IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT September 13, 2010 800/834-4850 | www.IEGSR.com STRATEGY Financial Services Firm Looks To Grow NFL Team Program Properties and other sponsors could emulate recognition overlay to reach targeted audiences. Based on the success of its four-year-old partnership with the NFL Seattle Seahawks and a Heroes in the Classroom activation program, Symetra Financial Corp. has expanded the marketing platform with new ties to the NFL Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears. The company also is considering deals with additional NFL teams, said Jim Pirak, vice president of corporate marketing and investor relations. “We plan to expand the program in 2011 and beyond,” he said. Symetra, which markets individual and group investment products and plans—including annuities, life insurance and retirement income instruments—launched its sponsorship push with the Seahawks in 2006 to accomplish two goals: raise awareness of the Symetra brand, and recognize outstanding teachers as a way to build relationships with school districts, one of the company’s markets for retirement plans. “The partnership has hit on all cylinders,” Pirak said. The company’s primary leveraging tool is Symetra Financial Heroes in the Classroom, a weekly program during the NFL season that recognizes teachers for exemplary leadership and instructional skills. In the Puget Sound area, educators are nominated for the award by their school principals. Teachers in Atlanta and Chicago are nominated by the public online through a form on Symetra.com. The form is promoted on the Falcons’ and Bears’ Web sites and through local advertising. Winning teachers are recognized in their classroom and at a game. They receive $1,000 for classroom supplies, tickets to the game, a custom team jersey and are recognized with a video message from a player. Symetra—which sells through a national network of financial institutions, benefits consultants and independent agents—also uses the program to differentiate its products and services from others that also are represented by those distributors. “Financial advisors sell based on the merits of each product,” Pirak said. “But if everything is equal, we hope the program will develop additional loyalty and help win business.” © 2010 IEG, LLC. All rights reserved. 1 IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT Symetra partners with a distributor in each market to help execute the program. In Atlanta, that role falls to SunTrust Banks, Inc. and in Chicago, Gallagher Benefit Services, Inc. Those partners are charged with alerting teachers to their victory through surprise presentations at their schools. They also host teachers at games. Symetra expanded the program to Atlanta and Chicago based on growth opportunities in those markets and each team’s willingness to make Heroes in the Classroom a core component of its community outreach efforts, Pirak said. The company partnered with NFL teams based on research that shows the NFL is the most powerful brand in pro sports, Pirak said. “If we associate the Symetra brand with the power and passion of NFL football, we can get a lift.” NFL games also afford significant exposure for the Symetra brand and winning teachers, he said. “There’s no greater stage than in front of 70,000 screaming fans.” The company also sponsors other properties located near its Bellevue, Wash. headquarters, including the Symetra Bellevue Family 4th and the MLS Seattle Sounders. Symetra activates its Sounders sponsorship with Symetra Active Bodies Active Minds, a program designed to promote mental and physical fitness among elementary school students and improve their ability to learn and do well in the classroom. The program features visits to area schools and afterschool clubs by Sounders players, as well as an online component (www.SoundersFC.com/getactive) that allows students to record reading and fitness goals and access information on ways to stay healthy. Source Symetra Financial Corp., Tel: 425/256-8000 © 2010 IEG, LLC. All rights reserved. 2 IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT September 13, 2010 800/834-4850 | www.IEGSR.com CATEGORY UPDATE Solar Energy Companies Light Up More Properties With interest in clean energy at an all time high, time is right to target solar manufacturers and installers. Identified by IEG SR as a fast-growing sponsor category earlier this year (“Ray of Sunshine: Solar Energy Category Heats Up Sponsorship Activity,” 3/19/10), the solar energy industry continues to evolve its role as an active partner to many properties. New deals continue to emanate from two types of companies in the category: manufacturers of solar wafers, panels and other components that comprise solar power systems, and installers of those systems. On the manufacturing side, Canadian Solar Inc. has signed a handful of new deals over the past several months with U.S. and European sports teams, culminating in a recent tie with the MLB San Francisco Giants. That deal follows presenting sponsorship of the NHL San Jose Sharks’ playoff run, jersey sponsorship of German pro hockey club EHC