After decades with
WPP-owned ad agency
Y&R, Campbell’s Soup has quietly moved its NFL-centric
Chunky Soup account to
BBDO.
Omnicom’s BBDO already handles creative duties for other Campbell’s brands, along with fellow NFL corporate sponsors
Mars (
Snickers) and
Pepsi, one of the league’s biggest corporate patrons.
This year’s campaign, shot recently, will have separate spots with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly. As in the past, the ads will break in August, just before the NFL season, which will begin with Kansas City visiting the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in a prime-time NBC broadcast.
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Richard Sherman is one NFLer who has souped it up for Campbell's.
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During its 20 years with Y&R, some of the more memorable campaigns included “Mama’s Boys” with an impressive panoply of NFL athletes and their mothers. The roster included
Reggie White,
John Elway,
Richard Sherman,
Terrell Davis,
Michael Strahan,
Donovan McNabb and
Brian Urlacher. Last year’s Chunky/NFL campaign centered on fantasy football, with Drew Brees, Odell Beckham Jr., Eddie Lacy, Todd Gurley, Eric Ebron and Kyle Long, drafting the “Everyman All-Star League.”
Campbell’s is one of the NFL’s longest-tenured corporate sponsors, having first signed in 1998, when Chunky Soup sales were so soft that the brand was in danger of vanishing from retail shelves.
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'47 Brand is focusing on making "wherever our product is more 'shoppable'" its owner says.
Photo by: '47 BRAND |
> RETAIL REV-UP: Just as sports licensing power Fanatics is expanding rights and efforts into nearly every corner of the business, so is licensed apparel nameplate
’47 Brand.
“On the product side, nothing is revolutionary now; it’s all about execution,” said owner Steven D’Angelo, who is forecasting sales gains exceeding 20 percent this year. “So our goal is to make wherever our product is more ‘shoppable.’”
Toward that end, ’47 has adopted a number of retail initiatives, including a branded section at more than 400 Lids locations and plans for as many as 100 “stores-within-stores” at Dick’s Sporting Goods by year’s end. At college bookstores, ’47 now has 35 concept shops across the country, with a goal of 80, backing the company’s 600-plus college licenses, which account for 20 percent of overall sales.
As ’47 Brand continues to develop the non-headwear side of its business, D’Angelo estimated that apparel sales will eclipse headwear by the end of 2019. Currently, apparel represents 35 percent of overall sales, he said.
> HBATHLETE: Add Panthers tight end Greg Olsen to Unilver’s roster of athlete endorsers. Agency sources tell us Olsen eventually may do TV ads for the packaged-goods giant, but for the foreseeable future he will be seen in digital, print and PR appearances for Unilever’s portfolio of male health and beauty aids brands, which include Axe, Degree and Suave.
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DISSON
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> CHANGING CHANNELS: Just a few months after hanging up his skates following 30 years as a figure-skating impresario,
Steve Disson is returning to his roots in tennis, having signed on as Tennis Channel’s first head of new business development, sponsorships. Disson was an early employee of the sports agency ProServ, an antecedent of today’s Octagon. Disson will be based in Washington, D.C., and the network’s New York office and report to
Allison Bodenmann, senior vice president and head of ad sales.
Disson said his last tennis deal was probably 15 years ago.
Following its acquisition by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tennis Channel has increased its reach to more than 54 million households. Earlier this year, Sinclair acquired Tennis magazine and Tennis.com.
> BANKING ON MASCOTS: Centier Bank has signed a five-year deal as the second sponsor of the forthcoming Mascot Hall of Fame, scheduled to open next spring in the Chicago suburb of Whiting, Ind. Centier is headquartered in nearby Merrillville, Ind.
As part of its “Founding Partner” sponsorship, Centier gets official bank designation, will have branded ATMs on site and underwrite what’s being called the “Phuzzical Education” area of the planned 25,000-square-foot facility. Centier also will create a corporate mascot as part of the marketing platform.
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Rendering shows the planned Mascot Hall of Fame.
Photo by: MASCOT HALL OF FAME |
BP previously signed as a Mascot Hall of Fame corporate sponsor. Mascot HOF sales are handled by
Rob Yowell,
Gemini Sports Group;
Fishbait Marketing’s Rick Jones; and former NCAA executive
David Knopp. Yowell said the HOF also is seeking deals in the insurance, auto, soft drink and consumer electronics categories.
Terry Lefton can be reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
