Latin Grammy Awards Seeks Big Name Sponsors

Latin fever is heading to New York City, and city officials are looking for a few good brands to follow.

The Latin Grammy Awards, working with NYC Marketing, is seeking corporate sponsors for a variety of categories to support the show—the first time the event will take place in New York. The 7th annual Latin Grammy Awards show is scheduled for Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden. It is expected to generate more than $30 million in revenue for the city.

To secure the sponsors, NYC Marketing is using the same model it developed to land $4.5 million worth of sponsorships across 14 brands to bring the Country Music Association Awards to New York City (it’s first time out of Nashville) last fall (PROMO, January 2006). Like the CMA Awards, the agency plans to celebrate the Latin Grammy Awards via promotions and other festivities in New York and in key Hispanic markets nationwide.

“With the event coming to New York, advertisers are seeing the best way to jump on and create a big program,” said Jim Donofrio, senior VP-sales and partnerships for NYC Marketing.

Five corporate sponsors are being sought in the wireless, automotive, financial services, retail and apparel categories. Heineken and Clinique are existing Latin Grammy Award sponsors. Sponsorship packages include national activation to reach Hispanic consumers nationwide, Donofrio said.

In the wireless category, NYC Marketing is in discussions with Verizon Wireless, Cingular and Sprint. The sponsorship package includes wireless content, ringtones wallpaper and text messaging tied to the Latin Grammy Awards. In financial services, the agency is discussing deals with Bank of America, Washington Mutual and Citi Group, Donofrio said. The package would include activation at local financial branches, as well as a national consumer sweepstakes dangling tickets to the awards show, he said.

In the automotive category, NYC Marketing is working with Chevrolet, Nissan and Ford. The deal would include a sweepstakes element and car appearances throughout New York City. Chevrolet was a top sponsor during the CMA Awards, rolling out a traveling country music exhibit and serving as host of a music festival in Union Square.

At retail, Wal-Mart and Target are in discussions for a sponsorship package to include a sweepstakes with other brand partners, including Kellogg’s or Kraft, Donofrio said. In the beverage category, the agency is in discussions with Coca-Cola and Pepsi for a sweepstakes and event tied to the show. The agency is also in discussions with top apparel companies, including Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and the Cotton brand to develop a sponsorship deal around the event.

The agency is luring big-name brands to back the program in hopes of attracting more consumers to New York. The city has the second-largest Hispanic community in the country, next to Los Angeles, but boasts a younger, more diverse population.

“We’re giving [brands] the ability to create customized programs created solely to reach their core objectives and initiatives,” Donofrio said.

NYC Marketing is working with NYC Big Events, the administration’s host committee formed to attract large events to the city, Univision and The Latin Recording Academy on the event. Univision will broadcast the show in Spanish.

Leading up to the main event, NYC Big Events and NYC Marketing will host Latin Grammy week, a week dedicated to the music event touching fashion and retail, sports and parks, culture and entertainment and education and/or culinary aspects. Each theme will have an assigned day with corresponding events. In addition, the two agencies will host street parties in five top Hispanic markets in the U.S. (Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York), offering music from established and rising Latin artists while providing sampling and product showcase opportunities.

New York City’s administration announced plans last week to merge NYC Marketing with NYC & Co., NYC Big Events to form a single entity. The merger would help city officials better compete for large events, the administration said (Xtra, June 12, 2006).

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