Procter & Gamble Formally Announce Details Of USOC Partnership

By Tripp Mickle, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Proctor & Gamble and the USOC today announced the details of their new partnership, which will see Team USA's five-ring logo stamped on an array of products from Pringles to Pantene. The four-year deal, which was first reported in March by SportsBusiness Journal, is valued at $15-20M, making it one of the largest deals the organization has signed for the '09-12 quadrennial. Under terms of the agreement, P&G becomes the USOC's official sponsor in a host of categories, including personal and beauty products; household cleaning products; oral care products; pre-packaged potato snacks; and cold, flu and stomach remedies. It will activate multiple brands such as Cover Girl, Olay, Olay Quench, Pantene, Secret, Venus, Pepto-Bismol, Vicks, Pringles, Bounty, Charmin, Pampers, Febreze, Tide, Crest, Oral B and Scope. P&G VP/North America Kirk Perry said, "It is the broadest and deepest mega-scale event we've had as a company in North America. We're partnering with the Olympics, which is truly iconic. It's a tremendous opportunity for us to show up with our brands together with a sporting event that among women is number one and among men number two, only behind the NFL."

ACTIVATION PLANS: The company will support the deal with advertising on NBC during the '10 Vancouver Games using the theme "Look Like the World is Watching" to promote its beauty products. The theme is designed to draw a parallel between the performance qualities of beauty products like Olay, which can help women look their best, in the same way the performance abilities of Olympians help those athletes look their best before the world. P&G is in final negotiations with a number of female athletes who will be used in the campaign. In addition to the commercials, the company also will activate at retail. Those plans are in development, but Perry said, "We will be loud and proud with the participating brands whether it will be packaging or multi-brand, in-store displays." The company also plans to partner with NGBs "where partnerships make sense," Perry said.

WHAT IT MEANS FOR P&G, USOC: The deal builds on P&G's affiliation with the Olympic movement, which began with a relationship with USA Gymnastics in February '08. It also gives P&G the chance to align its array of female products with a sports property that claims a larger female following than any other in the U.S. According to a March '08 survey by Lieberman Research Worldwide, 51% of U.S. women are interested in the Olympic brand. Only the NFL came close to that with 39% interest among women. Meanwhile, the deal comes at a critical time for the USOC, which has lost a number of sponsors in the last year. Longtime USOC partners General Motors, The Home Depot and Bank of America all declined to renew agreements with the USOC for the '09-12 quadrennial. USOC CMO Lisa Baird said, "There's no doubt the recession has had an impact on sports sponsorship in general." She added that the USOC is in discussions with several open categories, but its "focus right now is on bringing home the (2016) Games for Chicago." The P&G deal gives the USOC a relationship with a category leader. Baird: "It's significant because of the number of brands activating and the innovation they will bring to the marketing."

THE ART OF THE DEAL: Discussions with P&G began last summer, when the company first was approached by the USOC, NBC and 21 Marketing Founder Rob Prazmark. Those discussions continued in Beijing, where former P&G Dir of Global Sports Marketing Jason Dial met with then USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth, sources said. Baird, who previously worked at P&G, closed the deal in February. The USOC informed former TOP partner and P&G competitor Johnson & Johnson, which it was negotiating with regarding an agreement, during a USOC marketing summit in Vancouver the week of February 16.