ASHWORTH TOUR TEAM MEMBER

BR0305_Section03 3/24/05 6:04 PM


Apollo/AMC

Price Point Range: Apollo/AMC price points range from$3.33 to $10.72 with 5,000 stitches of embroidery on any of ourheadwear.

Styles & SKU’s: The entire Apollo/AMC line is available to cor-porate America through numerous local advertising agencies.Our line includes over 50 styles of headwear, bags, fleece blan-kets, aprons and sporting towels.

What do you want corporate America to know aboutyour brand?

The Apollo company strives to bring our clients the highestquality products with the best possible pricing under the AMClabel. We are in our 10th year of operation with facilitiesthroughout the United States and manufacturing plants in Asia.Our company has a three point philosophy …Exceptional quality… Fast turn around … and most importantly stellar customerservice. Our motto says it best “AMC - Quality at its finest.”Since we are a woman and minority owned company, it goeswithout saying that we have tried harder over the years to meetand exceed our customer’s expectations. So, when planningyour next corporate event ask for the AMC line and experiencethe difference our commitment to quality makes.

Information provided by: Glenn De Baca, Marketing Manager,Apollo/AMC

Ashworth®

Price Point Range: MSRP is $18.00 up to $30.00 dependingon the embroidery and venue that is selling it. A US Open Hatwith several embroideries can cost the consumer up to $30.00.

Styles & SKU’s: In July of 2004, Ashworth Inc acquired GekkoBrands, LLC, a leading designer, producer and distributor ofTHE GAME brand headwear that is one of the leading head-wear brands in the college/bookstore distribution channel andmarketed primarily under licenses to over 1000 colleges and uni-versities, as well as to the PGA tour, resorts and sportinggoods dealers that serve the high school and college markets.Because of this acquisition, the assortment has expanded from 3styles to a multitude of styles known for exceptional quality,fashion, fit, applications, and colors. It is truly a ‘whatever youwould like’ opportunity. The manufacturing capabilities areendless. Our sales team is fulfilling requests from a simple lowprofile washed twill flat embroidery to chenille double felt frontpanel sandwich bills with custom logos inside the sandwich bill.


Ashworth and Callaway Golf headwear provides a greatopportunity for the corporate world to co-brand with the twomost globally recognized brands in the golf industry. Thebrands’ headwear assortments combine function with fashion.The exposure our headwear provides corporations is nothingshort of phenomenal. Headwear never goes out of fashion butevolves to stay fresh. Headwear is a natural progression follow-ing an Ashworth or Callaway Golf polo is terms of purchasingfor a corporate event.

Information provided by: Kellie Claudio, Corporate National SalesManager, Ashworth Inc.

TOP HATS An overview of six

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:01 PM


Bullet Line®

Price Point Range: $3.69 - $5.50 Standard Service

Styles & SKU’s: 25 Headwear styles each with an assortmentof available colors. Our hot colors continue to be Navy blue,Khaki and Putty. Styles that feature a 2 tone color scheme arealso popular.


For over 25 years, Bullet Line has combined quality, afford-ability and the best service available. Headwear is just onegreat part of the Bullet Line. Currently there are over 440 itemsavailable across 26 categories. Bullet Line’s motto is to “find away to say yes”. Proudly owning the distinction as the“Innovators of 3 day rush service” to the promotional productsindustry in 1980, Bullet Line has consistently earnedtop supplier awards.

With the addition of two offices in mainland China, BulletLine now has solutions for all of your custom sourcing and largevolume discount needs.

Information provided by: Rob Robinson, Director of Marketing, Bullet Line

KC Caps Price Point Range: $4.50 - $12.00ea.

Styles & SKU’s: approx 140 styles in ranges of 6-12 differentcolors depending on the style. Most popular colors – Black,Navy, and Stone. We also have some fashions colors likeTangerine, Periwinkle and Strawberry and pastels, Pink andPowder Blue


What we’d like corporate America to know - Since 1991 KCCaps has been leading the headwear industry not only in quali-ty, but in new, unique styles and fashions at affordable prices.We have 5 locations in the USA and our newest location justopened in Toronto Canada. KC Caps has one of the largestinventories in the country. We are a one-stop shop for all yourblank and overseas embroidery needs. We own all our overseasfactories and have 6 in house artists to assist customers withtheir overseas embroidery designs.

KC is the manufacturer of NU-FIT. The unique combinationof spandex blended fabrics and sweatbands that allow the hatsto fit multiple head sizes without a rear closure. Our excellentcustomer service can assist you with all your headwear needs.

Information provided by: Diane Goldsholl, KC Caps

headwear manufacturers that offer solutions to the corporate marketplace

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:01 PM


New EraTM

Price Point Range: New Era’s suggested retail pricing for thepopular caps pictured ranges from $16.99 to $26.99.

Styles & SKU’s: The number of caps that a company can com-mission their own logo on or co-brand with New Era is nearlyendless.


Since 1920 New Era has been the world’s premier headwearcompany. Our products transcend time, culture, sport and fash-ion – they fit your style. New Era has a 70-year relationship withand is the exclusive manufacturer/marketer of Major LeagueBaseball’s official uniform caps; New Era’s other licenses includethe NBA, NHL, Arena Football, NCAA Champions, College Bowland National Championships, and Little League, making it thelargest sports-licensed headwear company in the world. NewEra is the sole owner of EK by New Era, launched in 2005.Privately owned and headquartered in Derby, NY, with divisionsin Canada, Europe and Japan, New Era employs 1,500 people.New Era is a “Category A” member of the FLA.

Information provided by: Crystal Howard, Corporate CommunicationsManager, New Era Cap Company.

OttoTM

Price Point Range: In order to accommodate a wide range ofcorporate budgets, Otto International, Inc. offers competitiveprice ranges to fit your budget on our Otto Cap brand caps. Forexample, our price point ranges from our embroidered promo-tional caps at $3.42 all the way up to our embroidered flexiblefits caps at $9.17.

Styles & SKU’s: Otto International, Inc. always strives to bethe best in the headwear industry. We are proud to announcethat we make and distribute over 3,600 styles of Otto Cap brandcaps to the corporate markets, making us America’s LargestCap Source. We also can manufacture special colors and stylesto match specific needs our customers may require.


Otto International, Inc. has been Americas Largest CapSource and distributor to the imprinted sportswear, advertisingspecialty, embroidery and promotional markets for over twodecades.Manufactured with over 50 years experience, Otto Cap brand

caps are created with only the finest materials with the highestcraftsmanship and machinery in the industry. Each Otto Capbrand cap is meticulously matched, shaped, and sewn, to giveyou the easiest, smoothest, and most stable surface forall of your decorating needs.Combine our extensive in stock program, warehouse locations

from coast to coast, lack of minimums, same day shipping, finestquality and unparalleled customer service; it is easy to under-stand why Otto International, Inc. has been the leader in theheadwear industry for over 20 years.

Information provided by: Jennifer Lee, Otto International, Inc.

TOP HATS

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:02 PM


BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:03 PM


By Daniel A. Rascher, Ph.D., and Nola Agha

WhatBrings Fans

to theBallpark?

WhatBrings Fans

to theBallpark?It’s baseball season. That time when executives

look for ways to generate excitement and sell

out games. Fortunately, there are several factors

marketers can consider to improve attendance.

