US OPEN SPONSORS TAKE THEIR GAMES OFF THE COURT WITH ACTIVATION STRATEGIES WORTHY OF A GRAND SLAM EVENT.
Once a year – and only once a year – Manhattan is overshadowed by another New York City borough.
It happens the last week of August, when the biggest names in professional tennis convene in Queens for the US Open. In addition to hot temperatures and even hotter matches, a great deal happens off the court, as sponsors leverage North America’s premier tennis tournament.
As a marketing vehicle, the US Open has a lot to offer. It’s the only Grand Slam tennis event staged in the U.S. (and the last Slam of the year). Held annually for two weeks in late August-early September, the Open gives older-skewing brands an effective use for marketing dollars during the back-to-school dominated end of summer. And unlike championships in other sports which alternate cities from year to year, the US Open is permanently anchored, giving sponsors a consistent way to build branding momentum in the crucial New York City metro market.
Consumers who attend the Open are educated, affluent, and active. Fifty percent of attendees in 1999 had average incomes in excess of $100,000, according to Norwalk, CT-based Sponsorship Research International.
Throw in national and international television coverage – with the help of American-born singles winners Andre Agassi and Serena Williams, last year’s event brought the Open’s highest ratings since the early `80s – and the Open represents an attractive regional, national, and global marketing vehicle.
Then there’s the atmosphere – sexy, exciting, and oh so New York. The event’s two-year-old facility, the United States Tennis Association’s $285 million National Tennis Center, is a sight to see. Larger than its predecessor, the facility boasts the new 22,500-seat Arthur Ashe Stadium (a record 584,490 people walked through its turnstiles in ’99) and larger grounds for consumers and brands.
The buzz surrounding Gotham’s only major annual major sporting event electrifies the tri-state area. Unlike other major tennis events, which are characterized by upper-crust fans sipping tea and wearing white-on-white, the US Open is a demographic smorgasbord. Fans wear what they want, do what they want, and shout what they want (don’t take it personally, Anna Kournikova). It’s tennis, New York City-style: a Grand Slam event people trek to in both limousines and subway cars, dressed in suits or sweats, wearing shades from Barney’s or Walgreen’s.
All of it combines to form an event that transcends the very sport it represents. “The US Open is a show,” says Lauren Tarr, sports marketing manager with 10-year sponsor Prudential Securities, New York City. “It’s about more than just what’s happening on the court.”
After faltering during most of the `90s, tennis is undergoing a revitalization. The total number of U.S. players age 12 or older increased from 19.5 million in 1996 to 20.8 million last year, according to Jupiter, FL-based Sports Marketing Surveys. For the first quarter of 2000, ball sales – considered the best measure of play – increased 10.3 percent over the 1999 three-month period. Racquet sales increased 17.4 percent during the quarter. In the under $50 category (beginner racquets), sales increased 15.7 percent.
For the first time in years, American players make up a larger portion of the Top 100 rankings than players from other nations. Fans are getting into tennis as a result, and long-time and first-time sponsors are following close behind. Brands that previously used Open ties primarily as a hospitality and signage vehicle are now mining larger opportunities by stepping up on-site and off-site initiatives.
On Center Court Six-year sponsor New York City-based Chase Manhattan Bank is balancing heavy hospitality efforts (the financial services company will host 8,000 clients during the event’s two weeks) with equally weighted consumer branding campaigns. “The more we can maximize branding, business, and consumer [initiatives], the better,” says Chase vp-event marketing Barbara Paddock. “We’d rather do fewer sponsorships but maximize and integrate the ones we have fully.”
This year, Chase again has an on-site booth where women players will sign autographs and answer fan questions. Through a new consumer program, any Open attendee who opens a checking account on-site with a deposit of at least $5,000 will get up to two US Open tickets refunded. A sweeps overlay supports, as does a cause component through which Chase donates money to its charity kids tennis camp every time a female player serves an ace. (Last year, the company donated $25,750 as a result.)
Perhaps the loudest noise being made by any brand is coming from first-time sponsor Lincoln, which replaced 11-year auto sponsor Infiniti by signing a reported $20 million, five-year deal earlier this year.
Lincoln, which severed marketing ties to parent Ford Motor Co. when it packed up and left Detroit for a new Irvine, CA, headquarters two years ago, began a major offensive in `99 to reposition itself as a hip luxury brand. Looking to spread some buzz in New York and drive traffic to dealerships around the nation, Lincoln has converted one of the complex’s unused buildings – the size of three tennis courts – into an interactive Lincoln American Luxury Immersion.
