General Electric Charges up Sponsorship Activity

IEG SPONSORSHIP REPORT

July 25, 2011 800/834-4850 | www.IEGSR.com

ONE-ON-ONE General Electric Charges Up Sponsorship Activity

Sponsorship takes on increased importance for GE as a platform to demonstrate technology, build visibility outside the U.S. and ultimately drive new business.

While it may have been a relative latecomer to sponsorship, General Electric Co. is quickly making up lost ground.

The company—which makes everything from aircraft engines to medical imaging equipment and household appliances— has significantly increased its sponsorship portfolio since partnering with the International Olympic Committee’s TOP program in 2005.

Case in point: The company this year has inked new multiyear partnerships with the PGA Tour and the Team Lotus Formula 1 team.

In addition, GE last month extended its IOC TOP program through 2020.

IEG SR checked in with Chris Katsuleres, director of Olympic marketing and sports programs, about GE’s approach to sponsorship, how it activates ties, its success from the Beijing Olympics and other topics.

Below are edited excerpts from the interview.

IEG SR: GE has significantly increased its use of sponsorship this year. What kind of role does sponsorship play for the company?

Katsuleres: Sponsorship has definitely taken on increased importance for General Electric.

When we look at sponsorship, we look for opportunities where we can participate from a technological standpoint. That’s the baseline for every sponsorship. What kind of technology can we infuse into the sponsored team or event?

With the Olympics, we help power events and provide healthcare to athletes. We also provide healthcare technology for athletes on the PGA Tour.

Technology also plays a major role in Formula 1, which is a relevant and evolving opportunity for us. There’s a ton of potential technology applications, and we’re working with Team Lotus to see where we can infuse our technology.

IEG SR: Do you activate in any other ways?

Katsuleres: It varies from property to property. We use relevant technology points to form the basis of our storytelling.

We talk about the power generation contribution GE is making to the London Games using our biogas technology. In the healthcare space, we talk about the healthcare technologies that we have made available to athletes. That’s a fundamental part of our storytelling.

We also use client hospitality and customer engagement events. We do an extensive program at each Olympic game, and we’re doing customer programs at PGA Tour events. We’re just starting those programs around our Team Lotus sponsorship.

IEG SR: GE targets both business and consumer audiences. Do you ever use sponsorship to reach consumer targets?

Katsuleres: There is a consumer aspect to our business, primarily through our lighting and appliance businesses. Both of those businesses run activation programs around the Olympics. That includes the use of athletes in advertising campaigns and in-store retail promotions.

Apart from those two businesses, everything else we do are traditional business-to-business types of relationships.

IEG SR: Tell me about your PGA Tour sponsorship.

Katsuleres: We announced the partnership in March. It’s something we’re excited about. It gives us an opportunity to take our Healthymagination platform into local communities on a weekly basis.

We’ve been working closely with NBC to be part of the tournament broadcasts. We had a vignette that was tied to a series of body mass index scans of 25 players. We’ll run more vignettes that talk about healthcare and getting the most out of your golf game.

We also have an on-site consumer experience where fans get the opportunity to see ultrasound, MRI and other GE technology.

IEG SR: What is the gist of your Team Lotus sponsorship?

Katsuleres: We’re just starting to work on the program, but it’s definitely a partnership where we’ll integrate technology. That could include battery technology, composite materials and aerodynamic technology that could potentially help the team next season.

Team Lotus is a new team—they’re just two years old. We have the opportunity to get in at the ground floor and help them make a lot of progress. They had a strong first season, and we’re hoping that success will continue.

IEG SR: Are you using the partnership to build relations with a customer? Team Lotus chief Tony Fernandez is the chief executive of AirAsia, a Malaysian airline that is in the process of finalizing a large order of planes from Airbus S.A.S. Those plans need engines, which is a product GE makes.

Katsuleres: We do have a preexisting relationship with Tony Fernandez. We have a very successful relationship with Tony and the growth of AirAsia. He started the airline with two planes, and we have seen him grow the company into a successful organization.

When we looked at the potential of the team, we saw how Tony has been able to grow a business into a successful organization. We saw that potential with Team Lotus. It’s a strong and healthy relationship and we’re looking forward to working with Tony and the team moving forward.

