In its fifth year as an NFL sponsor, Visa will fully
integrate its football marketing efforts under the theme,
"Visa. It's Everywhere NFL Fans Want to Be." The program,
which Visa calls its "strongest integrated effort to date,"
will include national ads and consumer promos, as well as
direct mail, PR, retail and online marketing, a national fan
search and league support. In the "Once-in-a-Lifetime NFL
Fantasies" promo, supported by TV, print and radio ads,
statement inserts and POS signage, consumers are
automatically entered to win a weekly "football fantasy"
every time they use their Visa cards between September 1-
October 31, 1999. The "fantasy" experiences include
watching playoff games with NFL players and having lunch
with an NFL QB. Visa will also create two TV spots
featuring NFL fans scheduled to break in August and run
through the season. Visa research indicated that 79% of the
69 million Americans who consider themselves "avid" NFL fans
are most loyal to products and services of NFL sponsors and
account for 68% of NFL-licensed merchandise sales (Visa).
ON MESSAGE: Visa Exec VP/Brand Marketing Becky Saeger:
"When you look at how hard it is to break through as an NFL
sponsor, we really wanted one strong idea to work under, and
if we don't tie back to acceptance and our brand campaign,
we're losing an opportunity" (BRANDWEEK, 3/29 issue).