A quick glance at Table 1 will reveal some of the

interesting factors taken from a list of 58 that

were examined by the first author, Dr. Rascher,

in two published studies. Each member of man-

agement makes decisions that can affect atten-

dance and thus the bottom line. However, there

are some factors that not even the Lords of the

Realm can change.

One of these, the size of the market, is very

important. A city like Chicago has a built-in

advantage being about 3 times as large as

Cleveland. The White Sox draw around 2550

more fans per game than the Indians simply

because of their larger population base.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:03 PM


Opening day attracts almost 12,000 addition-al fans to the stadium compared to a typicalgame during the season. Too bad no one’s fig-ured out how to recreate that special aura of“opening day”.

American League games draw about 4200fewer fans to the park than National Leaguegames. No wonder the D’Backs don’t want toswitch leagues.

Scheduling matters – take noteCommissioner Selig. A weekend gameattracts an additional 5,000 fans to the ball-park. It’s not by coincidence that Saturdaysand Sundays have a full slate of games whileMondays are generally bare.

Intradivisional games also draw about 5,000more fans than other games. This may comefrom rivalries or the importance that these gamesplay in determining who’s in first. Should moregames against teams within the division bescheduled? The league is moving in this direc-tion, not only to take advantage of the rivalries,but also to cut down on travel costs and wearand tear on the players.

The single most effective—and expensive—way to increase attendance is to build a newstadium. A new stadium draws an extra 16,000fans to the park per game. This lasts for a fewyears, but at a shrinking rate. The owners dohave some control over this factor.

General Managers can improve attendanceby simply fielding a better club. Of course, thisis also quite expensive. For each extra win ateam had the previous season, about 300 addi-tional fans attend each game during the currentseason. Thus, a club that was 0.500 during theprevious season draws about 3000 fewer fansper game than a club that was 91-71.

BR0405_Section01 3/25/05 9:05 AM

BR0305_Section03 3/24/05 6:06 PM


During the middle of the season, a win by thehome team increases attendance by about 700 fansper game for each of the remaining games. Thus,getting in the race early is important in keepinginterest peaked.

Attendance is maximized when the home team hasabout a 67% chance of winning the game. In otherwords, fans want to see a close game, but still wantthe home team to have twice the chance of winningthe game as the visiting team. They don’t wantblowouts and they don’t want the home team to lose.

The good news for marketers is that promotionswork, increasing attendance by about 3,900 fans pergame (about a 14% increase above average).

However, offering too many promotional dayscauses a watering down effect of about 2%, meaningthat fans become fickle about promotions when theyare saturated with them.

Quality matters. For each $1 increase in the costof the giveaway (a proxy for the value of the give-away) there is an increase of about 2,700 fans pergame. Unfortunately, the study did not include theaffect of the Beanie Baby explosion. In fact, theBeanies may have out-slugged Big Mac.

Fans also pay attention to price. A $10 increase inthe Fan Cost IndexTM decreases attendance byabout 1000 fans per game.

The GM, the owner, and the marketing depart-ment can all affect a team’s bottom line with thedecisions that they make.

This type of information can be used to determine theoptimal mix of capital expenditures across potentialinvestments in the team. Deciding whether to spend $20million in the free agent market or throw that into build-ing a new stadium is actually a solvable problem. •

Daniel Rascher (Ph.D., Economics, U.C. Berkeley) isDirector of Academic Programs for the SportManagement Program at the University of SanFrancisco, where he also teaches courses in sports eco-nomics and finance and business research methods.As President of SportsEconomics and as Affiliate atLECG, LLC, his clients have included organizationsinvolved in the NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA, NCAA, AHL,minor league baseball, Formula One racing, CART,Premier League Football, local sports commissions andvarious government agencies. He specializes in eco-nomics and finance, especially industrial organization,antitrust, M&As, valuation, economic impact, feasibilityresearch, damage analysis, strategy, and labor issues.

Nola Agha, M.A., University of San Francisco,teaches sport management courses at the Universityof Massachusetts and provides business consultingto the sports industry.

In summary, (a) promotions have a discernible 14%impact on attendance, and (b) there is a slight watering down effectof too many promotions. The loss from this watering down effect,however, is outweighed by the gain from having an extra promotionday. Given the significant marginal impact of promotions on atten-dance, the increasing number of special promotions offered by pro-fessional sport franchises is not surprising.

The import of these types of promotions is further supported bythe shifting rationale for running promotions. Promotions were onceused exclusively as incentives to get more fans to come to games.Today, promotions are frequently part of the overall sponsorshippackage and are used to advertise the promotional sponsors’ prod-ucts to whoever attends the games. Thus, successful promotionsnow satisfy the two-prong objective of fulfilling corporate sponsorgoals and increasing the number of patrons. With the growing needto grow revenue streams, promotions simultaneously increasemonies from corporate sponsors and auxiliary income sources.

While this research sheds some positive light on the role of spe-cial promotions in the professional sport setting, it also raises anumber of issues to be addressed by future research. One concernis that the baseline findings may be an overestimate because of“cherry picking,” when a customer chooses to substitute a promo-tional game for a non-promotional game. This doesn’t add anythingto seasonal attendance; it just changes the timing of attendance.

Additionally, this line of research can potentially assist sportfranchises in the development of a comprehensive promotionalstrategy. To this end, future research endeavors will need toaddress a number of issues, such as (a) what the optimal spacingis between promotion days, (b) which items are best received andin what order (magnetic schedule obviously at the beginning of theseason), (c) which items have the best return on their investment,(d) how promotional decisions should relate to the other positiveattendance factors (quality of opponent, day of the week, etc.), (e)how price promotions compare to nonprice promotions, and (f)what is the optimal combination of the number of promotion daysand the distribution of the quality of the promotions.

Excerpt taken from Does Bat Day Make Cents? The Effect ofPromotions for Major League Baseball by Mark McDonald,University of Massachusetts at Amherst Sport ManagementProgram, and Daniel Rascher, University of San Francisco NavigantConsulting. Complete study was published in The Journal of SportManagement, 2000, 14, 8-27 2000 Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

Excerpt reprinted with the permission of the author.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:04 PM

Custom Designed Especially For You

Custom 3-D Pewter Replicas. Let us help you custom-design an exact replica of your company product, building or logo. The perfect gift for clients and employees alike…and a great way to keep your company’s image in the forefront of their minds.Drawings and pricing sent for approval before production begins.

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Design and mold charges: Prices vary depending on the size andintricacy of the design. Please inquire for assistance in creating a custom design to fit your budget.

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Contact your promotional product distributor for more informationasi/55630

Gabriel's Ad 3/28/05 8:29 AM Page 1

MinorsMajoring

in the


While the major leagues areusually where the bigbucks are earned and theheadlines are made, minorand independent league

teams are where stars are born and wherehigh impact, high value marketing opportuni-ties are aplenty.

According to the official website of minorleague baseball, there are 20 leagues and 242teams, and that’s just in the official NationalAssociation of minor league baseball teams. In 2004 those teams collectively attracted aremarkable 39,887,755 fans to attend their regular season games. Now keep in mind, thisdoesn’t include collegiate or independentleague teams, nor does it even begin to touchother non-professional teams in sports outsideof baseball! With all those potential marketingoptions to choose from, it should definitely flipthe “how do I get involved” switch in the headof any good marketer.

