This month, local ski bums and hot dogs around the country get a chance to square off against world-class competition such as Olympian Tommy Moe, courtesy of the Jeep Challenge.
It’s all part of the 10th anniversary celebration of Jeep King of the Mountain, an annual international ski race series sponsored by the DaimlerChrysler brand. In years past, the race has simply focused on teams of professionals from the U.S. and Europe. Now the Great Unwashed get their shot.
While the professional series started in late November, the grassroots Jeep Challenge kicks off on Dec. 15, with any mountain within a two hundred mile radius of the six pro venues hosting local ski and snowboard competitions. Winners progress to regional races, then the nationals, where they can earn a spot to compete for their country (and against professionals) in events that will be televised nationally on CBS. The broadcasts will also feature special segments on the local qualifiers and the racers who made the cut. Eclipse Television & Sports Marketing, Vail, CO, handles.
Local Jeep dealers are supporting the program with a sweepstakes in which consumers who test drive Jeeps are automatically registered for a chance to win a trip to the final Jeep King of the Mountain World Professional Championships on Feb. 22 (televised on March 1).
“We wanted to celebrate and do it in a way that gave us the chance to own it rather than rent it,” says Jeep direct marketing manager Lou Bitonti. Jeep is considering a similar series of events built around summer action sports, such as skateboarding.
Jeep is the latest example of a brand seeking a grassroots sports marketing effort. With so many choices for consumers, getting in-park signage, brand placement on scoreboards, or even 30-second Super Bowl spots aren’t carrying the weight they used to. (Anybody remember which company ran that Super Bowl ad with the cowboys driving a herd of cats? We can’t.) How much weight does title sponsorship for The Progressive Auto Insurance Hula Bowl (or a favorite from years past, the Poulan Weedeater Bowl) really carry?
More marketers are seeking grassroots efforts and guerrilla campaigns (such as online casino GoldenPalace.com painting its logo on the backs of boxers) that bring them face-to-face with consumers. “We’re able to customize events and give a down-home feel for the product,” says John Horvath, marketing specialist at Stoughton, MA-based Reebok, which is working with the NFL and NBA to expand its traditional sponsorships to the local level. “There is only so much you can do with a TV ad.”
Many brands aren’t just partnering with existing grassroots events — they’re creating their own from scratch. “These are events that would not exist without the sponsor,” says Jim Andrews, vp and editorial director at Chicago-based IEG Inc. And it’s not just a last resort for smaller brands that are locked out of more mainstream sponsorships. The big boys are here too. “This is not inexpensive to do,” says Andrews, who estimates the grassroots sports sponsorship market at over $100 million.
Take shoemaker Vans, Santa Fe Springs, CA, which created the Vans Triple Crown action sports series in 1998. “We began approaching partners with a Field of Dreams pitch — ‘If you build it they will come,’” says Mark Livingston, director of strategic alliances and sponsorships. Today Vans draws over 30,000 people to its events and works with such big-name partners as Gillette, Sony Playstation, and the Ford Ranger brand, and receives coverage on NBC Sports and FOX SportsNet, with the average partnership in the $2 million range. “It’s about making connections, not just being seen,” says Livingston.
Three years ago, college TV was a novel concept. Today, the networks themselves are creating action sporting events. “This is becoming part of the lifestyle; these are sports that kids do on campus,” says David Isaacs, ceo at New York City-based Zilo Networks, which reaches 5.3 million subscribers at over 245 colleges. “The X Games and Gravity Games are great, but they’re for professionals. We’re encouraging the average student to participate — that’s how kids will make a long-term association with a sponsor’s brand.” This fall, Zilo rolled out its third annual Extreme Team College Games, which made stops at 10 college campuses, featuring students participating in action sports such wall climbing, mountain biking, and inline skating. Winners collected $25,000 combined in cash, prizes, and scholarships. Sponsors included anti-smoking campaign truth, HBO Zone, and BrainScratch.com, a student loan company.
For Spring Break 2003, Zilo will run its second All Terrain Challenge: Air-Land-Sea, featuring students in Cancun and Panama City, FL, engaging in action sports such as parasailing, as well as beach parties and an awards ceremony. Sponsors included General Motors and Coca-Cola’s Powerade energy drink, which takes title sponsorship of the event in 2003. “Powerade has always been interested in this market but recently we focused more of our spending on college with the development of grassroots opportunities like this,” says Jeff Rubenstein, Powerade’s property activation manager.
Brands Take the Initiative
Some brands that have piggybacked off grassroots venues are moving to the forefront with their own events. Ford Ranger has developed a strong presence in action sports, even though a large portion of the fan base is too young to drive. “If you look at the NFL or Major League Baseball, their key demographic is much older,” says Ranger marketing manager Shawn McDermott. “Youth today aren’t interested in team sports, they’re into these individual activities.” Ford awards winners in each sports series at the Vans Triple Crown a new truck and has a presence in Vans skate parks (including dangling a Ford Ranger from the ceiling). “You’ve got to make sure you’re credible to this audience but at the same time you can’t push it down their throats,” says McDermott.