Designed to have the feel of a ride at Epcot Center, the Immersion’s interior features different sound stages to entertain and inform consumers about the changing definition of American luxury. Visitors enter the structure into an early 1900s-style tennis court featuring actors dressed in classic whites. Around the corner, they find themselves on a dock overlooking a virtual lake (faux wind and smells add effect). From there, consumers see several doors mislabeled Alice in Wonderland-style. The door that says it leads to an expensive chic restaurant opens up to a backyard barbecue, with the idea being that “new luxury is very different from old luxury,” explains Lincoln marketing manager Deborah Wahl.
The Immersion ends with the first public appearance of Lincoln’s luxury hybrid truck, the Blackwood – which doesn’t launch until spring – and an area where the duly impressed can sign up for more information. Since it’s the only public-access air-conditioned spot on the grounds, expect the cool temperatures inside the Immersion to be a big traffic-driver.
For extra incentive, folks who stroll through the structure are entered in an Are You Living It? sweeps dangling trips and cars. Visitors receive hologram cards when they enter the Open’s main gate that feature Immersion and sweeps information. Lincoln is working with dealers in top markets around the nation on regional Are You Living It? executions. New York City-based Impiric’s Irvine, CA, office handles.
On-site efforts from other sponsors add to the branded festivities. White Plains, NY-based Heineken has set up a Red Star Cafe serving cold brews, and is running charity efforts and handing out hats to attendees. Lake Success, NY-based Canon USA, the longest running US Open sponsor at 25 years, is giving consumers access to electronic kiosks that can snap their picture, then e-mail postcards to friends. The company, which assistant director-corporate events Jon Lese says is “currently reviewing all sponsorship activities,” is also managing some cause-related programs.
New York City-based Prudential Securities has stepped up its Open programs over the last four years. “If you just want to entertain clients, don’t buy a sponsorship,” says Tarr. “Get a ticket package. It’s a lot cheaper.”
Prudential is operating a new booth at which licensed financial advisors answer questions and provide related information. (Players are expected to drop by.) Live quote machines allow Wall Street’s finest to follow Dow Jones along with the matches. A trio of Internet kiosks provide financial information around the grounds. Raffles and sweeps support. At press time, the company was developing a pre-Open event with the New York City Parks Department.
United Airlines, Chicago, will replay the Million Mile Challenge sweeps it ran at last year’s Open. On Sept. 6., two grand-prize winners will try to return a serve from ex-Davis Cup coach Tom Gullickson for one million frequent-flier miles. A second-chance serve return nets them 500,000 miles, or they can turn the tables and serve twice to Gullickson for 250,000 miles per return.
Now in the last year of a three-year sponsorship deal, United will also partner with the USTA at the association’s membership booth, where the airline is handing out branded United/US Open luggage tags and running another sweeps. It is also giving discount coupons to anyone who signs up for a USTA membership, says Jeannie Goldstein, director-sports marketing with handling agency Frankel, Chicago.
“Look around. These are Major League Baseball and NBA-type promotions,” says Sean Brenner, managing editor of IEG Sponsorship Report, Chicago. “It’s obvious that brands are going to the US Open and giving efforts more legs.”
“We’re seeing more sponsorship activation this year than ever before,” concurs USTA chief marketing officer Pierce O’Neil.
Other sponsors will keep on-site programs low-key. Tennis equipment manufacturer Wilson Sporting Goods, Chicago, has set up a 1,400-square-foot retail store. The company is selling (as it did last year) oversized tennis balls consumers use as autograph pads. “We can’t afford to do anything too crazy,” says John Embree, vp-general manager of Wilson racket sports. “We have the retail presence and some signage. The players use our rackets. The message is subtle, but it works.”
Out of Site Seven-year sponsor Pepsi-Cola Co., Somers, NY, late last month broke an initiative in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in which 7.6 million soda cans asked, “Everyone’s going to the U.S. Open … Are You?”
The question was answered with a buy-one-get-one ticket offer for upper-deck seats. Consumers called a toll-free number to get the deal, which Pepsi used to distribute at least 20,000 tickets. Millsport, Stamford, CT, handles. “There are on-site marketing opportunities at the Open,” says Rick Rock, Pepsi’s vp-media and event marketing. “But there are a ton of off-site opportunities as well.”
