Who Does What
Airline Industry Remains On Board With Sponsorships
Properties should target the key carriers in their markets for cash or in-kind sponsorship.
3/29/10: Although their on-time performance may ebb and flow, U.S. airlines can be counted on to be sponsors of many properties.
According to
IEG’s annual survey of rightsholders, the airline sector was one of three of the most active categories that did not appear less frequently on sponsor rosters over the past three years, with 11 percent of properties reporting a deal from at least one airline each year.
In that regard, airlines find themselves in the company of insurance and telecommunications companies.
Although it is very possible—indeed probable—that airline sponsors have reduced sponsorship-related spending or ticket allocations during recent turbulent economic times, at least they have roughly maintained their number of deals, even if they are at lower levels of commitment.
With the economy seeming to stabilize and more business and leisure travelers taking to the skies, nearly all of the country’s major carriers have added deals to their sponsorship portfolios in recent months.
In general, the airline category’s hot buttons include: boosting visibility in new markets, demonstrating community involvement; engaging employees; building relations with frequent business flyers and securing business from sponsored properties.
Airlines typically fund deals with a combination of cash and in-kind tickets.
Below, detailed sponsorship profiles for the most active U.S. airline sponsors:
AirTran Holdings, Inc.
9955 AirTran Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32827
Tad Hutcheson, vice president of marketing and sales
407/318-5600
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: The seventh largest U.S.-based airline uses sponsorship to build awareness and generate trial, particularly in new or growing markets. Case in point: signed a handful of new deals in ’09 to promote expanded service in Milwaukee, inking agreements with The Great Circus Parade, Marquette University athletics, MLB Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Film Festival and Wisconsin State Fair. Outside of Milwaukee, focuses on sports-centric properties in five key markets: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Indianapolis and Orlando. AirTran in ’09 signed a multiyear deal with the NFL Atlanta Falcons, replacing the team’s previous deal with Delta.
Decision-making Structure: Hutcheson reviews and signs off. Kevin Healy, senior vice president of marketing and planning, provides input.
Current Sponsorships: Presenting: Marquette University athletics.
Cosponsor: Amway Center, Orlando; Andretti Autosport Izod IndyCar Series team; Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau; Atlanta Film Festival 365; BB&T Charleston Food & Wine Festival, South Carolina; Bike MS: Citrus Tour; Cobb County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Georgia; Florida Film Festival, Orlando; Georgia Aquarium; Hands On Atlanta; Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Izod IndyCar Series race; MLB Milwaukee Brewers; NBA Orlando Magic; NFL Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts; NHL Boston Bruins; Old Dominion University athletics; Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio; Streets of St. Petersburg; Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, Ga.; Visit Florida; Wichita River Festival; Zoo Atlanta
Additional Comments: Frequently leverages sports teams with custom-painted planes. ’09 passenger count: 24 million.*
American Airlines
4333 Amon Carter Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX 76155
Billy Sanez, director of global advertising, promotions & corporate communications
817/963-1234
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: Unit of AMR Corp. and third largest U.S.-based carrier has revamped its corporate sponsorship strategy over the past two years by dropping properties that don’t offer international exposure or multi-segment reach in favor of partnerships that can be activated on a global basis. The company last year signed a new partnership with the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee and has not dropped any major ties this year, Sanez said. Looks for properties that provide access to 25-to-54-year-old business travelers, exclusivity, media exposure, promotional elements and hospitality opportunities. Evaluates deals based on their ability to reach women, Hispanics, African-Americans, the GLBT community and other targeted groups. Remains an active sponsor on the local level.
Decision-making Structure: Accepts national, regional and local proposals at AA-Promo.com. Funds community events and other local deals out of local sales offices. Octagon, PR agency Weber Shandwick and promotion agency AC&M help develop sponsorship strategy and activation.
Current Sponsorships: Title: American Airlines Arena, Miami; American Airlines Center, Dallas; American Airlines Theatre, New York City.
Cosponsor: AFI Dallas Int’l Film Festival; Arlington Park horse track, Arlington Heights, Ill.; Bank of America Chicago Marathon; Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth; Brookfield Zoo, Illinois; ECHL Charlotte Checkers; FedEx Orange Bowl and Festival; Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago; ING Miami Marathon and Half Marathon; Int’l Reggae and World Music Awards, New York City; Los Angeles Film Festival; Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival; MLS and four teams; Navy Pier, Chicago; NBA Europe Live; NBA Mavericks and Heat; NFL Cowboys; North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee; Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game; Philadelphia Zoo; San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo, Texas; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital; Susan G. Komen for the Cure; Zachary Scott Theatre Center, Austin, Texas.
