SAP’s sports account is in review following the departure of longtime sponsorship chief
Chris Burton.
With the goal of using sports as a demonstration platform for its business-to-business software and business analytics offerings, SAP has assembled a robust domestic portfolio of sports affiliations, including naming rights to the San Jose arena, the SAP Center, which houses the NHL Sharks.
SAP also has a founding-level sponsorship with Levi’s Stadium and naming rights to the San Francisco 49ers practice facility; deals with Madison Square Garden and MetLife Stadium; and sponsorships with the NBA, NFL, NHL and WTA.
Some of those deals were engineered by the now denuded Group M ESP, but when SAP consolidated its agencies under the Omnicom umbrella in 2014, the SAP sports duties went wholly to GMR Marketing.
In recent days, Dan Fleetwood, SAP group director for global sponsorships, has been reaching out to agencies to invite them into a full-fledged review, one in which GMR will defend its incumbency. Adam Lippard, GMR’s head of global sports and entertainment consulting, noted that SAP remains “our client globally and we are working through 2016 planning.”
At press time, there was no word on a timetable for the review process.
> SPRING FLING: MLB marketers have long talked about the limitless potential for a sponsorship marketing plan that would stretch across the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues, but aside from some regional plays, licensing efforts from longtime MLB jersey rights holder Majestic and a True Value Hardware promotion from more than 20 years ago that bridged the end of spring training with Opening Day, we can’t recall any.
So when we heard that
Anheuser-Busch InBev had newly secured the “Official Beer of Spring Training” designation, we knew it merited closer consideration.
Sure enough, Anheuser-Busch has added a new element to a sponsorship old enough to qualify it as MLB’s second-most-tenured corporate sponsor. Considering the importance of the Florida and Arizona markets to A-B, this is a move that should have happened a while ago. Bud has sponsorships with 24 of MLB’s 30 teams, including the Washington Nationals, which were recently added on an exclusive basis for Nationals Park.
A-B is supporting the spring training thematic in locales close to Cactus and Grapefruit League parks with radio, out-of-home, point-of-sale and, of course, beer cups, and signage in parks that will be converted to signs featuring Florida MLB teams once the season starts. There’s also a sweepstakes overlay at grocers and convenience stores offering trips to this July’s MLB All-Star Game in San Diego.
“We’re giving these retailers something unique and seasonal, and it has given us a new way to connect with fans, a lot of whom are vacationing in Florida or Arizona specifically because of their favorite teams,” said Nick Kelly, A-B InBev director of experiential marketing, adding that the new spring training program has helped A-B build incremental retail displays as far north in Florida as Daytona Beach.
During the regular season, A-B’s signage at MLB parks will support the brewer’s national ad pushes rather than anything baseball-specific. So, look for Bud signs supporting A-B’s food initiatives, like “Bud & Burgers,” followed by a patriotic “American Summer” theme leading up to July 4 and Labor Day.
> NCAA SEEDING:
Scotts is again using its NCAA ties for a promotion with fellow NCAA
sponsor
Lowe’s during March Madness.
Chris Strunk, Scotts director of marketing, said that the “Game Plan For A Great Lawn” campaign is largely a social/digital campaign and begins after Selection Sunday, employing ESPN’s
Lindsay Czarniak. Retail displays in more than 1,700 Lowe’s stores support, along with in-game ads on ESPN and CBS.
Wasserman is the sports agency of record for Scotts. Czarniak is represented by CAA Sports’ Bob Philp.
Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
