Category Update
Sponsorship Still Driving Results For Automakers
Not all car companies have put the brakes on sponsorship; some are putting more dollars into the medium and seeing better returns.
1/12/09: Although the financial woes of the world’s largest auto manufacturers continue to make headlines, sponsorship sellers should not write off the entire category for dead.
While some major automakers anticipate no new deals for at least the first half of the year, the beleaguered category has some bright spots that reflect increased spending and, perhaps even more importantly, demonstrate the medium delivers results even during a severe downturn.
The takeaway: Properties without auto sponsors should continue to selectively mine the category for prospects, while those with existing partners should brainstorm activation programs that will help generate leads and deliver direct sales when possible.
Subaru Sponsorships Lead To More Sales, New Cause Campaign
Evidence sponsorship may indeed be the most effective way to market products during tough economic times comes from Subaru of America, Inc.
The company’s longtime support of membership associations and other nonprofits continues to pay dividends. Subaru sponsors scores of organizations ranging from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Assn. to the Geological Society of America to the National Ski Patrol, around which it typically offers a payment for each vehicle sold to one of their members.
In the midst of a year that saw the automaker eke out a .3 percent U.S. sales increase, the company posted a 17 percent increase through the third quarter of ’08 in sales to membership organizations over the year-earlier period.
“Supporting the activities and causes that fuel our customers’ passions has proven successful even during this challenging period,” said Todd Lawrence, Subaru’s promotions and sponsorship manager.
Such positive results certainly influenced Subaru’s decision to run a first-time Share the Love end-of-year cause marketing campaign that generated about $5 million for five nonprofits.
From November 24 to January 2, consumers who purchased or leased a Subaru designated one of the charities to receive a $250 donation from the automaker. Subaru guaranteed each nonprofit $250,000 with no upside cap.
The participating organizations were The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Habitat for Humanity Int’l, Meals on Wheels Assn. of America and the National Wildlife Federation.
Subaru chose the five due to their appeal among its environmentally conscious, socially active customer base, said Brian Johnson, the company’s advertising production specialist who helped spearhead the program.
Subaru aligned with nonprofits it had not previously affiliated with, rather than select from among its existing relationships, because it wanted to expand the range of causes being supported, said Johnson, who evaluated roughly 35 charities.
The company promoted the offer through a national TV ad campaign and a dedicated microsite on Subaru.com. It also provided dealers radio spots, newspaper ad templates and a point-of-purchase kit for local promotion.
The nonprofits touted the offer on their Web sites, in email blasts and through mentions in newsletters and other communications.
Although at the height of the cause campaign Subaru’s December sales of 17,287 vehicles represented a decline of 7.7 percent from ’07, the company fared much better than the rest of the U.S. auto industry, which averaged a 36 percent decline for the month.
Subaru was the only major automaker to post a yearly sales increase for all of ’08.
The company signed new partnerships last year with New Jersey Motorsports Park and Colorado’s Crested Butte Mountain Resort. It also sponsored tuner and performance events in the Los Angeles, Florida and Texas markets to promote its WRX performance vehicle, which is most popular in the Sunbelt.
Infiniti Gains More Leads From Increased Symphony Activation
Nissan North America, Inc.’s Infiniti division has stepped up promotional activity around its sponsorship of the San Francisco Symphony and the effort has paid off with a more than 150 percent increase in the number of leads earned since the luxury brand launched the new program in the fall.
Infiniti previously leveraged the two-year-old tie with on-site vehicle display and promotional tables at select concerts, but for the ’08-’09 season, the company quadrupled its activation spend to achieve a larger and more relevant presence.
Among the changes: Infiniti enhanced its on-site presence by commissioning an artist to create a sculpture designed to compliment the architecture of Davies Symphony Hall, said Jessica Racioppo Freeman, an account supervisor of lifestyle marketing with ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day, who manages sponsorships that emanate from Infiniti’s West and East regional offices.
Additionally, instead of having sales reps from local dealerships staff the display, Infiniti hired an independent product specialist to interact with patrons. “If they want some information on the vehicle, they can talk to this objective person who is not intimidating,” Freeman said.
For lead generation, Infiniti previously relied on symphony attendees to fill out forms requesting vehicle information. The automaker has now hired PictureU Promotions to snap photos of patrons at symphony functions; to retrieve the photos online, patrons must supply contact information and indicate their interest in purchasing a new vehicle.
The photo-taking element allowed Infiniti to access the symphony’s opening night gala and other special events where it previously had no presence.
“That helped us gain leads at places we couldn’t access the year before,” said Freeman, who noted Infiniti captured roughly 100 leads at one of the symphony’s black tie events late last year.
The activation idea came from Katie Nicely, the symphony’s associate director of development and institutional partnerships, who met PictureU personnel at their exhibit booth at IEG’s annual sponsorship conference last March.
“I went to the conference looking for organic ways to activate the Infiniti partnership,” Nicely said.
To further incent data capture, Infiniti has rolled out an on-site sweepstakes that offers tickets to symphony galas and trips to touring performances and shopping excursions in Los Angeles and other California markets. The marque also offers co-branded corkscrews and digital storage devices to patrons who share contact information.
Those efforts have helped Infiniti collect roughly 125 leads at each concert, up from around 15 per performance in previous seasons, Freeman said.
Next month, Infiniti plans to replicate the activation program around its sponsorship of Arizona’s Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, a property it has sponsored for the past two years.
The automaker last year expanded its partnership with Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art with a tie to the property’s CineMOCA outdoor film screenings.
“We’re definitely stepping up support behind experiential marketing,” said Freeman, who plans to use the new efforts as models to sell in increased activation programs for Infiniti’s corporate sponsorships and deals coming from its two other regions.
Sources
Subaru of America, Inc., Tel: 856/488-8500
San Francisco Symphony, Tel: 415/552-8000
TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, Tel: 310/305-5000