Sparks, MD-based Fila USA is also tapping into those opportunities. The company, which has until this year used a retail/merchandise presence as its only link to the Open, is going a step further this year. Through a deal struck earlier this summer with Fort Lauderdale, FL-based retailer The Sports Authority, on-site Fila stores have been renamed “Fila at The Sports Authority.”
In exchange for the exposure, The Sports Authority is letting Fila turn 20 New York City stores (and 20 more units in other markets) into US Open displays, with window treatments and stores-within-stores. Tennis players including Jennifer Capriati and Mark Philippoussis are running speed-serve exhibitions outside outlets. And through a deal with fellow sponsor American Express, a tri-branded tennis towel is presented to consumers who charge $50 worth of co-branded Fila/US Open merchandise (new this year) with their AmEx card.
“The investment required for the sponsorship is not insignificant,” admits Fila senior vp-sports marketing Howe Burch. “We’ve forced ourselves to activate it the best we can, take it seriously, and make it bigger and better each year.”
In cyberspace, sponsor IBM, Armonk, NY, will manage and host usopen.org, the event’s official site. Real-time scores will give Internet users updates point by point. A new feature will allow visitors to download a program that will feed on their desktops, says Eli Primrose-Smith, IBM’s vp-worldwide Olympic and sports sponsorships.
Meanwhile, New York City-based American Express continues to push the envelope on-site and off. The company has become the poster child for Open sponsorships over the last few years, with loyalty programs, street campaigns, regional ads featuring tennis players, and other initiatives designed to “extend brand awareness, bring special experiences to our card members, and build business,” says director-sports marketing Gena Casciano. “The US Open has become one of the showcases of our sponsorship portfolio.”
AmEx card holders can store bags at a special luggage check where players will act as baggage checkers on certain days. They can also stop by the AmEx hospitality booth. Gold and Platinum cardholders received exclusive access to tickets in early August. And any consumer who charges $75 on-site receives a commemorative pin.
The brand is also riding the rails to get the word out. Custom MetroCards sporting player images are being distributed to New Yorkers. A sweeps that ran through Aug. 20 in conjunction with New York City’s transit authority gave riders a chance to win tickets every time they charged MetroCard purchases at subway kiosk machines. Momentum, St. Louis, handled.
Let the Games Continue As an event, the US Open is big business. Few realize how big a cash cow the tournament is – so big that the USTA managed to fund the new tennis facility entirely out of its own pocket. In two weeks, the Open will generate more revenue than 90 percent of basketball, football, hockey, and baseball teams do in an entire season. Last year, the tennis fest took in $31 million from sponsorships (up nine percent from 1998 and double the number from 1995), $33 million from ticket sales, and $9 million from licensed merchandise and concessions.
The USTA is still dependant on partners to help the event – and the sport – grow, and is counting on savvy marketing programs from partners to help its own staff. “Yes, sponsors are using the US Open as a larger marketing platform, but they’re growing the sport at the same time,” says IEG’s Brenner. “It’s incumbent upon the USTA to build on that momentum.”
It is. The association is working harder to co-develop and support marketing programs with sponsors. “Years ago, we weren’t as proactive about working with sponsors,” admits O’Neil. “The Open ends Sept. 10. By the first week in October, we’ll be sitting down with sponsors to figure out how to do a better job next year.”
The association earlier this year named Arlen Kantarian chief executive of professional tennis and the Open. He brings with him 20 years of experience in sports, entertainment, and consumer marketing, most recently with Radio City Entertainment and the National Football League. Kantarian will oversee the USTA Tennis Plan for Growth, a five-year $50 million initiative intended to boost U.S. participation. In two years, the program has introduced 463,000 Americans to the sport through satellite leagues, grassroots events, and clinics. (The programs also introduce tennis to more ethnic demographics.) “For a sport to be successful, it must generate participation. And I think the USTA is just getting warmed up,” says Kurt Kamperman, president of the Tennis Industry Association, Hilton Head, SC.
Brands are following the USTA’s lead, sponsoring grassroots and satellite leagues and giving tennis year-round support. If the efforts work, the current growth could turn into a legitimate comeback for tennis, with more players, more interest, and increased merchandise sales – combining to give the sport the legs it needs to survive in the new millennium.
Better start working on your backhand.
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