We could do another entire feature story onanalyzing the teams to recommend where yourpotential sponsorship dollars might be spent

most effectively (note to self; maybe nextyear…). However for this year, one shiningdiamond caught our attention, and if you’renot familiar with them, you should be becausethis is non-pro sports done right!

The St. Paul Saints were founded in 1993 as part of the new Independent NorthernBaseball League. In their first year they averaged 5,000 fans a night in a stadium thatonly has a capacity of a little over 6,000 seats.Their 96 game season includes 42 homegames, and over the last 12 years they haveaveraged over 100% capacity, selling out virtually every game!

The marketing opportunities they offer tosponsors are legendarily building loyalty andproviding a solid return. And they’re doingall this sitting right smack in the middle ofFOUR major league franchises - TheMinnesota Vikings, Timberwolves, Wild andyes, even the Twins. Incredible! “I believethe key to our success has been the commu-nity feeling like they ‘own’ this team,” saidDerek Sharrer, the Saints Executive VicePresident and General Manager.

MinorsMajoring

in the“There isn’t a community in the world that needs a ball park,

but every ball park needs a community.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:32 PM


The Saints are owned by baseball guru Mike Veeck, whoowns five teams around the country, and consults / managesthe operations for two others. One of his many famousquotes is, “There isn’t a community in the world that needsa ball park, but every ball park needs a community.” Veeckbrought Sharrer up through the ranks instilling that conceptalong the way. Sharrer graduated from Indiana Universitywith a degree in sports marketing. He made stops at theFort Meyers Miracle (a Class “A” affiliate of the MinnesotaTwins) and the Charleston River Dogs (a minor league affili-ate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) before taking his currentpost in St. Paul in 2004. “Our philosophy is very inclusive forthe fans, the sponsors and the players,” said Sharrer. “Mikeand the rest of the group here have built something veryspecial. I don’t think any team in any sport could sell outevery night for 12 consecutive years without first developinga special culture internally and perception externally.”

The magic of the Saints seems to be a unique set ofingredients that includes one part community involvementand two parts fun. “In fact, one of the real success storieshere is the tailgating,” said Sharrer. “Our games all beginat 7:00 p.m., yet by 4:00 the parking lot is rockin’! Our ticketprices range from only $4 - $10. We will always have a $4ticket & a $1.50 hot dog. That alone is an important part ofour commitment to the community.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:32 PM


If you’re not familiar with Independent Leagueplay, you might be surprised to see the number ofMajor League players come through the system.Andy McPhail, the former GM of the MinnesotaTwins described the Independent Northern Leagueas “A beer league that wouldn’t last more than amonth.” McPhail didn’t quite get that one right. In addition to the fun environment, Veeck and the

team were committed to bring quality talent to St.Paul. The talent pool started with Leon (Bull)Durham, who was the first major league guy thatcame to play in the league. Durham was formerly a member of the 1993 Cubs championship team andwas incredibly valuable to the development of theteam, and paved the way for many others. Fromthere the Saints had stints with Jack Morris whofinished his career in St. Paul, Daryl Strawberry, who went back to the Yankees mid-year and helpedthem win a world series. Kevin Millar (the firstbaseman who is now with the world champ RedSox). Ray Ordonez, JD Drew and others. However,perhaps the most notable player the team eversigned was Ila Borders – the first female (LH pitch-er) to play professionally in a men’s baseball league.

Yes, the winning is also important, and the teamdoes that too. In fact, just last year this storybookteam ended their season with a Cinderella finish.The Saint won their league championship in grandfashion… of is that grand slam fashion. I can hear the radio announcer now… “The St. PaulSaints, down to their last strike twice, rallied forseven ninth inning runs, capped by Marc Mirizzi’sgrand slam home run! They defeated Schaumburg,10-6, in the fifth and deciding game for the NorthernLeague championship at their home stadium.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:33 PM

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So now that you have some background, let’s getto the fun stuff. The Saints incorporate special cor-porate sponsored promotions in about half of their 48 regular season games. Since the team is so wellembraced by the community and the twin cities areleaden with big corporate headquarters, the teamgets their fair share of sponsorship support. Theteam’s sponsorship partner list reads like a wish listfor any major league team. Companies like GeneralMills, Comcast, Coke, Arby’s, Taco Bell, TDSMetrocom, and two of the big regional Casinos(Treasure Island and Grand) just to name a few. CubFoods has also supported the team and its tailgatingcraze since year one. In our exclusive interview, weasked Sharrer about some of the best promotions theteam and its sponsors have done.

“Quite frankly the demographics in minor leagueball is great – families. We work hard to make sure ourpromotions are well suited for that audience, and tie-into the overall theme of the team or to current events,”said Sharrer. “Our mascot is a pig named Mudonna.The concept of having a pig as a mascot comes fromwhen St. Paul was known as Pigs Eye Station way

back in the trapper days. So of course, one of themust-have promotions that really brings home thebacon is our Mudonna Piggy Bank night sponsored byHiway Federal Credit Union. And since our tailgatingis so legendary GMAC got involved by sponsoring tailgate chair night. We have also done seat cushions,team card sets, magnet schedules and custom logoedballs, bats, caps and backpacks. If it sounds like a lotit’s probably because it is, but remember the morethese promotional items get into the community, themore marketing exposure there is for both the teamand the sponsors.”

Sharrer went on to say “In developing our promo-tions we have found it’s the higher perceived valueitems that seem to be appreciated the most, and overthe years that has gotten more important. One of ourmost popular items last year was a backpack. Ofcourse they were distributed towards the end of theyear to tie-in to the back to school theme, but weadded extra value by stuffing them full of other gifts and special offers from other sponsors. Useful,functional items are always well received.”

Creativity and fun are at the heart of everySaints promotion. They even have a litmus testthat every promotion concept has to survive beforebeing implemented;

1. Is it fun?2. Will it help sell tickets?3. Does it incorporate a sponsorship opportunity?4. Does it get attention?

With that in mind, just when you thought the bobble-head craze was slowing down, think again. Last yearthe Saints organization put a new twist on the “beenthere done that” craze by hosting an official Presidential“bobble-lection”. The team ordered 1,250 Bush and1,250 Kerry bobbleheads and set up several mock votingbooths. As the fans entered the stadium they couldwalk into the booth. They placed their vote by actuallytaking one of the dolls. The first nominee to have hisdolls completely depleted won the bobble-lection. Incase you’re wondering… Kerry took Minnesota by 18bobble heads! To add to the overall theme, realDemocratic and Republican senators were on hand,

“Direct marketing strategies throughpromotional merchandise simplyoffer a better opportunity for businesses to connect with people.”

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:33 PM

Donkeys and Elephants interactedwith Mudonna and the night was justgood, old-fashioned fun!

The team also uses promotionalmerchandise in its season ticket sales efforts and its sponsor gratu-ity packets. This year season ticketholders will receive a limited edi-tion championship T-shirt. All ofthe approximately 300 corporatesponsors will receive a custom DVDcontaining a five-minute video com-pilation of the seasons highlightsset to music, and the historicCinderella story championship winin its entirely.

When asked why corporate spon-sors seem to be so attracted to directmarketing promotions like this,Sharrer replied, “I think early on insports marketing it was about co-branding, meaning the corporationwanting to show visual support forthe smaller local teams. But overtime,sponsors have become much savvierabout direct marketing in sports vs.

mass media like print, TV or radio.Direct marketing strategies throughpromotional merchandise simply offera better opportunity for businesses toconnect with people.

