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PAGE
5
3RD STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1997 Information Access Company,
a Thomson Corporation Company
IAC (SM) Newsletter Database (TM)
EPM Communications, Inc
Licensing Letter
February 15, 1997
SECTION: No. 4, Vol. 21; ISSN: 8755-6235
LENGTH: 230 words
HEADLINE: Who's News: People
BODY:
Robin Sayetta, ex-Scholastic Productions, joins Discovery Enterprises as VP
Licensing.
Bob Hollander, ex-Atlanta Centennial Olympic Products (ACOP), named
President, CART Licensed Products LP; Jonathan Frank, ex-Major League Baseball
Properties, named VP Sales and Marketing.
Steven Rubin, ex-Skechers, named Director of Licensing, KPR Sports
International.
Donald Silvey promoted from VP to Senior VP Programming Enterprises &
Business Development at MTV, now supervising licensing & merchandising division,
and overseeing launch of VH1 into those areas.
Linda Castillon, ex-Landmark Calendars, named VP Licensing and Product
Development, Global One Distribution and Merchandising, parent of O.S.P.
Publishing, Zanart Entertainment, Bex and Kelly Russel Sports.
Jeffrey Hussell promoted to President-COO, Enesco, from Executive
VP-Worldwide Creative.
Allyson Young, ex-1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, named Director of Licensing
B.A.S.S. Licensing division of Battle Enterprises.
Scott Rosenberg leaves as President, Malibu Comics and Senior Executive VP,
Marvel Comics to acquire 50% of Platinum Studios, film and television production
company with rights to variety of European comic book properties.
Larry McAllister, ex-Paramount, joins Universal Consumer Products Group as
Executive Director, Clip & Still Licensing.
COPYRIGHT 1997 EPM Communications, Inc.
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
IAC-ACC-NO: 03786265 ND ND
PAGE
6
Licensing Letter February 15, 1997
LOAD-DATE: September 08, 1997
PAGE
10
5TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1996 The Salt Lake Tribune
The Salt Lake Tribune
October 30, 1996, Wednesday
SECTION: Business; Pg. B4
LENGTH: 1241 words
HEADLINE: Olympics Marketing Deal Still In the Air; Logo For Olympics Goes to
Market
BYLINE: BY JAY BALTEZORE THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
BODY:
INDIANAPOLIS -- It may be several more weeks before the United States
Olympic Committee (USOC) and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) finalize
their joint-marketing agreement for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games
According to rules imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a
deal for sharing income from corporate sponsorships and trademark licensing must
be approved by year's end.
Weeks ago, the two sides agreed to a formula by which SLOC would receive most
of the income from the sponsorships contracts -- usually involving
multimillion-dollar exclusive arrangements with large corporations -- until its
bare-bones cash needs for putting on the Games are reached. After that, the
formula would flip-flop, with most of the income going to the USOC.
Still unsettled are the details involving product licensing, in which a
company tacks the Olympic logo on its products in exchange for royalties or a
set amount of the product, or both.
SLOC President Tom Welch met with John Krimsky, marketing director for the
USOC during the USOC's meetings and workshops here, which conclude today. They
acknowledged the wheeling and dealing may go right up to the Dec. 31 deadline.
"It's pretty complicated,' said Krimsky. "You take one step and there's
another issue that comes up. But we're making good progress. Part of the
complexity arises from the differing missions of the two groups. While SLOC is
concerned only with the 2002 Winter Games, the USOC oversees all the Olympic
sports federations in the United States -- presumably into the next century or
two.
Because the USOC needs a steady flow of money well beyond 2002, it tends to
court long-term relationships with licensees. It could prove embarrassing if,
say, a parka manufacturer has paid the USOC a royalty to use the Olympic rings
and learns that a competing firm is selling another brand of parkas with the
SLOC logo on an adjacent clothing rack.
The licensing agreement won't necessarily ban differing Olympic emblems on
similar products, but it will control how it's done and who receives the
dividends.
PAGE
11
The Salt Lake Tribune, October 30, 1996
"Our major interest is how we get into the [Olympic product] marketplace,"
said Welch. "It's important that we make a certain amount from licensing, but
it's just as important to maintain a quality and an image - - and how it will fit
in Utah. " Krimsky agrees.
"Some licenses may have both [USOC and SLOC] trademarks, and some that have
only USOC or SLOC marks, " he said. "But we specifically need the involvement of
Utah-based companies because they know what sells there. And if these Olympic
Games are going to be successful they have to be connected to that region."
Already, the USOC has opened two merchandise shops in Salt Lake -- at
Crossroads Plaza mall and Trolley Square -- with another coming soon on Main
Street in Park City. Those shelves and racks contain Olympic-endorsed
merchandise of all kinds, including products with SLOC's current logo, which is
scheduled to be replaced next year.
Sponsorships and licensing agreements now play a critical role in financing
the biennial two-week sporting event. Together, they paid about a third of the
bills for the Atlanta Games this year. If the same percentage holds for the 2002
Winter Games, SLOC will need more than $ 300 million in sponsorships and
licensing to cover its costs.
The SLOC-USOC joint-marketing agreement is intended to rest-rict the
seemingly free-for-all hustling under tents that covered sidewalks near
Atlanta's Centennial Park this summer.