IEG SR: Tell me about GE’s Olympic program.

Katsuleres: We’re hard at work providing infrastructure opportunities to support the build-out for the London games. We will have GE technology in virtually all competition and non-competition venues. That includes power generation, lighting, healthcare and a number of other things.

At each host city, we try to develop a legacy program to leave behind. In London we decided to work with Homerton University Hospital, which is located on the east end of London. The hospital will serve as the main hospital for athletes.

We spoke with hospital administrators several years ago about what we could do to help them. We ended up donating several million dollars worth of neonatal care equipment that the hospital needed. It was amazing to see their joy when we told them about the donation.

IEG SR: What categories does GE receive exclusivity in?

Katsuleres: One of the first things I was told after I started working at GE is that GE stands for generally everything.

Our exclusivity includes a number of products and services including aircraft engines, lighting, power generation, water processing technology, locomotives and other things. It’s a diverse set of categories.

IEG SR: How does GE measure success?

Katsuleres: We measure in a couple of ways.

One of our core objectives is the commercial value a sponsorship brings to the company. Take the Beijing Olympics as an example. We participated in approximately 700 infrastructure projects ranging from stadium development to wind farms. Those are big commercial opportunities to drive growth.

We also measure from a brand perspective. Does a sponsorship help us grow and enhance overall awareness and equity of the brand outside the U.S.?

China is a perfect example of how we use the Olympics as a platform to tell our infrastructure and health care capabilities. In 2005 our brand wasn’t widely known, and people largely knew us for our legacy lines of business, lighting and appliances. By 2008 we were widely known for power generation, water processing technology and what we do in the healthcare space.

Editor’s note: IMG helps General Electric develop sponsorship strategy and execute ties.

Source General Electric Co., Tel: 203/373-2211

July 25, 2011 800/834-4850 | www.IEGSR.com

SPONSOR PROFILE Ben & Jerry’s Scoops Up New Music Festival Sponsorship

Ice cream brand creates partnerships that help generate sales and support philanthropic initiatives.

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. is expanding its partnership with event producer Superfly Presents with a new sponsorship of the Aug. 12-14 Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in San Francisco, Calif.

The tie builds on the ice cream company’s two-year-old sponsorship of Superfly’s Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, around which it rolled out a festival-themed ice cream flavor last year.

The Unilever plc subsidiary created the flavor—dubbed Bonnaroo Buzz—to update its portfolio of music-themed flavors and build relevancy among young adult consumers. The company has developed a handful of flavors with musicians over the years including Jerry Garcia—it’s first music tie-in—as SIDEBAR well as Phish, Willie Nelson and the Dave Matthews Band. Ben & Jerry’s Inks New Deals To Support Sampling Campaign “We have a heritage of partnering with musicians that come In addition to San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts out of the jam band scene, and we were trying to think of how Festival, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc. this year has signed we could evolve our music partnerships in a way that allowed a handful of new deals to support a five-market sampling us to stay true to our heritage but become more relevant to campaign. today’s audience,” said Jay Curley, Ben & Jerry’s integrated The sponsorships primarily focus on LGBT events and music marketing manager. festivals including the Sizzle circuit party in Miami and The Governors Ball music festival in New York City. The iconic ice cream brand was drawn to Bonnaroo due to the festival’s evolving programming, he said. Ben & Jerry’s is using the ties to create anchor events in each market. The company samples product at the events as well as other locations announced through its Twitter feed. “Bonnaroo has a heritage in the jam band scene, but they have started to book more modern, eclectic American music. “We have a few anchor events, but for the most part we keep We have a similar heritage and we’re both heading in the the schedule open,” said Jay Curley, Ben & Jerry’s integrated same direction.” marketing manager. The sampling program will visit Boston, Los Angeles, New In addition to gaining differentiation at the point of purchase, York City, Miami and San Francisco. The program stays in the music-themed products help the company’s bottom line. each city for approximately six weeks. Cherry Garcia is Ben & Jerry’s best-selling flavor, said Curley, adding that Phish Food consistently ranks as one of the Source Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Tel: 802/846-1500 company’s top-ten best sellers.

Like its partnerships with musicians, Ben & Jerry’s pays Superfly a licensing fee based on sales of Bonnaroo Buzz. The event producer does not receive a sponsorship fee for Bonnaroo or Outside Lands.