“Direct marketing like this has aproven ROI that’s tough to beat. Forexample we have a promotion called“The K-Man”. We select a player onthe visiting team each night and if hestrikes out, every fan wins a specialoffer from our sponsor (Arby’s). In thefirst year that offer was a free roastbeef sandwich. The return rate averaged

a staggering 30-35%. So strong infact that Arby’s wound up reducingthe offer to a free side of onion ringwith a purchase of a sandwich.Wouldn’t every company like to havethat problem?” asked Sharrer.

The team definitely incorporatesother marketing and advertising tac-tics in their overall strategy, includingtraditional mass media. All of theteams’ games are on TV (all games oncable and 8 are over the air).

However, unlike the major leagues,the Saints views their TV deal to be as much of a marketing tool as it is arevenue generator.

With their inclusive businessstrategy, sell out crowds everynight, corporate sponsors clamber-ing to get involved, here at BrilliantResults we believe every businessfrom every industry can learn some-thing from what’s happening in thegreat white north. •

For more information about the St. PaulSaints, check out www.spsaints.com.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 8:33 PM


WFrom a branding and cultural

perspective, the journey from sportsto lifestyle brand is an interestingphenomenon executed by our high-tech media world and made possibleby a secret formula that seems to beone part strategy, one part grass-roots evolution and one part sheerluck. The only problem is no one isquite sure (or at least can agree on)what exactly that formula is or howto keep it thriving.

From Burton to Oakley toBillabong to adidas, these once spe-cialty brands were created out of apassion not only for a particularsport but how to make participatingin that sport a better experience.The road is paved with companieswho have contended with thetricky balance between broadening

the brand to a wider audience andover extending the brand to be toomany things to too many con-sumers. The result? Brand dilution and, in some cases, death.

The granddaddy of all sports tolifestyle brands may be Tag Heuer, thewatch company. Founded in 1860 byEdouard Heuer in Switzerland, theHeuer Watch Company quicklybecame recognized for a high degree ofaccuracy suitable for timing sportingevents. Known for its innovations instopwatches and water-resistantwatches, Tag Heuer has closely asso-ciated itself with competitive sports, providing official timing services for theOlympic Games, FIS Ski World Cup,FIA Formula 1 World Championshipand many other international sportingevents since the early 1900s.

hat tips a brand that was originally created for

snowboard bindings into a widely recognized

mainstream brand? Sports brands like Tag Heuer,

Oakley and Op reach beyond their core audience

and extend far beyond pure sports. Some succeed

but some fail miserably. Why? By Alycia de Mesa

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:06 PM


In 1985, Heuer joined the Taggroup and was re-christened Tag-Heuer. Its sports notoriety maynot have died entirely, but it is clear that after the acquisition, Tag-Heuer morphed into a high profile,fashion and status-conscious brand.

Edward M. O’Hara, chairmanand senior partner of SME Inc., astrategic branding agency specializ-ing in team and retail sportsbrands, believes that what makesmany sports brands authentic, andtherefore appealing to consumers,are the elements of “high perform-ance, contemporary, and technolog-ically innovative.” Throw into thismix unique, hip and more oftenthan not youth-oriented, and youhave many of the common ingredi-ents today’s sports to lifestylebrands share.

Says O’Hara, “I think when [asports brand] is based in perform-ance, there’s a sense of realnessand authenticity to the brand. Youjust can’t come out and say ‘I AM asports-lifestyle brand.’ You have toearn it.”

Bill Carter, president and partnerof Fuse Integrated SportsMarketing specializing in youthmarkets, cites Burton andQuiksilver as two successful sportsto lifestyle brands very much targeted at young teens/youngadults as their conscious core audi-ence. Known for surfing, Quiksilverhas broadened its reach from itscore teen male/female buyer byadding fashion line extensions suchas Quik Silver Edition to appeal tothe 25-year-old buyer. In the case ofsnowboard brand Burton, he notesthat the company is not highly con-cerned with older (in this case even20- to 30-something-year-old) con-sumers. More recently, Burton hastaken a somewhat similar approachto line extensions as Quiksilver, butas Carter puts it, they’re not asconcerned with “identifying withthe older target market.”

Authenticity may be a key fac-tor as to why brands like Burton

Bill Carter, president and partner of Fuse IntegratedSports Marketing specializing in youth markets,

cites Burton and Quiksilver as two successful sports to lifestyle brands very much targeted at young

teens/young adults as their conscious core audience.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:07 PM


are shy of moving too far beyond their core audience.It’s one thing to sell items other than snowboards,bindings and boots to a teenager who isn’t a snow-boarder; it can be quite another thing to sell it to the38-year-old accountant non-snowboarder. Let’s face it,how real/cool/street is it to see your friend’s dadwearing the same brand as you around the house ona Sunday afternoon?

States SME’s O’Hara, “There are several brands thathave moved away from the performance and the real-ness of the sport. If you look at all these brands, a lotof them have moved away to where they are really justa catalogue now [and are] leveraging the equity thatthey’ve built.”

Back to Tag Heuer. To retain its own authenticity inthe sports realm, the company’s website prominentlypromotes its status as the official timekeepers of theIndy Racing League (IRL) and the Indy 500. TigerWoods, the young Midas of golf pros, is one of several“brand ambassadors” alongside glamorous Europeanmodels and actors. In 2003, TAG Heuer even openedits own Formula 1 driving school in the south ofFrance, in partnership with AGS.

There is no question that what fuels the image ofa sports to lifestyle brand is the media. Whether it’sESPN showing the X-Games, an IMAX movie ofextreme snow sports or a music video featuring rap-pers wearing adidas, the media can add extra layersof sizzle and cool that cannot necessarily be concoct-ed behind closed doors in the strategy laboratory.

Since so much of the sports brand equation is inno-vative technology leading to high performance leadingto victory, it only makes sense that aligning with aproven winner athlete is the way to promote the effec-tiveness and cachet of the brand. This can also be thegreatest challenge to the younger or smaller companycompeting for endorsement deals for top athletes start-ing in the millions of dollars.

In 2003, David Beckham inked the most lucrativeathlete endorsement deal to date with adidas forapproximately US$ 160 million. Not bad consideringgolf pro Arnold Palmer effectively began the era of ath-lete endorsements by earning $20,000 in 1958.

The further appeal to top athlete endorsements isthe aspect of the average Joe/Jane aspiring to be or dosomething greater. Says Peter Summersgill of TrinityR&D, a product development research firm, “Iabsolutely believe these brands are aspirational on thepart of the consumers because most [people] are nevergoing to be using that device—or whatever the itemis—to the peak of its capabilities.”

If athletes like Beckham are out of reach, live andtelevised event sponsorships, team sponsorships andgood old product placements are other tried and true

methods of promoting the brand to a core audienceand beyond. Product placements continue to be espe-cially effective for reaching outside the sports brand’score audience.

