Sports Sponsorships

Anheuser-Busch Inc., St. Louis, has signed a multi-year agreement with National Hockey League Hall of Fame inductee Wayne Gretzky to serve as spokesman for the company's Bud Light brand, the official beer of the NHL. The program includes a variety of on- and off-premise P-O-P materials promoting Gretzky and the beer. One of the main pieces in the promotion is a 72-inch by 32-inch standee that shows Gretzky standing next to a hockey net filled with pucks. In addition, there are table tents, banners, imprintable banners touting special promotions and imprintable posters.

Client: The Integer Group for Coors Brewing, Lakewood, Colo.
Producer: Everbrite Inc., Greenfield, Wis.
Comments: The Coors Light brand invests heavily in sports marketing and wanted to reinforce this at the point-of-purchase, particularly in sports bars, with the focus on NASCAR. The client wanted to appeal to consumers by creating a realistic-looking sign. To achieve this, the mold was cast from an actual NASCAR tire.

Product: Natural beef jerky
Number of displays: 40,000
P-O-P company: Willamette Industries Inc., Minneapolis
Introduction: February 2000
Duration: Temporary
Construction: Corrugated
Display set-up: Retail staff
Jack Link's Beef Jerky Link Snacks is achieving strong sales with the introduction of its Rusty Wallace NASCAR-related beef jerky products in a prepacked floorstand that offers bold graphics of the driver and his car.

Client: Hershey Foods Corp., Hershey, Pa.
Distribution: Convenience stores, supermarkets and mass merchants
Size of Run: 7,500
Producer: Oxford Innovations Division of Tim-Bar Corp., New Oxford, Pa.
Division: Temporary, Candy, Gum and Mints
Objectives: The gas pump display with NASCAR graphics ties in the promotional Reese's Miniatures Hot Wheels Cane with number "94" Reese's Racing sponsored car to generate sales of the candy.

Client: Nabisco, East Hanover, N.J.
Distribution: Supermarkets and mass merchants
Size of Run: 10,000
Producer: Oxford Innovations Division of Tim-Bar Corp., New Oxford, Pa.
Division: Temporary, Snacks, Cookies and Crackers
Objectives: The large display was designed to help drive trial and awareness among the 18-year-old to 34-year-old market. The NCAA Finals are second only to the NFL in fan intensity, so the client thought the unit would draw attention.

Product: "All Century Team Major League Baseball" book
Number of displays: 1,100
P-O-P company: Ideal Packaging Inc., Northfield, Ill.
Introduction: October 1999
Duration: Temporary
Construction: Corrugated
Display set-up: Retail staff
The display for Rare Air Media's "All-Century Team Major League Baseball" book featured a small footprint and a separate pocket to hold bookmarks that were offered as a gift-with-purchase.