“Superfly has a vested interested in the flavor doing well because they receive a royalty on sales,” said Curley.

The Outside Lands sponsorship coincides with expanded distribution for Bonnaroo Buzz. Ben & Jerry’s this year rolled out the product at national and regional grocery stores after selling the flavor exclusively through its roughly 300 U.S. Scoop Shops last year.

Similar to Outside Lands, Ben & Jerry’s frequently gains sponsorship status at music festivals created or headlined by its musician partners. The ice cream brand will sponsor next month’s Dave Matthews Band Caravan tour stop in New York City, a tie that will follow its sponsorship of the July 1-3 Phish Super Ball IX music festival in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

The company is sponsoring Outside Lands due in part to the appearance by Phish, one of the festival’s headliners.

In keeping with its corporate positioning, Ben & Jerry’s uses music partnerships to support causes championed by both parties.

Case in point: Superfly uses funds generated from the sale of Bonnaroo Buzz to support the Bonnaroo Works Fund, a philanthropic initiative that supports nonprofits located in Coffee County, Tenn., the location of the event.

“We work with partners who have a similar world view and passion so that we can move an issue forward,” said Curley.

Activates Bonnaroo To Generate A Buzz Ben & Jerry’s activates the Bonnaroo music festival with product sampling and an educational exhibit on fair trade.

To generate a buzz away from the event, the company last year hosted acoustic performances by Bonnaroo artists at six Scoop Shops. The events culminated with a concert by Phish bassist Mike Gordon at the Scoop Shop located at the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco.

This year, Ben & Jerry’s plans to host concerts in or near Scoop Shops located in three markets. The concerts will be larger than those last year, said Curley, noting that two of the shows will take place at public parks.

“We’re trying to make it bigger. Instead of hosting 50 people at a store, we hope to host 1,000 people at a park.”

Potential markets include Boston, New York City and San Francisco, said Alex Machurov, director of brand partnerships with Superfly Marketing group, Superfly Presents’ brand partnership division.

Sources Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, Inc., Tel: 802/846-1500 Superfly Presents, Tel: 212/375-9652

Category Update

July 25, 2011 800/834-4850 | www.IEGSR.com

SEEKING DEALS Mazda Explores More Local Sponsorships

Sponsorship helps support traditional media by providing promotional platforms and one-on-one engagement opportunities.

Taking a cue from its new advertising agency, Mazda North American Operations (“Mazda Turns To Music To Reach New Car Buyers,” 10/4/10) is scouting local sponsorship opportunities.

The guidance is coming from The Garage-Team Mazda, an agency Mazda hired last year as its advertising agency of record. (IEG SR publisher IEG, LLC and Garage-Team Mazda are both part of WPP Group plc.)

“One of our goals for this year is to complement local broadcast media with more sponsorships and grassroots events,” said Maria Zlidar, sales operations manager in Mazda’s Midwest regional office, one of the automaker’s five regional offices.

Mazda’s regional offices are working with Garage-Team Mazda to identify and evaluate potential sponsorships, she said. The automaker’s regional marketing managers spearhead ties.

“We are looking at state fairs, sports teams and other types of opportunities in Minneapolis, Cleveland and Detroit,” said Zlidar, who is mulling a potential tie with the Minnesota State Fair.

The tie would build on the Midwest office’s two-year-old partnership with the Indiana State Fair. Mazda was drawn to the fair’s broad reach: More than 950,000 consumers attend the 17-day event, with attendees on average staying nearly four hours.

“The sponsorship is a cost-effective sales and marketing venue to reach influencers and expand awareness in Indiana.”

Mazda will activate the Indiana State Fair with an on-site vehicle display accompanied by product specialists. The automaker will title the fair on Saturday, Aug. 20, around which it will display its entire vehicle lineup.

The Midwest office renewed the tie based on feedback from its district manager and dealer reps, said Zlidar, who is partial to one-year deals.

“We were very pleased with the turnout. We had a high level of engagement with consumers, and we had sales consultants on hand to give business cards to consumers that expressed interest.”

James Jordon, Mazda’s manager of alternative marketing, oversees the automaker’s national sponsorships. Those include the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron and Formula Drift.