Few who saw the American movie “Fast Times atRidgemont High” (1981) can forget actor Sean Pennplaying a stoned-out surfer in his classic, checker-board-print, slip-on Vans. Already well known in theskateboard and surf communities for its shoes, themovie brought this niche-specialty brand into thelives of millions of suburban kids who knew little tonothing about skateboarding. The shoes were hot,colorful, customizable and relatively expensive forthe average 13-year old at the time. As a result of theexposure, Vans became a leader in extreme-sportsfootwear with brand loyalty so fierce, it reportedlythwarted attempts by Nike to gain market share forits own skateboard shoes.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:07 PM

bad idea good idea

P: 800.383.7149 W: warwickpublishing.com E: [email protected]

Over 83% of businesses purchase products and services from the advertisers who supplied them with a calendar

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Like fashion, the fickle tastes of consumers alsoextend to popularity of certain sports. At the height ofVans’ success, skateboarding’s popularity succumbedto BMX racing and didn’t re-emerge again until themid-1990s, thanks in part to ESPN 2 and its coverageof skateboarding in its Extreme Games. Today Vans isback, proudly displaying its namesake retail stores in asuburban mall near you.

The other link to claiming lifestyle success is goodold-fashioned viral marketing. Says Fuse’s Carter,“With a lot of brands I think the most effective way ofmarketing is word of mouth—especially in the youthand teens—that market likes to discover things ontheir own. They don’t necessarily gravitate to brandsthat have been dumped in their lap.”

If ever there was the greatest brand tale told, it isthe story of Op’s (Ocean Pacific) transition from a surf-board maker in the 1960s to a fashion trendsetter of

the 1970s—a phenomenon not previously heard of inthe sports world.

In the 1970s and early 80s, Op’s trademark silkyHawaiian prints and boardshorts, which weredesigned for the surfer’s lifestyle in and out of thewater, created an entire cultural movement basedon the “West Coast Lifestyle.” The brand stayedauthentic by consistently sponsoring top surfersand major surfing events promoting in particularthe California surf scene. According to history, theimpetus for Op’s obsolescence began with Op Pro’smorph from a top tier international surf event tobikini contests gone wild with surfing as a sidenote. The breaking point came in 1986 when riotserupted at the event, quickly turning the surf kingsinto has beens. By the company’s own websiteadmission the perception of the brand by the nextyear was that it was “out of touch, over the hill,and interested more in expanding a massive distri-bution system than in serving core customerswhom had built their brand.” While the licensingagreements for anything and everything Op werelucrative financially, the over-extension of thebrand tore its image down. By 2001, the brand hadjust two athletes endorsing it.

Under the tutelage of its new CEO, Dick Baker,a veteran of Esprit and Tommy Hilfiger, the com-pany has regained some if its lost footing aftermany unsuccessful prior attempts and is leverag-ing its equity as the “first of” sports to lifestylebrands. Like Quiksilver and Burton, the companyrecently launched a new brand called Seven2 toappeal to more fashion-forward street styles andlaunched a line extension called Ocean Pacificlabel for its older audience of 25 to 45 year olds.Wetsuits, fragrances, home furnishings and elec-tronics are, according to its website, other areasof brand expansion.

While there was a 40 percent sales increasebetween 2002 and 2003 since the arrival of Baker, thequestion remains will the brand fully resurrect itself orfall victim once more to over-extension and dilution?We can start to worry when we purchase a new diningroom set from Op.

Alycia de Mesa is a freelance brand identity consult-ant and writer with over 10 years experience fromFortune 100 to start-up companies. She is author ofBefore the Brand, the definitive brand identity hand-book, published by McGraw-Hill (under the nameAlycia Perry). Alycia de Mesa can be contacted atwww.demesa.net. •

Reprinted with the author’s permission. This article was originally published on the web site www.brandchannel.com October 25, 2004.

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:08 PM

You and

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Things We Love


It Was Super at the Super Bowl……and now it’s in homes all across the country,whether as an autographed memento or used by avidgolfers to practice. The cambered polymerStrikePad™ simulates taking a divot Designed toreplace conventional golf mats it creates an aircushion on impact and will not grab the club.BirdieBall, Inc.

1

Fans Can Clap, Cheer & Still Hold Their…… beverage with the BevNeck™ beverage holder. Fans

happily display company logos when they are on somethingas essential for game enjoyment as the BevNeck™.

Motivational Creations, Inc.

2

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:20 PM


Things We Love

5

3

Don’t Lose Another Cold One……when tailgating before the biggame make sure fans have a Magna-Coolie™ to keep cold ones cold andclose at hand. These magnetic holderswill “hang” or “sit” on any metalsurface, so no more crying over spiltor lost beverages.Raindrop Advertising

4It’s the 7th Inning Stretch…… Give the fans a little fun during thegame and something to take home toremember that special time. A highquality yoyo with your logo will just keepon going around the world.The Humphrey Line

Whether Tailgating or At Home…… you can open the bottle and relaxbecause the BottleTool® insures that youwon’t spill a drop.Motivational Creations, Inc.

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:29 PM


Things We Love

They’ll Thank you Tomorrow…… for protecting their lips while they werecheering the home team on during the biggame. These custom lip balms are anattractive way to display your logo andwill be used over and over by fans luckyenough to receive them.The Humphrey Line

6

7It’s a Bird, It’s a Ball, It’s a Logo…… it is a BirdieBall™. Voted by PGA Professionals at the PGAMerchandise show as the 2005 Best New Instructional Product,the BirdieBall™ with its limited 40 yard flight is the perfect practicegolf ball as it draws, fades, hooks and slices just like the real thing.BirdieBall™ is also a great fundraiser; attendees at the PGA Showpaid to compete at hitting a target and in the process raisedthousands of dollars for the PGA Foundation. BirdieBall, Inc.

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:29 PM

10


8Things We Love

Don’t Run on Empty…… this handy wrist water bottlesolves every runner’s hydrationproblems without carrying a bottle ofwater. Collect two – one for eachwrist -and add strength training toevery jog.Jayline International Corp.

Tag Your Client’s GolfBag with……something they will keepattached. These tags don’tjust display logos, they alsocontain information everygolfer can use. Whether it isstretching exercises or therules of the game, these tagsare made to keep.Gibas Golf Products

9

Carry Your Clubs in Comfort……with the Quad Shock Strap™. This

ergonomically designed quality golf bagcarrying strap will make walking the

back nine a breeze and insureclients get that extra exercise for

good health.Read the Greens

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:30 PM


Things We Love

Take Home a Piece ofAmericana…… from the ballgame. These bat pensare almost a tradition, yet true baseballfans still enjoy receiving and using aunique baseball bat pen. Choose thenew retractable pen and its sure to hit ahome run.HPC Global

When You Need to Light Up TheTailgate……barbeque grill that is, Zippo has youcovered with this durable metal extendedlighter you can reach in to light up andavoid painful burns. Complete with a child-resistant safety button and a convenienthanging loop and fuel window, this lifetimeguaranteed lighter will get your fire going.Zippo Manufacturing Company

11

12

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:30 PM


Things We Love

For All Those ‘Cheese Head’ Fans……there is a new promotional product – the ‘Cheese Butt’ cushion – for those diehard Green Bay Packers’ fans. These stadium cushionsprovide comfort for any sports fanny and are sureto keep your logo up front and personal for yearsto come. Think outside the box.Baumco Products

When the Corporate Box Needs an Upgrade……savvy companies will be adding this eleganthand blown glassware with full color graphicimprint or for durability for those with excitablefans consider the 18-8 gauge enameledstainless steel mug in your choice of gloss ormatte finish with a comfortable hand grip.World Wide Line

14

13

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:01 PM

BR0105_Section03.qxl 12/17/04 3:29 PM Page 31


CUSTOMER OR EMPLOYEE NIGHT OUT AT A BASEBALL GAME Logo balls with company name and a sloganwhen you take your employees or customersout to a game. Minor league games are greatfor this. Baseballs can be used for invitations tothe game by a mailing or just handing them out.Sponsor a night at a local baseball game. Usebaseball bat pens and send the message, “Wego to bat for you!”