Additional Comments: American has extended its use of branded entertainment, including a global tie-in with Paramount Pictures Corp.’s
Up in the Air. American plans to expand its use of branded entertainment with tie-ins with additional films this year, Sanez said. Rogers and Cowan serves as American’s entertainment support agency. Activates 22-year-old Komen tie through Miles for the Cure program offering AAdvantage frequent-flyer members five miles for each dollar donated to the cause. Passenger count: 85.7 million.*
Continental Airlines, Inc.
1600 Smith St.
Houston, TX 77002
Dana Bates, director, brand marketing, advertising & sponsorships
713/324-5000
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: Dropped its long-running partnership last year with Madison Square Garden and the venue’s primary tenants the NBA New York Knicks and NHL New York Rangers. Otherwise, the sixth largest U.S.-based airline largely kept its sponsorship portfolio intact in ’09. Uses sponsorship to strengthen its market positioning and enhance relationships with frequent business customers. Continental focuses on properties located in three key markets: Cleveland, Houston and New York City, in addition to its national partnership with the March of Dimes. Typically activates by offering OnePass frequent-flyer members the opportunity to bid miles for once-in-a-lifetime property-connected perks such as walk-on roles in Broadway shows.
Decision-making Structure: Skokie, Ill.-based Paragon Marketing Group screens and evaluates ties in conjunction with Bates and Jeff Jones, manager, sponsorship marketing. Paragon also helps develop sponsorship strategy and implement ties.
Current Sponsorships: Presenting: Golfers Against Cancer.
Cosponsor: Albuquerque Int’l Balloon Fiesta; Alley Theatre, Houston; American Theater Wing's Tony Awards; AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, PGA Tour stop, California; The Broadway League; Carnegie Hall; Cherry Creek Arts Festival presented by Janus, Denver; Cleveland Sports Commission; Cleveland Orchestra; Cleveland Museum of Art; ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run, Houston; Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands, Texas; Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland; Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau; Hawaii Opera Theatre; Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Houston; Houston Ballet; Houston Grand Opera; Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo; Houston Symphony; Houston Zoo; ING New York City Marathon; Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic; Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; Make-A-Wish Foundation; March of Dimes Foundation; Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Miami; MLB Houston Astros; MLS Houston Dynamo; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Assn. of Hispanic Publications; NBA Cleveland Indians; New Jersey Performing Arts Center; NFL Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans and New York Giants; Opera Cleveland; Out & Equal Workplace Advocates Annual Summit; Points of Light Foundation; Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum, Cleveland; Special Olympics, New Jersey; The Old Globe, San Diego; Theatre Under the Stars, Houston; USTA U.S. Open; Wings Over Houston Airshow.
Additional Comments: Outside the U.S., Continental last fall sponsored the London Arts Festival to promote its business-class service between London and New York City. Passenger count: 43.9 million.*
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
1030 Delta Blvd.
Atlanta, GA 30320
Tim Mapes, senior vice president of marketing
404/715-2600
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: The largest carrier in the world since merging with Northwest Airlines Corp., Delta uses sponsorship to build visibility, engage with customers in key markets, tout customer benefits and build loyalty. The airline expanded its presence in New York City in ’09 with a multiyear, estimated seven-figure per-year partnership with Madison Square Garden (replacing Continental), a tie that includes the Knicks, Rangers and Liberty. The company last year dropped its partnership with the NFL Atlanta Falcons to put more focus on pro baseball, according to a published report. Activated its sponsorship of the ’10 Grammy Awards through a promotion with online radio station Pandora.com offering personal listening stations inspired by Grammy Award-winning artists and a sweeps dangling a trip to the awards show. The carrier further leveraged the tie by making a donation to The Grammy Foundation for every tweet using #DeltaGrammys; the company donated $1 per tweet, up to $10,000.
Decision-making Structure: Accepts proposals at Delta.Sponsorport.com.