Mazda’s Regional Marketing Managers Region Contact Location Gulf Steve Pridgen Sugarland, Texas Midwest Kyle Kaczmarek Oakbrook Terrace, Ill. Northeast Tami Eichenauer Bridgewater, N.J. Southwest Anne Marie Morrell Jacksonville, Fla. Western Bob Berger Irvine, Calif.

Source Mazda North American Operations, Midwest Region, Tel: 630/953-8050

Category Update

July 25, 2011 800/834-4850 | www.IEGSR.com

EMERGING CATEGORY Fad Or Not, Energy Wristbands Increase Sponsorship Activity

Rightsholders may want to consider energy wristband marketers as a source for short-term sponsorship revenue.

While companies that sell energy-enhancing wristbands have drawn a healthy dose of criticism, one thing is clear: Players in the category are increasingly using sponsorship as their go-to marketing medium.

Indeed, companies that market negative ion wristbands and other types of products that supposedly help improve performance are increasingly using sponsorship to accomplish three primary objectives: build visibility, educate consumers and gain on-site sales.

Case in point: Power Balance, LLC this year has signed a handful of partnerships including the largest deal in the category: Five-year naming rights to the Power Balance Pavilion, home to the NBA Sacramento Kings.

Power Balance also has signed a number of deals with other sports events including surfing’s four-stop Rip Curl Grom Search presented by H20 Overdrive and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series, a tie that affords presenting status at 16 health and fitness expos.

Other companies using sponsorship include Energy Armor, Inc., which this year inked new ties with the Indiana State Fair and a handful of other fairs and festivals, and Perfect World Solutions, Inc., which has signed a new partnership with the State Fair of Texas on behalf of its Bionic Band product.

Below, IEG SR highlights sponsorship objectives and activation tactics for two companies in the energy band category.

Power Balance. Four-year-old Power Balance uses Power Balance Pavilion and other sports-centric properties to educate consumers about its wristbands. The company positions the bands as performance technology products.

“Sponsorship is our primary marketing discipline. We want to gain opportunities that create a personal connection between consumers, our brand and our products,” said Joshua Rodarmel, Power Balance co-founder.

Sponsorship also provides one-on-one educational opportunities, which in turn get people talking about the product, he said.

“We want people to connect and relate to the product, which allows our viral ripple effect to take off.”

While Power Balance focuses on sports properties, the company targets a broad range of consumers. “We have product testimonials from eight-year-olds up to 80-year-old grandmothers.”

The company has a licensing deal with the NBA, around which it has created wristbands bearing the images of six teams. The company plans to add the Sacramento Kings and other teams for the 2011-2012 season, said Rodarmel, who plans to the sell the Kings band at Power Balance Pavilion.

Power Balance sells $30 silicon wristbands and other products through Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., The Sports Authority, Inc. and other national and regional Big Box retailers and specialty stores. It also sells through its web site.

Energy Armor. As an eleven-month-old company, Energy Armor uses sponsorship to accomplish one primary objective: build visibility.

“Our main marketing objective is to build awareness,” said Joshua Trubiani, Energy Armor’s director of events.

As a result, the company looks for sponsorships that provide a heavy dose of media exposure. For example, Energy Armor’s new two-year partnership with the Indiana State Fair affords title of a music stage, an asset the fair promotes through three local radio stations.

“The media element helped seal the deal,” said Debbie Dreiband, director of sponsorship sales with Live Nation, the fair’s sponsorship sales agency.

The sponsorship includes sales rights at six on-site booths. “No matter what we sponsor, we need the ability to sell product,” said Trubiani.

The company looks for category exclusivity. “We want to own the category and build visibility and market share,” said Trubiani, noting the competitive nature of the energy band market.

Energy Armor also has vending deals at a handful of ATP tennis tournaments and NASCAR races. The company will gain sales rights at EverBank Field—home to the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars—for the 2011-2012 NFL season.

The company sells negative ion wristbands, cell phone covers, pet tags and other products through its web site and 146 mall kiosks in roughly 30 states.

Sources Energy Armor, Inc., Tel: 904/415-4732 Power Balance, LLC, Tel. 949/272-7300 Live Nation Midwest, Tel: 317/249-2710