COMPANY THEMES USING BASEBALL CLICHES AND BUZZ WORDSHit a homerun with… your bases are coveredwith... be a team player for... it’s a whole newball game with... join our team, grand slamevent, success through teamwork, We’re thePro’s, We go to bat for you. You’re #1, It’s ahit, Double bagger, Big Hit, Top of the order,Fast Ball, Slide into, Fielder’s choice, slugger,bullpen, curve ball, shut out.

INVITATIONS - MAIL THEM TO A CUSTOMER WITH AN EVENT MESSAGE Birthdays, Open house, Weddings, BarMitzvah’s. Coupons - bring this baseball in andreceive a 10% discount.

CONVENTION & TRADE SHOW GIVEAWAYS Because baseball is America’s favorite pasttime; everyone loves to have a baseball. It issomething that won’t go to waste and chancesare they will show it to more than one person.It’s an eye-catching giveaway and conversationpiece. Try to juggle three of them!

NEW BALLPARK OR STORE OPENING It’s a great idea for opening or promoting anew ballpark or sports store. Bring in a bigname and have an autograph signing (useleather balls for best results).

YOUTH TOURNAMENTS & COMPANY PICNICSEach player gets a ball with the name of thetournament on it. The coach gives each player aball after the season with the team logo, yearand team record. These balls can come in anacrylic case or on a wooden base with a brassplate on it.Bring balls to play with at your company sum-mer picnic.

SALES MEETINGS & SEMINARSGet everyone’s attention at the beginning of ameeting when you throw baseballs at him/her.Make them answer a question to get a ball.Print the balls with the message for the meet-ing. Use a baseball to give a “sales pitch.”

This month’s suggestions courtesy of:

A Supplier's Marketing Tips & Ideas for Brilliant Results

brilliant ideas | From the Source

BR0405_Section02 3/26/05 1:37 PM

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W RKSWhatCase Studies in Success

Industry: FOOD & BEVERAGE – Stadium Food & Beverage Consumer Program

Challenge: To create a new concession product with enough perceived value tooffset objections to a soft drink price increase.

Solution: With plans to raise the price of their 32-ounce soft drink, StadiumFood & Beverage wanted to roll out a product that would offset thesting of higher drink prices. The solution was a series of 32-ouncelenticular cups featuring three (one per cup) individual players on theCarolina Panthers football team. The cups, promoted as “Collector’sCups,” were supported by point-of-purchase materials placed strate-gically near the concession stands. The cups three-dimensional“motion” effect further elevated their perceived value. Three panelson each cup show the NFL logo, the featured player in action and apicture of the player’s face that zoomed larger in the panel as the cupwas turned. “Who did you get?” became a familiar phrase aroundthe concession stand. Post-game clean-up crews reported dramatical-ly fewer cups left behind, as fans were taking the souvenirs home!

Result: Even though smaller size drinks have routinely outsold the largercup, 32-ounce sales during the first game of the new souvenir cupincreased by 70 percent. Sales continued to rise with the subsequentrelease of each cup in the series.

Case study provided by: Fred Parker, Bluegrass PromotionalMarketing – [email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:02 PM



Industry: INSURANCE – GEICO Direct Sales Incentive Program

Challenge: To motivate GEICO Direct representatives and sales counselors toincrease productivity and new sales during a two-month period.

Solution: Celebrating GEICO’s first year as a corporate sponsor of a BuschSeries NASCAR racing car, the company launched a terrific tie-insales contest with a NASCAR theme. Each region was given a budg-et to throw its own high-energy kickoff rally where they received“GEICO 500” caps, flags and mini tire-pressure key chains. The ral-lies were hugely popular and successfully jump-started the cam-paign. Games and trivia contests were held at the rallies allowingsales counselors to win stadium seats, smart mugs and race fan kits.More race-themed promotional items and cash value scratch cards($2 to $50) were awarded for every sale fueled by the contest. Grandprizes of $1,000 debit cards were presented to each member of theteam that showed the greatest increase in productivity. This was awinning promotion that got off to a roaring start with the kickoff ral-lies and never slowed down.

Result: New corporate business increased by 9.4 percent company-wide, andnew business increased for an overall productivity of 14.3 percent.

Case study provided by: Amy Tillotson, Summit Marketing – [email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:03 PM

BR0305_Section03 3/24/05 6:07 PM



Industry: HEALTHCARE – Siemens Trade Show Incentive

Challenge: To stand out from myriad other exhibitors at trade shows.

Solution: To be remembered long after the show has ended, Siemens gives outthe live tree-in-a-tubes from Groline to attendees who visit theirbooths at the dozens of trade shows they participate in each year.Customers will dig through to the bottom of their trade show bags toget to the live tree when they get home. Everyone likes to plant atree, so it appeals to all demographics.

Result: Since the tree will last for three generations and help to re-greenAmerica - the Siemens company receives a great deal of favorablepublicity. This is in addition to creating a memory point for visitorsto their trade show booths.

Case study provided by:Jim Dunne, Marketnet – [email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:11 PM



INDUSTRY: HEALTH & FITNESS – Catalog Promotion

Challenge: A Texas based promotional products team was updating a very suc-cessful online promotional product catalog for a women’s health andfitness company. The promotional team was looking for fun productsto be purchased by clients and franchise owners. The online promo-tional catalog features year round products and inspired seasonalproducts.

Solution: The promotional products professional met with TimeZone®, a lead-ing promotional manufacturer of watches to discuss a plan of attackfor a fun seasonal watch. After their initial meeting with theTimeZone® team at an industry trade show, ideas were submitted tothe women’s health and fitness company. The idea chosen was a rec-tangle case, silver women’s watch with a reversible decorative rib-bon. The watchband simply slides in and out offering two unique yetfun summer looks. A frosted semi-soft plastic was used and the pack-age was designed to highlight the band

Result: The result of the watch offering was better than expected. Thewatches themselves were an immediate success and sold out. Thesesales led to a reorder of the watches as well as a line of key chainsand other summer accessories designed following the ribbon theme.

Case study provided by: Chris Smith, Calconix/ TimeZone® – [email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:39 PM



INDUSTRY: ENTERTAINMENT - FOX Folder

Challenge: Provide a unique, attention-getting presentation package for thepress kit that is used to promote all different FOX channels to variouscompanies, investors and the press.

Solution: The client’s marketing manager saw a Hirsch mouse pad, which usedour liquid motion idea and asked if this concept could be incorporatedinto a press kit folder. Using a simple paper mock up supplied by ourdistributor, Hirsch made a sample of what the actual product wouldlook like. The end client was thrilled with what our company man-aged to create.

Result: After the successful completion of this order, the client immediatelyordered another custom folder for a different division. Hirsch was alsovery proud to learn that the distributor received a Print ExcellenceGOLD AWARD

Case study provided by: Michael Hirsch, Hirsch Presentations –[email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:04 PM

BR0305_Section03 3/25/05 8:54 AM



Industry: NON-PROFIT – School

Challenge: Provide a safe promotional product to encourage students to collectUPC codes for a school fundraiser.

