Blue Diamond Growers has signed a one-year deal to be the official snack nuts of USA Swimming during the 2016 Olympic year.
No financial terms were disclosed, but prior deals with major Olympic sports governing bodies have been valued in the mid-six figures annually.
In the deal, Blue Diamond will provide its almond snacks at USA Swimming events, label its packaging to reflect the sponsorship and integrate swimming into its “Get Your Good Going” campaign in social media and on television.
“It was just a natural fit for us to want to link with the best of the best,” said Maya Erwin, Blue Diamond’s senior marketing manager. “And swimming in particular, we always like to find ventures with really approachable sports that all of our consumers can relate to.”
The brand will buy NBC ad time during the Rio Games to promote its swimming ties, Erwin said.
Snack nuts is a new category for USA Swimming, which has marketing deals with AT&T, Marriott, Phillips 66 and others. Chief Marketing Officer Matt Farrell said he is considering additional food categories.
Blue Diamond also will become the first corporate sponsor of USA Swimming’s new digital content production arm, which will create nonevent videos for online and social media.
The governing body is searching for a studio director to lead the initiative. Its future projects may look something like the U.S. Olympic Committee’s “Cooking With Team USA and Brian Boitano Presented by Kellogg’s,” launched in May.
“I am seeing a very significant trend of sponsors coming to properties wanting content created on sponsors’ behalf,” Farrell said. “Any sponsor can go cut a 30-second commercial, but I think sponsors are looking to get content that’s more authentic than a 30-second spot that looks and feels like an ad.”
Blue Diamond’s last sports deal was with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association during the 2014 Winter Olympics. The company likes individual sports deals as a backdoor way to align with the Olympics, Erwin said.
“We couldn’t afford to be Olympic rings [rights] holders, but we knew it’d be important to link the brand around something as wonderful as the Olympics,” she said.
Sacramento-based Blue Diamond is collectively owned by half of California’s almond growers.
