Feeling the POWER of P-O-P

Walking through the doors of the National Football League's headquarters in New York, one is greeted by an astounding "display" -- a massive glass showcase of memorabilia from the game's greatest players and coaches. Of course, only those privileged to enter the NFL's 400-employee Park Avenue offices actually see this display.Creating P-O-P displays to be viewed by the rest of us, on the other hand, is the job of NFL Properties Inc., the NFL's central marketing arm, and its "integrated marketing group." Established in 1963 by Commissioner Pete Rozelle, NFLP has stepped up its marketing efforts in recent years with initiatives ranging from multimedia ad campaigns such as "Feel the Power" to a host of retail merchandising programs.It is big business indeed. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, sales of NFL merchandise rose to a record $3.3 billion in 1996. With more than 100 million fans watching the games each weekend, NFLP enjoys the largest fan base of the four major professional sports leagues.Still, as noted in a recent New Yorker magazine article, NFLP views all forms of entertainment and media as its competition: "It isn't Johnny Unitas versus Bart Starr anymore; it's Brett Favre versus Batman."This aggressive stance seems to be working. NFLP was named Advertising Age's Promotional Marketer of the Year in 1995, the first sports entity to receive such an honor.More Than MarketingOne of the NFL's strengths is that it maintains strong ties with three key groups: corporate sponsors, licensees and retailers. Typically it is through these partners that NFLP creates its various retail promotions, player retail appearances and the greatest retail event of them all, the Super Bowl.Another strength is the unity of the league itself. Although the Dallas Cowboys usually lead the way in team-related merchandise sales, the revenue is distributed equally so each team benefits from the 29 other organizations. "The way the NFL looks at it, it's almost 30 flavors under one brand which is the NFL," says Brian McCarthy, marketing communications manager.The responsibility for all merchandising and P-O-P falls on the 15-person integrated marketing group. Working with NFLP's 25-member creative department, the integrated marketing group creates standard P-O-P pieces that any retailer carrying NFL licensed product can order, customized P-O-P for a current promotion and special event signage.NFLP executives attribute much of its success to the fact that its ad campaigns always tie-in to selling merchandise at retail. The goal is to hit its 100 million fan base each week through print, radio, TV and P-O-P. "One of the reasons the integrated marketing group exists is so we know what is going on throughout the organization in terms of the marketing focus," says Jamie Sykes, director of marketing. "Our whole department is responsible for overall communication, whether it's advertising, marketing or P-O-P. We're responsible for sending the message out.""Everybody knows it's really critical to get somebody in the store," says Bob Stohrer, creative supervisor. "But to hope that the P-O-P alone will get them there is being a little short-sighted. It's critical that when you do the advertising, the customer makes an immediate connection between the ad they saw and the P-O-P they see in the store."Standard P-O-P materials are either team-specific or support one of the NFL's major marketing platforms:Play Football products are targeted at kids;Team NFL features casual wear targeted at adults;Pro Line features authentic, on-the-field merchandise;Game Day encompasses products (cups, napkins, etc.) that are purchased by fans for game day use."A lot of licensed product purchases are impulse buys," Sykes says. "We need to make sure that when consumers go into the store, they buy the NFL because there is some excitement surrounding them. We've developed a merchandising program that allows the retailer to take the whole NFL and be able to merchandise it to tell a story."According to Sykes, not only has P-O-P's role in the marketing mix increased, but its scope has as well. "Our P-O-P is everywhere NFL licensed product is sold. We sent out more than 30,000 pieces of standard P-O-P last year alone to retailers who were interested in putting up displays in their stores. Some of the smaller stores in certain markets have taken all of this P-O-P to make a store within a store. They can create a very compelling message based either on the amount of space that they have or on the specific team in that market."The Mega Marketing MixCustomized P-O-P typically is developed to support a licensee's or corporate sponsor's program with a specific retailer. The NFL currently works with a group of 275 licensees that manufacture more than 1,000 products. Products range from apparel to ceiling fans and coffee pots. "For the most part we are dealing with the top companies in each of their respective fields," says McCarthy. "We work with companies like Starter, Nike and Reebok. For some of the niche products, we have, as you would expect, some smaller companies."NFLP currently works with a group of about 30 corporate sponsor companies. These typically are giant packaged goods companies such as Coca-Cola or True Value Hardware. McCarthy says that