Solution: The promotional products distributor suggested the Trim Slitter™#1450 for this project. The trim slitters were flat, easy to mail andwere sent to each student household. The easy yet safety consciouscutting feature of the trim slitter made collection of UPC codes simple. The repeat ad exposure of this handy household tool was alsoa constant reminder to keep collecting.

Result: The school reported that the profitability of their fundraiser exceed-ed all previous years even after the cost of the mailing and the TrimSlitters™.

.Case study provided by: David Goldfarb, Evans Manufacturing, [email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:04 PM



Industry: SPORTS SPONSOR – Ford Dealerships/Baltimore Orioles

Challenge: Create a game day promotion that would benefit the sponsor, the

team and the fans.

Solution: A CIT Baseball in an acrylic case with a promotion sheet was creat-

ed. The unique CIT imaging made it possible to create a real photo

Baseball with an “old” and “new” model car on each panel. One

ball was given away to each Dad at the stadium. The baseballs

included a promo card describing the four ball set and the availabil-

ity of the other balls at local Ford dealerships.

Result: Many fans in the stadium called it the best giveaway they had ever

received. Traffic to dealerships increased during the promotion. Six

weeks later, single balls were still selling on eBay® for over $50, and

complete sets for just under $100.

Case study provided by: Raf Vanreusel, PTC International/PTCPremiums – [email protected]

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 8:40 PM


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Free Product Information. April 2005 Issue.For free product information from these suppliers, complete and mail this page to: BrilliantResults Magazine 9034 Joyce Lane Hummelstown, PA 17036.Or fax to (717) 566-5431.

Name Title

Company Industry

Address

City State Zip

Phone Fax E-mail

Supplier Page No.3M ® 3

Arnold Palmer Golf ® 23

Ashworth ® Corporate 27

BAS 11

Ball Pro 35

Beautiful America Publishing 63

Bella 15

Blake & Hollister 51

Bullet Line Back Cover, 31

Calconix / Time Zone ® 22, 77

Evans Mfg 65

Gabriel Metal Casting 37

Jelly Belly ® / PLEG Inside Back Cover

Key-Bak ® 59

King Louie / TimeOut ® 81

Klio Eterna, Inc ® Inside Front Cover

Lacoste ® / Idea Workshop 21

Liz Claiborne ® / Hartwell Industries 7

Merit Industries 67,69,71,73

Nat Nast 13

Neet Feet ® 47

Nike ® 5

Pepco Poms 43

Sierra Pacific 61

Sonoma Pins 41

Vonco 19

Warwick Publishing 49

World Wide Line 55

THINGS WE LOVE Section

Supplier Page No. Product No.BirdieBall, Inc. 52 1

Motivational Creations, Inc 52, 53 2,3

The Humphrey Line 53 4

Raindrop Advertising 53 5

The Humphrey Line 54 6

BirdieBall, Inc. 54 7

Read the Greens 56 8

Gibas Golf Products 56 9

Jayline International Corp. 56 10

Zippo Mfg. Co. 57 11

HPC Global 57 12

World Wide Line 58 13

Baumco Products 58 14

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the Brilliant Results Apparel Buyers Guide

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:05 PM


May 1 – 4 HRMStrategies 2005: IHRIM Conference & ExpoHilton Hotel Reno, Reno, NVInformation at: www.ihrim.org or Call: 866.236.6879 x203

May 2 – 4 FAMEJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NYInformation at: www.fameshows.com or Call: 877.904.3263

May 4 – 6 Consumer Directed Health Care Conference & ExpoHyatt Regency Chicago, Chicago, ILInformation at: www.cdhcc.com or Call: 804.266.7422 x 7408

May 5 – 7 The Awards & Custom Gift Show – The Printwear ShowFort Worth Convention Center, Ft. Worth, TXInformation at www.nbmshows.com or Call: 800.560.9941

May 8 – 11 Society for Technical Communication Annual ExpoSeattle, WA Convention and Trade Center, SeattleInformation at: www.stc.org or Call: 301.983.0500 x 116

May 15 – 17 ASD/AMD Atlantic City Variety Merchandise ShowNew Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJInformation at: www.merchandisegroup.com or Call: 800.421.4511

May 17 – 19 AIIM on Demand Exposition and ConferencePennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PAInformation at: www.aiimondemand.com or Call: 888.824.3004

May 17 – 19 D/C EXPO – Distribution/Computer EXPO 2005Navy Pier-Festival Hall, Chicago, ILInformation at: www.logistar.com or Call: 800.338.4112

May 17 – 19 TechNet International 2005Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.Information at: www.technet2005.org or Call: 703.449.6418

May 22 – 25 ICSC Spring Convention & Trade ShowLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NVInformation at: www.icsc.org or Call: 646.728.3800

May 22 – 27 SID 2005Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle, WAInformation at: [email protected] or Call: 212.460.8090x215

May 23 – 25 Annual Catalog Conference (ACC)Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, Kissimmee St. Cloud, FLInformation at: www.catalogconference.com or Call: 203.358.3702

May 24 – 25 The Incentive ShowJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NYInformation at: www.piexpo.com or Call: 866.693.1007

May 25 – 26 GOVSEC 2005Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.Information at www.govsecinfo.com or Call: 703.683.8500

May

2005Calendar

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:05 PM


June 4 – 7 AAF National Conference & Ad Expo 2005Gaylord Opryland Hotel, Nashville, TNInformation at: www.aaf.org or Call: 800.999.2231

June 4 – 10 InfoComm InternationalLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NVInformation at: www.infocomm.org or Call: 800.659.7469

June 5 – 8 Promotions East Trade ShowAtlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJInformation at: www.promotionseast.org or Call: 201-505-9550

June 5 – 8 IASA 76th Annual Education Conference & Business ShowAnaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CAInformation at: www.iasa.org or Call: 919.489.0991

June 6 – 9 SUPERCOMM 2005McCormick Place Complex, Chicago, ILInformation at: www.supercomm.com or Call: 877.455.6375

June 11 – 14 National Association of Mortgage Brokers – NAMB 2005Minneapolis Convention Center, Minneapolis, MNInformation at: www.namb.org or Call: 703.610.9009

June 13 – 14 Leading Minds 2005Madison Square Garden & Expo Center, New York, NYInformation at: www.iirusa.com/leadingmindsny/ or Call: 888.670.8200

June 18 – 22 Institute of Management Accountants 86th Annual Conference & ExpoBoston Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MAInformation at: www.imanet.org or Call: 800.638.4427

June 19 – 22 Society for Human Resources Management 57th Annual Conference & ExpoSan Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA Information at: www.shrm.org or Call: 800.283.7476

June 21 – 23 Licensing 2005 InternationalJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NYInformation at: www.licensingshow.com or Call: 800.331.5706

June 23 – 26 Clean 2005Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FLInformation at: www.cleanshow.com or Call: 404.876.1988

June 25 – 28 BOMA International’s N. Am. Commercial RE Congress & Office Building ShowAnaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CAInformation at: www.boma.org or Call: 202.408.2662

June 27 – 29 TECH 2005: The AICPA Information Technology ConferenceBellagio Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NVInformation at: www.cpa2biz.com or Call: 888.777.7077

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June



* To have your show listed in our Calendar please send your information to Brilliant Results magazine. *

BR0405_Section02 3/24/05 12:53 PM


Based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USABasketball is a non-profit organization and therecognized governing body for basketball inthe United States by the International

Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the United StatesOlympic Committee (USOC). Organized in 1974 andknown as the Amateur Basketball Association of theUnited States of America (ABAUSA), the name waschanged from ABAUSA to USA Basketball in October 1989, shortlyafter FIBA modified its rules to allow professional basketball play-ers to participate in international competitions.

