Sports Teams, Colleges Use Cereals As New Way To Target Fans
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Univ. Of Florida, USC Among Schools That
Utilize FIM-Created Cereals |
Florida-based Fusion Innovative Marketing (FIM) has created a series of team-specific cereals that it pitches to clubs and universities "looking for a novel and inexpensive marketing tool," according to Sarah Talalay of the South Florida SUN-SENTINEL. FIM launched its program six years ago with Penn State Univ., and the "strategy has since been adopted by 20 colleges." This year marks the first time NFL teams have signed with the company, as the Dolphins, Cardinals and Eagles all have FIM-created cereals. FIM's idea was to "create an alternative to expensive advertising and sponsor signage ... and provide an opportunity to raise additional revenue from sponsors." The cereals also give teams "a natural way to reach young fans." FIM President Jay Freedman said, "We've tried to steer away from specific players ... some are youth-oriented, some are more big picture marketing messages." Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown promotes the team's Most Valuable Reader program on the team's box, and Dolphins Senior Dir of Marketing & Communications George Torres said, "We looked at it as a good opportunity to extend the brand to young Dolfans." Freedman said that FIM "hopes to expand its concept within the sports world, and is in talks with professional basketball, hockey and baseball teams" (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 12/3). In this week's SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, Terry Lefton notes the cereals are "generally knockoffs of Frosted Flakes or Cap'n Crunch," cost about $3 a box and are manufactured by Ralston Foods. Typically, the cereals are "produced in relatively small runs of 30,000 boxes or so, and are in market for a month or two." FIM's business model is "unrelated to anything licensing -- it's a flat fee." Freedman: "The teams we do business with normally don't have much sponsorship inventory left inside their venue, so we're giving them another piece of signage to sell" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 12/1 issue).
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