Cool as Ice
Brands lace up with figure skating to get closer to females.
Figure skating’s roots can be traced back to Jackson Haines, an American-born gentleman who wowed pre-Civil War audiences by dancing on ice. In front of a crowd, Haines jumped, did some twists, turns, a few jumps … and the rest is history.
A sport unofficially ushered into existence by a man has officially morphed into an athletic passion majority-owned by women. Although the world of professional women’s sports – basketball, golf, soccer, even wrestling – has seen exponential growth only recently, figure skating has been booming for years, thanks to a steadily growing base of female fans.
“What football is to men, figure skating is to women,” says Dianne Hemminger, brand promotional manager with Chevrolet in Warren, MI. “We began ties to figure skating with media buys in 1995. But we quickly realized there was a greater promotional opportunity here.”
Based on an analysis of United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA) members, typical skating fans own two to three automobiles per household, are active in sports, prefer brand merchandise over private-label fare, and try to live healthy lives. Thirty percent of USFSA’s 150,000 members come from households with annual income in excess of $65,000, 60 percent from homes earning more than $50,000 annually.
With a fan base packed to the rafters with women aged 25 to 49 (a segment that tends to control many a household’s disposable income), it’s no surprise that figure skating boasts a large roster of corporate sponsors paying to get to an audience that otherwise typically shuns sports.
Chevy, for instance, has signed up skating darling Michelle Kwan for a winter 2001 marketing campaign the auto maker will use to lure distaff drivers into dealerships. The heart of the effort is a new program called Chevrolet Michelle Kwan R.E.W.A.R.D.S. (Recognizing Excellence of Women in Academics and Rewarding Dynamic Student Athletes), which will provide college scholarships to 10 graduating female high-school athletes each year. Direct mail to school guidance counselors began last month, as did Web site efforts. Print ads support via Campbell Ewald, Warren, MI.
Chevy will begin leveraging the program at grassroots events in Boston during the State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships next month. A direct-mail sweepstakes offer will ship to Northeast USFSA members this month offering a free skating video and a chance to win a clinic with ice star Todd Eldridge in exchange for test drives. Dealers will help activate by setting up local Kwan meet-and-greets. “We’ve looked at this long and hard. Skating hits the target we’re looking to reach,” says Hemminger, adding that Chevy has even bigger promotional programs in the works for 2002.
A Full Lineup Plainsboro, NJ-based Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Keri brand is also injecting individual celebrity into its sponsorship. An in-store Skate with the Greats contest is being executed in 6,000 retail outlets around the nation. Shoppers enter to win a skating session with Peggy Fleming and Sasha Cohen (or tickets to the event) at the Championships in Beantown next month. Winners will be announced during skating coverage on ABC. Customers can also mail in a proofs-of-purchase from any Keri product to receive a commemorative U.S. Figure Skating Team pin. Chicago-based PS Promotions handles.
Quincy, MA-based Stop & Shop will leverage its regional sponsorship of the Championships with several in-store efforts in New England. The first rolled out earlier this fall with a four-week contest asking kids to design the cover of the event’s program. Entries from the two winners will be featured on the Championships program and score book. Later this month, a chainwide 200-store sweeps will serve winners a private clinic with Brian Boitano. P-O-P, in-store radio spots, and tags on circulars will support. The grocery chain will also hype a discount program in which shoppers save on ticket purchases by flashing frequent-shopper cards at the show’s Fleet Center box office. Woolf Associates, Boston, handles.
Other brands that have tied to skating include Campbell Soup Co., Quaker Oats’ Yoplait, MasterCard (in Canada), and Visa, the latter of which this winter is running a regional initiative linked to Northeastern Fleet banks that gives chargers two-for-one ticket deals. Meanwhile, Hershey’s is bringing skaters into stores during various events around the country. The skaters pose for pictures and sign autographs as samplers pass out coupons.
“We never used to see this much sponsorship activation,” admits Jerry Lace, director of marketing with the USFSA, Colorado Springs, CO, which was founded in 1921 as the governing body for figure skating in the U.S. “[Brands] used to just buy TV time. But obviously, they’ve recognized we have a unique property here.”
Marketers linking to skating primarily go through the USFSA, which sanctions 1,250 events each year. Deals generally include combinations of cash, in-kind product or service trades, and promotional value consideration. The association also gives sponsors rights to a list of grassroots events, such as the Chevrolet Skate with U.S. program, which was established in 1985 to encourage kids to take up the sport.
Lace says the sport’s individual athletes are a large part of its allure among fans. Unlike many of today’s professional leagues, there are no trades, teams, or free-agent defections. Skating stars are independent and stay in the sport for many years.
America fell in love with 19-year-old Peggy Fleming when she won the 1968 Olympic gold medal. Eight years later, Dorothy Hamill charmed the world with a gold performance of her own. (Pundits generally credit Hamill with formally bringing skating into American living rooms and luring millions of young ladies onto the ice.) “Consumers are truly attached to these athletes,” says Kim Zayoti, senior director-athlete marketing with Woolf Associates.
Beyond the Games That attraction has spurred a lucrative ice show industry that features shows ranging from competitive spectaculars with big-name talent to traveling Broadway-style spectacles. Crowds cram venues to catch Tara Lipinski, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Scott Hamilton strut their stuff or to see Beauty & The Beast brought to life on ice.
Local partners can score star power by aligning with the tours. New York City-based Feld Entertainment, which has produced Disney’s ice shows since 1981, works with regional partners such as cable companies for local promotional support. The company has run self-liquidating offers with The Disney Channel and Disney Stores. Last year, several McDonald’s co-ops supported events in certain cities with sweeps and discount tickets.
Feld just inked a deal to offer discount tickets through AARP, Washington, DC. “Our members are looking to do new things. Skating gives them something fun to do with the grandkids,” says David Shotwell, manager of product development at AARP. “Parents enjoy these types of events just as much as the kids,” echoes Eric Stevens, Feld’s senior vp-marketing.
Brands agree. Target Stores coughs up big bucks to present Target Stars on Ice in more than 60 cites. Other brands that have lent their names to similar tours include Discover Card and Campbell’s.
Getting Warmer Regardless of the event, expect the world of skating to get much more attention as the 2002 Olympics approach. “These fans tune in every [Olympic] year,” says Karen Noel, advertising superintendent with State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, IL, which has distributed skating-themed collateral to its 60,000 field agents to encourage local tie-ins.
Figure skating has the highest visibility of any Olympic sport, and consistently scores higher television ratings and more broadcast hours than the rest. Broadcasts during the 1998 Games in Nagano, Japan, were among the 10 most-watched sports shows of the year. In 1999, ABC Sports’ 12 skating shows (which totaled 100-plus hours of coverage) were watched in 43 million homes. “We always see spikes during Olympic years,” says Lace. “Sponsors get huge exposure.”
Jackson Haines is double lutzing in his grave.