Munchen, and renewal for a second year of its title sponsorship of Italian pro basketball team Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna. The category also is continuing to sponsor a diverse array of property types. For example, manufacturer SolarWorld USA has come on board as the renewable energy sponsor of Oregon’s Portland Fashion Week. In addition to manufacturers, installers have also recently signed new deals. For example, Sunlight Solar Energy, Inc. has come on board as a new official patron of October’s Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, a tie that adds to a portfolio of other local events in areas where it operates. Canadian Solar Taps Power Of Sports Teams Canadian Solar is aligning with sports teams as a platform to gain visibility, drive mainstream acceptance of solar power and build a prospect database. “We are continuing to build our brand recognition by aligning with leading brands, in this case sports franchises, that can carry our message to our target markets,” said Jill Hansen, senior marketing manager for Canadian Solar (USA) Inc. “Sports fans’ passion is as contagious as our passion for solar, and we are looking for a convergence of that enthusiasm.” Kitchener, Ont.-based Canadian Solar, which manufactures solar modules for residential, commercial and industrial use, also is using its Giants tie to build a database of homeowners interested in solar power. © 2010 IEG, LLC. All rights reserved. 3 IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT The company is conducting a Score with Canadian Solar sweepstakes, a promotion that dangles two 2011 season tickets and other baseball prizes. Consumers who enter the sweepstakes can request a free residential or business solar installation quote, as well as opt in to receive emails from Canadian Solar installation partners. The sweepstakes may be entered at www.SFGiants.com/CanadianSolar. The partnership, which runs through the end of the season, also includes rotational signage behind home plate, a program ad and client hospitality, said Damien Beasley, the Giants’ account executive, corporate sponsorship. The sponsorship does not conflict with the team’s existing deal with Sharp Electronics Corp., which in 2007 installed nearly 600 solar panels outside AT&T Park in a partnership with local utility PG&E Corp., said Beasley, noting Sharp uses the partnership to promote flat-screen TVs and other consumer electronics products, not solar panels. Canadian Solar will track lead generation and media exposure to determine success, Hansen said. SolarWorld Struts It Stuff The company’s sponsorship of October’s Portland Fashion Week includes providing its black high-performance solar panels to create the event’s runway. “It’s a good opportunity to explore, test and gauge the potential interplay between fashion and renewable energy in terms of aesthetics, messaging and audience,” said Ben Santarris, SolarWorld USA’s public affairs manager. The unit of SolarWorld AG will further activate the tie through a partnership with fashion designer Seth Aaron Henderson, the most recent winner of the Project Runway reality TV show and a Portland-area resident. Henderson will design a solar- technology-inspired collection under the theme Solar Is the New Black. “Just as Seth Aaron and Portland Fashion Week are exploring the fashion implications of renewable energy, so, by association, are we,” Santarris said. “In effect, we are introducing the aesthetics of our all-black module, which is fairly new, via an aesthetic forum.” Tips On Selling Solar Energy Companies Below, advice for properties seeking sponsorship from solar energy manufacturers and installers: Keep an eye open for new installations. When prospecting, properties should look for firms involved in local residential and commercial solar projects. That tactic paid off for the Sharks, which pitched Canadian Solar after learning about the company’s work at the new rental car terminal at the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Int’l Airport. “They had a huge win, which prompted us to approach them and ask about their work in the Bay Area,” said Eric Mastalir, vice president of corporate partnerships for the Sharks and the team’s home venue, HP Pavilion. Leverage existing ties with utilities. If a property has a current partnership with an electric power company, such relationships can be leveraged to secure deals with solar energy companies that work with the utility, or companies that may be interested in working with the energy provider. For example, Canadian Solar may use its Giants partnership to build relations with PG&E, an existing customer. Help generate leads. Solar energy companies are looking to identify potential customers interested in clean energy alternatives, so properties should propose ways to help build prospect databases. © 2010 IEG, LLC. All rights reserved. 4 IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT To encourage hand-raisers to request an installation quote through their Giants sweepstakes, Canadian Solar is offering an autographed baseball to the first 100 consumers who ask for an estimate.