Current Sponsorships: Title: Classic Chastain Park Amphitheatre, Atlanta. Cosponsor: 100 Black Men of America; 3M Championship presented by Post-it Products, PGA Tour Champions Tour stop, Blaine, Minn.; AIDS Walk New York presented by Duane Reade; Alliance Theatre Co.; ALSAC / St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; American Red Cross; Atlanta Ballet; Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau; Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race 10K; Atlanta Pride Festival; Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Bank of America Atlanta Football Classic; Beacon Theatre; Breast Cancer Research Foundation; Brigham Young University athletics; Capital One Bowl; Chicago Theatre, Chick-fil-A Bowl; Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Foundation; Children's Medical Center Foundation of Central Texas; Children’s Miracle Network; Cincinnati Opera; Cirque du Soleil; Fiesta Atlanta; Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival; Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival presented by Food & Wine; Fox Theatre, Atlanta; Georgia Institute of Technology athletics, Grammy Awards; Greater Cincinnati Convention & Visitors Bureau; Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis; Habitat for Humanity Int’l; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Int’l; Madison Square Garden; Make-A-Wish Foundation; Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon; Minnesota Orchestra; MLB Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays; Naismith Awards; National Assn. of Collegiate Directors of Athletics; National Society of Black Engineers; Native American Business Alliance; Nature Conservancy; NBA Atlanta Hawks, Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks and Utah Jazz; NFL Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets; NHL Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers and New York Rangers; North American Int’l Auto Show, Detroit; PGA Tour; Radio City Music Hall; Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; St. John's University athletics; Tribeca Film Festival; U.S. Ski and Snowboard Assn.; University of Georgia athletics; University of Minnesota athletics; Vanderbilt University athletics; WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden; Wildlife Conservation Society ; WNBA New York Liberty; Xavier University athletics, Zoo Atlanta
Additional Comments: Delta’s 22-year-old partnership with the PGA Tour runs through this year; the airline activates the tie by offering travel perks to Tour members. Passenger count: 108.6 million.*
JetBlue Airways Corp.
118-29 Queens Blvd.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Lisa Borromeo, manager, national sponsorships
718/286-7900
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: The eighth largest U.S.-based airline has ramped up sports marketing over the last year with new ties to Boston College and University of Texas athletics, the New York Jets and the Florida Panthers. The low-cost carrier uses sponsorship to strengthen its presence in existing markets and build visibility in expanding markets. For example, the airline late last year partnered with BC athletics to build its presence in the market, where it plans to boost daily departures 30 percent by summer ’10. Frequently leverages new partnerships by offering discount tickets for a specific promotional period. For example, JetBlue late in ’09 offered a 10 percent discount on flights out of Boston to celebrate BC deal. The airline ran a similar promotion late last year around its Panthers tie, offering an 18 percent discount on flights out of Fort Lauderdale. The promotion tied into the start of service to San Francisco, JetBlue’s 18th destination out of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Int’l Airport.
Decision-making Structure: Borromeo reviews and approves ties with Marty St. George, senior vice president of marketing and commercial strategy, and other marketing staff.
Current Sponsorships: ATP Legg Mason Tennis Classic presented by GEICO, Washington, D.C.; Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, Calif.; Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, Texas; Boston College athletics; Boston Independent Film Festival; Boston Marathon; Celebrate Brooklyn!; Chelsea Piers, New York City; Dig the Beach beach volleyball series, Florida; Fort Lauderdale A1A Marathon & Half Marathon presented by Publix; Hofstra University athletics; Lexus Broadway Across America, Boston; Litquake, literary festival, San Francisco; Long Beach Int’l City Bank Marathon & Half Marathon, Calif.; Long Island 2 Day Walk To Fight Breast Cancer; Marine Corps Marathon, Washington, D.C..; MLB Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers; MLS Real Salt Lake; Nation's Triathlon, Washington, D.C.; Nautica New York City Triathlon presented by RCN; NBA Los Angeles Clippers and Orlando Magic; NFL Buffalo Bills and New York Jets; NHL Florida Panthers; Nike Women's Marathon, San Francisco; Orlando Hispanic Expo; Richmond Ballet; River to River Festival presented by American Express, New York City; St. John's University athletics; Statesman Capitol 10,000 presented by H-E-B, Austin, Texas; Tri-City Medical Center Carlsbad Marathon & Half Marathon, California; USA Luge; University of Texas at Austin athletics.