in the past, sponsors simply wanted to be tied to the NFL for prestige and, frankly, for access to tickets. But since then, the sponsors have become willing to spend more money to activate their involvement, doing more general promotions and more integration with licensees.When partnering with a corporate sponsor or a licensee for a specific program, NFLP works from the start with the retailers and manufacturers involved. "I think partnering with them early on to get everyone's specifications and guidelines has proven to be much easier and more effective," Sykes says. "At the end of the day, if you ship things to the retailer that don't fit in their size specifications, it's worthless."Stohrer notes that retailers are pushing the envelope in terms of the promotion and "how much that promotion has to work for them. I don't know if people ever looked at P-O-P as a real business maker or breaker the way they do today. I think people are finding that they really need that point of difference and a promotion is the way to do that. One sports specialty shop can't look like another sports specialty shop -- there has to be something tangible for people to walk in and experience."The Game Goes OnThis fall, in the licensing industry's largest back-to-school retail-based promotion to date, the NFL teamed up with Starter and FOX Kids to give one kid, between the ages of six and 17, and 19 friends the chance to play an actual flag football game with Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys and Curtis Martin of the New England Patriots. P-O-P materials were featured at more than 2,100 participating Starter/NFL retailers."This promotion is definitely the most exciting ever," says Sykes. "The P-O-P is some of the most compelling we've ever created. Over the past couple of years we've raised the level of P-O-P from a little box that sits on a counter to something that is more exciting because consumers have so many choices when they go into the store." The promotion consists of a corrugated floorstand, a countertop unit, posters and additional pieces to create an overall environment if the retailer chooses."The P-O-P and retail businesses have gotten so much more savvy in terms of visualization that we have had to take it to the next level and really stand out," Sykes explains. "Also, we have to consider our competition, which is not only other sports but other entertainment properties." She explains that this program started last year with FOX Kids as a way for NFLP to promote its Play Football initiative to kids. "Working with FOX Kids, we developed the promotion and realized that there was a way to work with a licensee to tie in products to support our licensed business," she says.Sykes stresses that using the licensee's relationship with their two endorsees, Emmitt Smith and Curtis Martin, is beneficial because they have access to them and they know the right players to use and who will be most recognizable to kids. "This promotion tied one of our number one licensees, number one broadcast partner, and the number one league to present a program that was very impactful," Sykes says. It was a challenge because of the strength of the partners, the objectives that each of the partners wanted to set forth, the number of retail doors and the types of retailers -- not to mention that the entire program was slated to ship the week of the infamous UPS strike."This is also one of the biggest promotions we've ever done because instead of taking it to one specific retailer, Starter used it to take out to the marketplace," Sykes states. "It is the largest program they have ever done in terms of their salesforce and they used it to leverage Starter product in the stores.""I think in this promotion, it was critical for Starter to not only present a great opportunity for kids, but to make sure the consumer connected Starter to those players and to the product that was in the store," says Stohrer. "In a lot of ways you're juggling a lot of different messages and trying to create a hierarchy that the consumer can interpret and that will leave a lasting impression with them."This program also worked toward a goal that NFLP has set for the future. "A lot of our programs do not necessarily have national appeal because in most markets, they are really tied to the team or around the team," says Sykes. But this promotion has a nationwide scope. "It's really bringing the NFL outside of the NFL market and all across the country. We're trying to go more nationwide with a lot of our programs for a wider scope. There are a lot of fans out there that might live in areas that don't have a team but are still fans of other teams. We're really trying to reach out and let them experience the NFL."The Retail Power of P-O-PAs the director of apparel for NFLP, Peter LaPointe knows a thing or two about the licensing business: "We determine the spectrum of what needs to be displayed at retail and we license the trademarks of the 30 teams to the companies who develop everything from apparel to notebooks to bins of popcorn."Most of the promotions for NFLP are heavily apparel-driven, LaPointe explains: "P-O-P specifically helps my group because if you look at what's out at retail -- NFL licensed goods, Disney, Warner Bros., other store brands -- never mind competing against