Chobani Greek Yogurt has renewed its sponsorship deal with the USOC, becoming the organization's first corporate patron to publicly extend its rights through the '20 Tokyo Games. The deal includes sampling rights and exclusivity in USOC’s "Road to Rio" experiential marketing campaign beginning next year, along with USOC digital assets, and a presence within the group's USA House hospitality. "Anything our athletes use when they're in training is a great connection for us, and they have been really creative marketers,’’ said USOC CMO Lisa Baird, noting that almost 200,000 cups of Chobani have been consumed by athletes at the three U.S. Olympic Training Centers since the commercial relationship began in '12. Chobani CMO Peter McGuinness said the Olympic connection has been effective in securing incremental retail display, which translates into more sales. “It’s been great for shopper marketing and in-store visibility," he said. "It's just one of those intuitive hookups. It’s a natural linkage to the athletes and we’re both made in the USA. ... Obviously, we’re a growing brand, but we’re still just seven years young, so the Olympics gave us stature." Chobani signed with the USOC before the '12 London Games. For the Sochi Games this past February, packaging featured winter sport icons with the tagline, “Naturally Powering Team USA” on more than 350 million cups of yogurt. Chobani will continue to carry the Team USA logo on packaging through the '20 Games.
GET HIM TO THE GREEK: Greek yogurt now accounts for more than half the yogurt sold in the U.S., growing from under 5% six years ago. With sales booming and Chobani locked in a tight market-share struggle with Dannon’s Oikos brand, category marketing has exploded. Both brands advertised in the last Super Bowl. Dannon signed an NFL league sponsorship earlier this year and Chobani recently cut a deal making it the official Greek yogurt for many of largest college programs represented by IMG, including giants like Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas and UCLA. McGuinness noted the potential for further growth, based on the fact that Europeans eat three times as much yogurt per capita as Americans. "We’re seeing additional 'healthy' products using sports and event marketing, as consumption has increased," said Octagon President/COO Jeff Shifrin. “Any product with a 'good for you’ message can benefit from a sports association, so we’re seeing more of it, because it works." Chobani is one of a quintet of food and beverage marketers with U.S. Olympic rights. The others are Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Smucker’s, and McDonald’s. “We continue to attract a lot of consumer packaged-goods sponsors, because we genuinely have female fans," said Baird. Click here to see the full sponsorship portfolio for Chobani at Resource Guide LIVE.
