In this morning's session of Marketing From The C-Suite at the IMG Sports Marketing Symposium '12, Jockey International CMO Dustin Cohn discussed the brand’s promotion of Jets QB Tim Tebow. Cohn said Jockey's initial deal with Tebow was a “pretty big bet” because Tebow had yet to be signed by the Broncos and was not even guaranteed to get a roster spot in the league. “We didn’t even know at that time if he was going to get drafted,” Cohn said. “The fun thing is, he was a guy who transcends sports.”
Cohn said of Tebow’s marketability once he started winning with Denver: “We took advantage of the moment. We put out a challenge where consumers could sign up, we were going to give away $1 million worth of Jockey product if Tim won the Super Bowl. It was a couple hundred-thousand dollar spend for us and we got several million dollars worth of media out of it.”
On Jockey’s promotion of Tebow after he was traded to the Jets: “We put up a billboard in April outside the Lincoln Tunnel from New Jersey into New York City. It went up the same day as the announcement, and it was about a $100,000 spend, and we were part of the conversation. Two reporters asked Tim, 'What do you think of the Jockey billboard?' On ESPN, four analysts were talking about it for 10 minutes. Was it Tebow’s idea? Was it Jockey’s idea? Was it the fans lobbying for him to start? For a very small amount of money we made a huge splash.”
On fears that Tebow may be becoming overexposed (an audience poll revealed 60% believed Tebow was becoming overexposed): "He is a guy who transcends sports. He is a role model regardless of what happens on the field. So off the field, we’re still going to want to associate with him. If we can break through with our message, then we are accomplishing our communication goals."
On what New York City has done for Tebow: "We think New York is the best place for him. It’s a huge media market, and it has garnered additional attention that we wouldn’t have gotten somewhere else."
Read more from the conference at our dedicated blog.