other leagues, we are competing against all these other entities and we're fighting for floor space. So once we get on that floor, if there's no P-O-P and if everything is equal, the average consumer will look at whatever is up front on that aisle."LaPointe is a big believer in the pulling power of the NFL shield. "With our brand, all we need to do is lead the consumer to our product," he says. "It has high recognition and high acceptability, so when we can have P-O-P in the store, boom!, it hits customers where their team loyalty lies. If that leads them to where my product is, that gives me an advantage over every other [product] on the floor that is lost in a sea of whatever."All in-store programs are a collaborative effort between LaPointe's group and marketing. "I know the strengths of our manufacturers and I know what apparel is available at what retailer," he says. And keeping those retailers happy is always one of LaPointe's concerns. "I know that with a major retailer, I need a reason for them to carry my product," he says. "Anyone can carry licensed apparel, but each retailer wants to say, 'Hey consumer, we're your headquarters, we're different and here's why.'"New product introductions are another big P-O-P opportunity: "Something so hot that our manufacturer says, 'Let's work together and get a promotion that would help sell more product in,'" LaPointe says. He cites an example of Pro Player, a company that manufactures team jackets. "We thought that we could sell 200,000 jackets instead of 150,000 at JC Penney if we could go to them with a great promotion," he says. The result was a promotion in the store's top 10 NFL markets where fans entered to win tickets to an away football game of their team."That is another angle for retail," LaPointe says. "If there is an item that we really want to promote to entice the retailer to buy more, we'll use promotions and P-O-P and we'll give them enhanced display packages to help with the buy-in of their product." He admits that retailer acceptance of his product and promotions as well as P-O-P has never been difficult, as long as he can show them a return on their investment. "They like our P-O-P because it's not the run-of-the-mill that makes their stores look cluttered," he says. "Instead, it's the kind of P-O-P that adds excitement to the store and really makes the consumer's experience in their store pleasurable."For LaPointe and his department, one of the greatest successes at retail so far has been in Wal-Mart's top 200 NFL stores for this year. "We have actually framed out NFL shops using our P-O-P, which has never been done before," he says. "They would give us the space but it wasn't merchandised in a way that the consumer would go in and automatically recognize the NFL. Now, no matter what the presentation, from five fixtures to 20, there is a fantastic P-O-P display that literally frames out the department. We believe that is just going to incredibly increase the sell-through of our product."NFLP has recently added some extra power to its lineup. This year as a test, NFLP hired The Merchandising Group (TMG), New York, to place field reps all over the country to make sure the P-O-P is where it's supposed to be. "We don't have a huge salesforce and our eyes and ears are some of the people here and the retailers," says Sykes. "We want to get a feel for what's going on at retail. The reps can ensure the P-O-P is getting up, talk to the retailers and develop the concept shops to merchandise our product around the P-O-P."With the evolution of concept shops -- NFLP is currently working on about five or six shops with key retailers across the country -- TMG is going out in the markets and working with the store managers to set up an area with signage specific to the NFL and the product. "It's creating an NFL story at retail," says Sykes.Looking Ahead"One of the things we've tested in supermarkets and mass merchants is putting corporate sponsor product and licensed product in one area of the store," says Sykes. "It's been a challenge trying to get everyone on the same page because we're working with different salesforces that have different objectives. But I think we're moving toward that." She says the question remains about how to take these key brands along with the NFL and position them to the shopper. "We want all of our sponsors and licensees who have affiliations with the NFL to get the most out of [their involvement] by having their products grouped together. I think in terms of P-O-P, in all the leagues, we have really been an industry leader. And we are setting the trends."Stohrer believes that the P-O-P and promotions themselves will continue to evolve as their importance increases. "I think it's interesting from a P-O-P standpoint that a Super Bowl promotion no longer does the trick," he says. "It has to have some takeaway for the consumer to say, 'Oh, I remember who the licensee was or what company was connected to that promotion.'"As the boundaries expand, I think that the work we're looking at now will have advanced light years in another year," Stohrer adds. "People will continue to look for unique angles. The more you can come up with unique promotions, that is ultimately going to be the key to better P-O-P."

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