Some of the competitions teams competed in, like the Olympics,are well known in the U.S. and around the world, while others likethe World Championships, Pan American Games, World UniversityGames, World Championship for Young Men/Women, Junior WorldChampionships, and Youth Development Festivals are not quite asfamiliar. Although lesser known, these competitions are the founda-tion on which the USA’s Olympic hoops success is built.

Recently, Brilliant Results had an opportunity to interview JimTooley, USA Basketball’s Executive Director.

How long have you been involved with basketball and USA Basketball?

I first became involved in basketball as a youth. Then, whileattending Colorado State University, I received the opportunity towork in sports administration in CSU’s sports information depart-ment. I’ve been fortunate to remain in the sports field since 1987. I worked with the then Denver based Continental BasketballAssociation (CBA) starting in November 1987, as a public relationsassistant and was named the CBA’s Director of Operations in August1988, promoted to Vice President of Operations two years later inSeptember 1990. In January 1992, I was named the CBA’s SpecialAssistant to the Commissioner and Vice President of Operations. I joined the USA Basketball staff in MARCH 1993, as AssistantExecutive Director for the Men’s Program; my responsibilities includ-ed overseeing all facets of the men’s program. I have served sinceJanuary 2001 as USA Basketball’s Executive Director and as the organization’s Executive Director I am responsible for overseeing allaspects of the day-to-day operations and business operations.

In your opinion what is the most important service/contributionthat USA Basketball offers to the game of basketball?

Generally speaking, USA Basketball’s mission is to assemblemen’s and women’s national teams for international competitions,with the ultimate objective to win gold medals. While that is ournumber one goal, there is obviously much more than that to ourorganization. I also believe USA Basketball has been instrumental inexpanding the popularity of basketball around the world and USABasketball is actively involved in grass roots basketball.

USA Basketball is a unique organization in that it is made up ofassociations that are directly involved in basketball. Current USABasketball active members include the Amateur Athletic Union(AAU), Continental Basketball Association (CBA), NationalAssociation of Basketball Coaches (NABC), National Association ofIntercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Basketball Association(NBA), National Basketball Development League (NBDL), NationalCollegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Federation of StateHigh School Associations (NFHS), National Junior College Athletic

Association (NJCAA), National Pro-Am City LeagueAssociation (NPACLA), National Wheelchair BasketballAssociation (NWBA), United States Armed Forces, USADeaf Sports Federation (USADSF), Women’s BasketballCoaches Association (WBCA) and the Women’s NationalBasketball Association (WNBA). These 15 member organi-zations have representation on USA Basketball’s Board ofDirectors and various committees, and ultimately deter-

mine how USA Basketball operates.

How is USA Basketball involved in the support of the Olympic andinternational basketball teams?

USA Basketball is a non-profit organization and the national gov-erning body for men’s and women’s basketball in the United States.As the recognized governing body for basketball in the United Statesby the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the UnitedStates Olympic Committee (USOC), USA Basketball is responsible forthe selection, training, and fielding of USA teams that compete inFIBA sponsored international basketball competitions, as well as forsome national competitions. USA Basketball is responsible for theselection and training of the men’s and women’s basketball teamsthat compete in the Olympic Games representing the United States.

How do you use promotional products and/or direct marketingstrategies to increase interest in USA Basketball’s programs?

USA Basketball has a marketing agent that we work directlywith. As USA Basketball’s marketing agent, it is their responsibility,in consultation with USA Basketball, to develop a marketing strategyfor our teams and programs.

How do you decide which promotional products to use?USA Basketball’s marketing partners vary in categories and we

decide which partners ultimately will be good business partners tohelp meet our competitive goals.

Do you have a regular supplier/distributor/agency that you work with? If so, why?

USA Basketball has worked closely with NBA Properties as its mar-keting agent since 1991. We decided to utilize a separate marketingagency because we believed such a relationship would help broadenUSA Basketball’s visibility, both domestically and internationally.

What is your personal favorite product/campaign and why?We’ve been fortunate to be involved in several innovative cam-

paigns. In 1996 VISA and Frito-Lay produced several commercialsthat helped expand the USA Basketball brand and increase the pop-ularity of our teams. More recently, one of my own personal favoriteswas our teaming with the Allstate Insurance Company. Leading upto the Athens Olympics last year, USA Basketball and AllstateInsurance teamed up to conduct a series of 10 youth basketball clin-ics in 10 different U.S. cities. Well known USA Basketball current andformer players and coaches participated in these clinics. The clinicsoffered Boys & Girls Club members and other select youth, not justbasketball instruction, but also personal insights about the impor-tance of hard work, dedication, sportsmanship and overall life suc-cess through sports. This venture was a tremendous success andallowed both organizations to make a critical impact on the develop-ment of this age group. •

Jim Tooley, USA Basketball’sExecutive Director.

The Last Word

BR0405_Section02 3/25/05 12:06 PM


For All You Sports Fans…SPORTS TRIVIA ~

1. What NFL team was the first in history to lose 3consecutive Super Bowls?

2. In 1903 a field goal was worth how many points?

3. How high is the regulation goal in basketball?

4. Whose nickname is “Mr. Clutch”?

5. What is the oldest of the Triple Crown races?

6. What famous racehorse was also known as “Big Red”?

7. Who broke Mohammed Ali’s jaw in 1973 duringtheir 1st fight?

8. At 49-0, who was the only undefeated heavy-weight of the 20th century?

9. How many warm up laps do NASCAR drivers takebefore the green flag?

10. How many races does Formula 1 race in theUnited States?

11. What truck is the original Monster Truck?

12. What ball has 6 sets of 3 stripes on each side?

13. How many dimples are on a regulation golf ball?

14. How many Grand Slam events are there in tennisin one year?

15. In what year was the Stanley Cup not awarded?

TROPHIES ~ And the trophy is the…

º Bowring Bowl __________________

º Corbillon Cup __________________

º Gordon Bennett Cup __________________

º Lugano Trophy __________________

º Uber Cup __________________

Quote ~“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost

almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take thegame winner shot and missed. I’ve failed over & over &over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

~ Michael Jordon Basketball Legend

“Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions aremade from something they have deep inside them — adesire, a dream, a vision.

~ Mohammed Ali Boxing Great

(1) Buffalo Bills, (2) 5, (3) 10’, (4) Jerry West, (5) Belmont Stakes (1867), (6) Man O War, (7)Ken Norton, (8) Rocky Marciano, (9) 3, (10) 1, (11) Bigfoot, (12) Volleyball, (13) 336, (14) 4(Australian, French, Wimbledon, US), (15) 1919 (flu epidemic - Montreal Canadians forfeiteddeciding 5th game to Seattle who refused to accept the win by forfeit so cup was not awarded)

Rugby Union, Table Tennis, Ballooning, Road Walking, Badminton

Off The Cuff

BR0405_Section01 3/24/05 12:08 PM

BR0105_Section03.qxl 12/17/04 7:07 PM

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BR0305_Section03 3/24/05 6:07 PM Page C4

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