#TeamSaks makes for sharp-dressed marketing

Tom Ott (left), Alan Victor, Bob Papa and Bill Wynne help make up the force behind the effort to promote their wares while dressing up on-air talent and athletes.Courtesy of RICH SALGADO

Saks Fifth Avenue official Bill Wynne was in a meeting with sports executive Rich “Big Daddy” Salgado last month when their phones started vibrating uncontrollably. ESPN’s Adam Schefter had tweeted a photo of his Saks suit, and tens of thousands of retweets followed, inundating their social media accounts.

Fashion and sports are no strangers, but Salgado, a former Maryland football offensive lineman, is working to cement the link through his #teamsaks and #teamjackvictor (for Jack Victor, the Canadian suit maker who provides the Saks suits offered through the program).

At the NFL draft in April several rookies, including Fiesta Bowl defensive MVP Marcus Allen, are expected to wear the Victor brand. And Salgado’s Wednesday Super Bowl Party in Minneapolis will promote the partnership at Saks’ Gilt brand location.

Salgado is well known in sports circles, handling insurance for hundreds of athletes, and palling around with the likes of Michael Strahan and Jay Glazer. Several years ago he started appearing on Fox News shows, and childhood friend Tom Ott, who works for Saks, told him he had to improve his image. Ott began providing Salgado with Saks suits to wear during his appearances.

This past summer, Salgado realized that if Saks would give him suits for appearing on TV and the occasional social media mention, there were plenty of others in his orbit, too. That epiphany led to the launch of #teamsaks, which includes a roster of broadcasters and athletes. They receive suits in return for hyping the affiliation on social media.

“It’s crazy, unbelievable actually. I will post stuff when we are taping our Giants TV shows and fans will actually react to the tie combination, and ‘I really like that jacket,’ as opposed to, ‘Let’s go Giants,’” said Bob Papa, a #teamsaks member who does local coverage for the Giants. Papa also covers golf and said his Golf Network friends will tell him they look out for his weekly fashion posts.

Salgado said #teamsaks has several broadcasters on its roster because often they have more TV time than the athletes they cover.

As for athletes, their taste for fashion is often pronounced. Largely they have been on their own in designing their ensembles. At special events like the draft and senior bowl, individual tailors will market their wares.

Some athletes, however, could use more help. Ott recalled one collegian who looked, in the executive’s opinion, so awful at the Heisman trophy presentation he reached out to him to better design his suits.

Despite the success of the sharp-dressed marketing effort, the future of #teamsaks is in some doubt, but not the concept. Ott recently left Saks Fifth Avenue for Gilt, both under the Hudson Bay Corp. but separate brands. That has left the future of Salgado’s ties to Saks an open question.

Gilt is known more for performance wear suits, and that might suit, pardon the pun, Salgado’s athletes. Jack Victor is still in the mix, too.

Stephen Victor, whose dad runs the brand, handles the New York showroom and the relationship with Salgado. Standing out in the world of fashion is not easy, even for a company over a century old, Victor said. Like a lot of brands, Jack Victor has discovered its name can get out by attaching to athletes and those who cover them.

If the Saks partnership falls through, Victor is more than happy to keep supplying suits to Salgado.

“This is unique,” Papa said. “It’s another ‘Big Daddy’ creation; he is bringing people from different walks together.”