The brand also set up Ford Team Ranger, sponsorship of action sports athletes, such as surfer Serena Brooke. This year, Ford hosted the second annual Serena Brooke Day, in which the athlete puts on a surfing clinic for girls and women. Proceeds go to the Serena Brooke Foundation, which supports youth surf programs and young women’s at-risk programs. The event drew over 250 people at Huntington Beach, CA this July. Fuse Sports Marketing, Burlington, VT, handles.
Even the Vans Triple Crown and the X Games are getting too glossy for some marketers. “We were the first sponsor of the X Games and we’re working with Vans,” says Heidi Sandreuter, marketing manager-sports marketing at Purchase, NY-based Mountain Dew. “But these are big, national programs. We thought, ‘How can we have a more meaningful impact with individual customers?’”
This summer, Mountain Dew (with help from Vans) introduced the Mountain Dew Free Flow Tour, a contest skating series that made 12 stops at skate parks in markets such as Cleveland and southern California from June to September. For a $5 entry fee, local skaters could compete for a chance to make the Mountain Dew Amatuer Skateboard Team — three contestants from each market were selected. The team can be used as brand ambassadors or to try a new product before its general-market release, says Sandreuter. Fuse Sports Marketing handles.
So-called action sports aren’t the only venue for grassroots sponsorship. While ESPN has seen its X Games explode, the network is enjoying quiet growth from events surrounding its outdoor programming. Forget golf or tennis; according to ESPN senior vp-general manager Michael Rooney, “Fishing is the largest participatory sport in the U.S.” Last year, ESPN bought the BASS Masters fishing series and oversees the Great Outdoor Games, a series of outdoor activities such as hunting dog competitions, log rolling, and wood chopping that would probably cripple so-called “extreme” skateboarders. While the Great Outdoor Games have always enjoyed support from endemic sponsors like chain saw manufacturer Stihl and Iams dog food, support from non-endemics is growing, says Rooney. Within the last year, ESPN signed companies such as Busch Beer and Dodge as sponsors.
Agreements are multi-year and for multi-million dollars. Sponsors get on-air mentions, as well as signage and booths at the live events. “These are activities that our own customers enjoy,” says Don Rucks, manager of corporate brand development at Tulsa, OK-based petroleum company Citgo, which is the title sponsor for the BASS Masters Tournament Trail and the BASS Masters Classic.
Even the big leagues are going grassroots. This fall, the New York City-based National Football League teamed with the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association to kick off the NFL College Flag Football program at 32 colleges and universities in markets where the NFL has teams. More than 50,000 students participated. “This is a way for us to expand our reach among 18- to 24-year-olds,” says vp-partnership marketing and corporate sales Peter Murray. Clear Channel Radio broadcast local championships, and two co-ed teams won a trip to San Diego to participate in a Super Bowl NFL College Flag Football Exhibition at the NFL Experience.
The program distributed 500,000 NFL sponsor-branded Web decoder cards to participating campuses. Each card had a code that could be activated on NFL.com/CollegeFlag and is being used in a season-long promo with ABC’s NFL Monday Night Football. After each Monday night game, students are asked a trivia question. Students who answer correctly can redeem the decoder for a chance to win NFL and sponsor prizes each week, including a grand prize of a trip to Hawaii for the 2003 AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. CMI, East Rutherford, NJ, handles. Sponsors include Reebok, EdgePro Gel, Reebok, Sony PlayStation and AT&T (all but AT&T are regular NFL sponsors as well).
Meanwhile, the long-running NFL Gatorade Punt, Pass & Kick program lets boys and girls ages eight to 15 compete against each other in punting, passing, and placekicking skills. Schools and local youth organizations, such as Pop Warner Football leagues, host the contests. Top scorers advance to regionals, then national finals. Winners plus two parents or guardians will travel to an NFL playoff game in January.
The National Basketball Association, New York City, is also going grassroots. “There are only so many seats in the arena,” says Ron Erskine, vp-marketing properties. “Getting up close with fans pays off, especially when we go to a market that doesn’t have a team.”
The NBA has teamed with the 14-year-old Hoop It Up tournament, in which teams of three and four from various age groups in 40 markets (including all cities with NBA teams) compete in pickup games. The tournament also includes skill contests, such as free-style dribbling. NBA teams host the games in their stadiums or parking lots. The program runs from March through September, with winners advancing to the Top Gun Tournament. Last year’s tournament drew more than 100,000 participants, according to Erskine. Sponsors included Verizon, Gatorade, Jeep, and Spaulding.
The NBA is also taking it to the street with the (deep breath) Yahoo! Sports NBA Rhythm ‘n Rims tour presented by Reebok, which combines music and basketball. The tour completed its second year in 2002, making 18 stops, setting up a basketball court and a concert stage showcasing pop, R&B, and alternative acts. Other activities include Measure Up, in which attendees can compare their height and hand size with those of NBA Players, as well as the Nestlé Crunch Shooting Challenge. The U.S. Navy also sponsored this year, bringing its 48-foot flight simulator to five different stops.
The 67,000-square-foot 18 wheel NBA Jam Van presented by Gatorade, Nintendo of America, and Turner Sports is a similar program that offers many of the same activities as Rhythm & Rims, minus the music extravaganza. “This program allows us be a little more nimble,” says Erskine.
Sounds like a slam dunk.
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