Additional Comments: JetBlue activated its new Panthers partnership by placing a branded airplane tailfin on a “JetBlue Tarmac” outside the BankAtlantic Center; the company plans to further leverage the tie by offering travel packages for fans to attend away games. The deal affords title of an Hispanic concert series at the arena and official and exclusive sponsor status. Passenger count: 22.4 million.*
Southwest Airlines Co.
2702 Love Field Dr.
Dallas, TX 75235
Andy Allman, director, national strategic partnerships
214/792-4000
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: The second largest U.S.-based carrier uses sponsorship to tap into consumer passion points, demonstrate its community involvement and build presence in new markets. For example, the company last year signed title of the Southwest Airlines Porch at New York City’s Bryant Park to promote its launch of service at LaGuardia Airport. The airline—which leveraged the tie through on-site chats with its senior leadership—has renewed the partnership due to the buzz it generated, Allman said. The company is increasingly leveraging ties with text-message promotions, as well as promos that tout its Click ‘n Save email service and Rapid Rewards loyalty program. Also has tapped deals to promote its Bags Fly Free positioning. For example, in late ’09 leveraged its Nuggets tie with promo that dangled tickets to a Nuggets game and roundtrip airline tickets; to enter, consumers were required to say “Bags Fly Free only on Southwest Airlines” at the carrier’s Pepsi Center display area.
Decision-making Structure: Allman approves national deals, as well as promotions with Coca-Cola, Kraft and other strategic partners. Irene Riddle, director of brand engagement, oversees market-specific sponsorships.
Current Sponsorships: Title: Chinese New Year Festival & Parade, San Francisco.
Cosponsor: Border Book Festival, Mesilla, N.M.; Busch Adventure Parks; Capitol Federal Park at Sandstone amphitheater, Bonner Springs, Kan.; Chicago Blues Festival; Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau; Children's Medical Center, Dallas; Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Annual Gala; Hispanic Assn. of Colleges and Universities; Midnight Gaming Championship; MLB Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates; NAACP Image Awards; National Assn. of Women Business Owners; National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum; NBA; NBA Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns and San Antonio Spurs; NHL Dallas Stars; Oregon Museum of Science & Industry; Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colo.; Ronald McDonald House Charities; San Jose Holiday Parade, Calif.; State Farm Bayou Classic college football game; T-Mobile San Jose Mariachi and Mexican Heritage Festival presented by Target, Calif.; U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Water Country USA; WNBA Washington Mystics
Additional Comments: Busch Adventure Parks deal includes Busch Gardens venues in Tampa and Williamsburg, Va.; SeaWorld Adventure Parks in Orlando, San Antonio and San Diego; and Water Country USA in Williamsburg. Activated ’10 NBA All-Star Game by flying trophies to the event on “Slam Dunk One.” Passenger count: 101.3 million.
United Airlines
77 W. Wacker Dr.
Chicago, IL 60601
Samantha Petti, manager of marketing communications
312/997-8000
Targets/Objectives/Key Activations: Fourth largest carrier and subsidiary of UAL Corp. uses its 30-year-old relationship with the USOC as its major national sponsorship platform. The carrier transports athletes and seeks to gain additional business from national governing bodies of individual sports. “The sponsorship is the best illustration of United’s global reach and all the services it can provide,” said Jeannie Goldstein, a partner with Chicago Sports & Entertainment Partners, which helps United develop strategy. Obtains sponsor status of some NGBs as a result of USOC tie.
Decision-making Structure: Petti screens proposals. United’s marketing/promotions department is responsible for sports and events ties, while nonprofit partnerships are handled by corporate social investment/public relations.
Current Sponsorships: Title: United Center, Chicago.
Cosponsor: MLB Chicago Cubs and White Sox; NBA Chicago Bulls; NHL Chicago Blackhawks; USA Canoe/Kayak; U.S. Biathlon Assn.; U.S. Fencing Assn.; U.S. Figure Skating; USOC; US Speedskating; U.S. Synchronized Swimming.
Additional Comments: Cross-promotes USOC tie with other Olympic sponsors. For example, United has run a sweepstakes with Visa Inc. offering trips to the Beijing and Vancouver Games to consumers who purchase airline tickets using a Visa card. Transports the Bears, Cubs and White Sox, but not the Bulls. Passenger count: 56 million.
*Scheduled ’09 enplanements per U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics