Howdy, Partner

George Leon has been very busy saying no.

The senior vp-global promotions at Sony’s Columbia Pictures said it twice for each time he said yes to partners for Spider-Man and Men In Black II this summer. It’s all in a day’s work when marketers are clamoring to ally with a blockbuster flick — or a hot sports league, a well-connected retailer, or a popular brand.

Sony had its own list of brands it wanted to work with for each film, but also heard pitches from other brands, like Dr Pepper.

Marketers are dialing up partnerships for two reasons: to stretch their budgets and to improve visibility. That’s got matchmakers scrutinizing potential deals, from ROI and distribution to image.

“In the last six to eight months, marketers have started realizing they don’t have the dollars to break through the clutter on their own,” says Jon Kramer, ceo at J. Brown/LMC Group, Stamford, CT. “Today, it’s about the value of the brand. Tomorrow, it will be about context — how to use the brand.”

Entertainment properties are an obvious choice for a timely blitz, but tie-ins with other brands themselves — think Coca-Cola and ESPN — can lend long-term cachet. ESPN formalized its vetting procedures two years ago. Coke plans to work with 20 to 25 partners next year.

Despite Leon’s gatekeeping at Culver City, CA-based Columbia, Dr Pepper elbowed its way into Spider-Man after Sony’s promotion department pitched another movie to parent Dr Pepper/Seven UP, Plano, TX.

“We then contacted them after we had heard through various media sources that they had gotten the Spider-Man property from Marvel,” says Dr Pepper promotions director Jeff Porter. “We discussed our involvement in the movie over the course of about a year.” (Dr Pepper ran an April-July on-pack sweeps awarding a trip to a Spider-Man screening and insider party in New York City.)

“All deals are different,” says Leon. Columbia wanted Spider-Man partners that appealed to younger children (Kellogg and Hershey) as well as teens and adults (Dr Pepper, Cingular, and Reebok).

Kellogg’s tie-in “started as innocent as could be, with representatives from both companies running into each other at Toy Fair,” says Kellogg director of marketing communications Jenny Enochson. “Our partnerships don’t happen overnight; we usually take two to three years planning everything out. We look at popularity of the property and how it fits with Kellogg’s values. We also look at the level of marketing support the studio is giving the movie [beyond tie-ins]. We choose carefully.”

Partners often carry the expense of a joint promotion to associate with a hot property. Sony’s partners contributed about $50 million in media support for both Spider-Man and Men In Black II, says Leon.

“If our partners want a TV tie-in, they pay for it,” says Perrin Kaplan, vp-marketing and corporate affairs at Redmond, WA-based Nintendo, which works with about 10 partners at any given time.

“The amount of money Best Buy brings to the table is limited,” says Debbie Estes, director of promotions and events at Eden Prairie, MN-based Best Buy. “With us a partner can leverage the masses.”

Stars in the Pantry

Top brands field partnership pitches, too. Coca-Cola is looking to work with “probably 20 to 25 strategic partners in 2003 for all of our brand programs,” says Michael Jones, managing director, consumer and channel programming for Coca-Cola North American Division. “Some are brand new, some have been with us a while, and some have been with us for over 75 years. Some of the relationships extend well beyond our contractual obligation and some without those obligations have existed for many, many years.”

“Synergy” is an overused word in marketing, but it fits when it comes to Coca-Cola and Kraft Foods, which have teamed for several years for in-store Super Bowl programs. “Consumers are looking for solutions and value from trusted brands, and that led us to begin offering co-marketing programs focused around the home-party occasion, featuring recipes and thought starters as well as promotion overlays with chef Emeril Lagasse,” says Jones. “Retailers are looking for programs that have scale but also help build their total basket sales, which drives their business. With Kraft, we are able to do both these things.”

Big brands prefer like-sized partners with comparable spending power. “Our partners have to be able to meet a certain spending threshold,” says Sean Hanrahan, ESPN’s vp and director of strategic partnership and sponsorship management. “Partners want to benefit from our brand imagery. We’ve got an irreverent style and others want to draw the equity of that. At the same time, we want to extend our visibility and get off-channel support.”

Hanrahan has spearheaded the development of a formal co-marketing division that has orchestrated cross-platform deals such as the Discover Card College GameDay sponsorship, a $10 million Wendy’s multimedia promotion and sweepstakes, and the Bud Light Quarter Bouncers tournament. Potential partners fill out a creative brief similar to an agency’s work with a client, with information on brand position, tagline, and the company’s competition. “We have to manage our calendar because once we decide to take you on as a partner, we provide exclusivity for the calendar and for that promotional spot,” says Hanrahan. (Bristol, CT-based ESPN was named the best TV network in providing integrated marketing/promotion and sponsorship opportunities by industry newsletter The Jack Myers Report.)

The Silent Partner: Retailers

Packaged goods companies tailor tie-ins to suit retailers even though retail execs are rarely involved in negotiations.

“The more interested they are [in a joint promotion], the better off we are,” says Kellogg’s Enochson. “It’s important for us to have execution at store level.” A limited edition Spider-Man cereal ran three times the normal production order, and retailers were still clamoring for more.

Savvy marketers often partner directly with key retailers to take advantage of real estate — and traffic — in-store. Best Buy averages 35 to 40 proposals per week, “very few of which actually result in a partnership,” says Estes. “However, it is really helpful to see the ideas and opportunities floating throughout the industry. Something might spark our interest, even if it’s not a fit for the current campaign. We keep these ideas top in mind for future promotions.”

Entertainment and sports properties still drive much of alliance activity. Hamilton Watches, Weehawken, NJ, has played in Hollywood for 40-plus years since its debut in Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii in 1961 (followed by Stanley Kubrik’s 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1966). The 110-year-old brand caught a break in 1997 when the prop master for Sony’s Men In Black, a Hamilton fan, called up asking the company to design a watch for the movie. That set Hamilton watches selling “like hotcakes,” says vp-general manager Caroline Faivet. Hamilton got a callback to appear in this summer’s sequel Men In Black II and teamed up with fellow product sponsors Ray-Ban and Rockport for an eight-page spread in fashion magazines Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ. (MIB star Tommy Lee Jones, another Hamilton fan, also got the watchmaker on the prop list for his 1998 film U.S. Marshalls.)

Hamilton had a cameo in Touchstone Picture’s Pearl Harbor last year, since Hamilton watches were part of the standard dress kit for World War II soldiers. But Pearl Harbor “didn’t want its partners to be commercial at all,” says Faivet. Touchstone let Hamilton and Ray-Ban (another accessory in soldiers’ kits) create materials citing their participation in the film, but forbade promotional offers such as coupons. Hamilton ran an understated, 1940s-style brochure; Ray-Ban store displays featured Pearl Harbor posters.

“I suppose we could have gone out and asked for a lot more money from their competitors,” says Leon. “You’ve got to think, ‘Will people notice if they’re wearing Oakleys instead of Ray-Bans?’ But that’s not how we wanted to do things.”

Sports properties are striving for authentic alliances, too. The NBA expects to add to its 18-partner roster for the 2002-2003 season; deals average eight years. “We want a brand to be ingrained in the fabric of the NBA,” says Jonathan Press, NBA vp-marketing partnerships.

But partners needn’t kowtow. The Lego Co. teamed with the NBA for its new line, Lego Sports, which bowed last spring. The toys use NBA logos and player attributes. “We needed the NBA to understand they had to include Lego values in all materials, even if it compromised the authenticity of the game,” says Chuck McLeish, director of marketing for Lego, Enfield, CT. “They’ve been very respectful of that.”

The NBA works with partners on different objectives, from wide-ranging integrated programs (with milk processors) and global campaigns (Lego) to targeted promos for women (General Motors and the WNBA) and customer retention (American Express and AT&T).

Dairy Management, Inc., the organization that runs got milk? promotions nationally, approached the NBA four years ago to tap the NBA’s cachet with young consumers. The NBA liked the notion that milk could enhance its image as a family-oriented league (Allen Iverson’s antics aside). Since then, Milk has taken over sponsorship of the NBA Rookie Challenge game this year, alongside its got milk? Rookie of the Year program. “With any good partnership, you go in with one vision and as you learn about your partner, you figure out where else you can take it,” says Milk spokesperson Victor Zaborsky.

Partnerships are becoming more comprehensive. “Look at how much American Idol did for Ford — the brand is everywhere,” says Bill Miltenberger, USA Chefs ceo and Promotion Marketing Association chairman. (An American Idol sweepstakes wrapped last month, offering a Ford Focus as grand prize.)

“Ford even gets a plug on the voting [phone] line,” he adds. “We haven’t seen anything like that since the golden era of soap opera promotion.”

Nice Things in Small Packages

Joint promotions stretch marketing dollars and give brands new touchpoints with consumers. Big-budget brands usually stick together, but there’s room for a less-endowed partner with its own je ne sais quois.

“Brands are looking for a unique delivery method, a unique way to start a dialogue with the customer,” says Bill Miltenberger, ceo at USAchefs.com and Promotion Marketing Association chairman. “Big brands are also looking for partners that can get them retail exposure.”

PepsiCo picked Web portal Yahoo for its electronic infrastructure when the Purchase, NY-based soft drink giant brought PepsiStuff online. Pepsi was more interested in Yahoo’s expertise than its brand equity, says Miltenberger, a former Yahoo exec. “The success of that program comes from the economies of scale that come with doing fulfillment electronically rather than mailing it in,” he explains.

“Rarely do we go with a cold-call proposal,” say Tim Schoen, vp-presence marketing at St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch. However, A-B made an exception this year for men’s magazine Maxim and the Bud Light Party Maximus bar tour. “Occasionally we like to do something a little edgy,” says Schoen.

Best Buy was presenting sponsor at the Crazy Freakin’ Biker Series, an extreme sports biking event, for the first time this year. The retailer had built a relationship with CFB and Hoffman bikes founder Mat Hoffman doing appearances at grand opening events, boosting Best Buy’s street cred with 15- to 24-year-old “cool seekers.” “Considering the return on exposure through impressions to the amount of money contributed to the promotion, it was a win,” says Best Buy director of promotions and events Debbie Estes.

Tips for Success

• Don’t expect cold calls to work often. Smaller brands have to attract hot properties with performance and unique positioning, not pitches.

• Offer an in at retail. All hot properties are looking for a strong retail presence, particularly media properties.

• Be prepared to pick up the tab. Since hot properties are allowing you to bask in the glow of their brands, they expect partners to handle media expenses.

• Look to the future. Successful partnerships are developed over years, not months.

• Don’t settle. Hot properties often make steep demands, so make sure you’re aligned with the property you want, not someone else’s leftovers.