-- In other Olympic issues, Billy Payne, president of the Atlanta Committee
for the Olympic Games, said Tuesday the Summer Games -- the first financed
entirely from sponsorships and other private funds -- at least broke even on its
$ 1.7 billion budget.
Other ACOG officials have said they expected a balanced ledger or a surplus,
but always added qualifications. Payne, however, left no room for doubt.
"As we are saying here today, we have broken even on a cash basis, 11 Payne
told the U.S. Olympic Congress.
The IOC said Monday it agreed to a new split of American TV-rights fees
that will boost USOC revenues by almost 3 percentage points. Starting with fees
from the 2004 Summer Games, the USOC will receive 12.75 percent of the U.S.
rights, compared with the current 10 percent.
LOAD-DATE: October 30, 1996
PAGE
12
16TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1996 McGraw-Hill, Inc.
Business Week
June 3, 1996
SECTION: ENTERPRISE; Marketing: LICENSING; Number 3478; Pg. ENT12
LENGTH: 859 words
HEADLINE: THE OLYMPICS: NOT EXACTLY FUN AND GAMES
BYLINE: By Katheryn Hayes in Atlanta
HIGHLIGHT:
One of the toughest events? Product licensing
BODY:
For Atlanta-based condiment maker Oak Hill Farms Inc., the hometown staging
of the Olympic Games presented a unique opportunity to introduce its sauces,
dressings, and preserves to the entire world. But becoming an official sponsor
of the games was out of the question for Oak Hill, whose annual revenues are
less than a quarter of the $ 40 million that giants such as Coca-Cola Co. have
each laid out for sponsorships. There was, however, an alternative: selling
licensed products. Oak Hill has created new laurel-wreathed Olympic labels and
changed the name of its hot sauce from ' ' Scorned Woman' to ''Eternal Flame.
'We've gotten a lot of exposure from it,, says Wade K. Wright, Oak Hill's
director of sales and marketing.
For small businesses, selling Olympic-licensed products is an affordable way
to strike gold at the Games. For an average fee of 15% of sales -- but not less
than a sizable, contracted minimum -- they can put the Olympic rings and logos
on products ranging from T-shirts to hot sauce, from warm-up suits to diamond
brooches. In all, 120 companies have paid for rights to sell 1,000
Olympic-licensed products. They include Champion Products, Hanes, and
Anheuser-Busch, but most licensees are far smaller, with sales of $ 5 million to
$ 10 million. While these licenses may generate big sales, it's not easy money.
Among the headaches: lots of one-sided negotiating with the Atlanta Committee
for the Olympic Games (ACOG) and meeting demanding sales targets required by the
contracts.
Take Aerial Photography Services Inc., a maker of pictorial mugs, cards,
books, and magnets, based in Charlotte, N.C. Just winning the contract with ACOG
took Catherine D. Joseph, CEO of Aerial, four years of proposals, visits, phone
calls, and follow-ups. Then, Aerial had to design new products and subject them
to ACOG's rigorous approval process, which touches everything from artwork to
product quality. It will have to add 10 employees to its 35-member workforce,
and boost production and sales enough to meet ACOG's minimum royalty payments.
This summer, Aerial will operate around the clock, and Joseph will have to move
her family to Atlanta during the Games. The payoff: she expects a 25% revenue
jump this year. ''It's been some of the hardest work we've ever done in our
lives, says Joseph.
ACOG's demands make these deals hard to pull off. To reach its target of $
100 million in royalty payments from licensees, ACOG is pushing for high-quality
merchandise and has set sales goals not every business can reach. ''In order
PAGE
13
Business Week, June 3, 1996
to take advantage of this business, you have to be very prepared, says Robert
Hollander, vice-president at Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties, the
marketing arm of the Olympics.
While no licensees expect to lose money, few predict dazzling gains. For one
thing, many fear saturation of products such as apparel -- five-ringed shirts,
shorts, and sweatsuits -- that debuted years ago. To be honest, it hasn't
meant anything to our business yet, says Del Whitney, vice-president at WEK
Enterprises Inc., a maker of upscale sweatshirts in LaMiranda, Calif.
Retailers are being very cautious about being stuck with Olympic
merchandise.
Goods are moving, though. During the 1984 Los Angeles Games, licensing was a
marginally profitable sideline to stimulate the regional economy. Now, it's a
profit center. Atlanta's licensing already has generated $ 500 million in retail
sales, says Hollander. ACOG projects net royalties of nearly $ 100 million.
NERVOUS. To make these targets, ACOG has set terms with licensees that leave
many nervous about just making minimum royalty payments. Consider Identity
Apparel Inc., a New York maker of expensive wool, leather, and denim jackets.
The minimum royalty of the company's projected sales of Olympic jackets is, at
15%, higher than what major sports leagues demand. That has boosted the price of
the jackets above what they would sell for with other sports logos -- dampening
sales, Identity believes.
Yet Identity's objective was more than sales. Partners Miki Kagan and Lori
Beth Horowitz figured they'd land large wholesale contracts with the 40 big-name
Olympic sponsors. They courted all 40, but only three General Motors, IBM,
and Coke -- made substantial orders. ''I had to fight tooth-and-nail, says
Kagan.
For many licensees, the value of their Olympic connection will be revealed
during the 17 days of the games. They are banking on big sales at an Olympics
superstore. Oak Hill Farms is one of the companies swallowing the cost of space
at the store: $ 15,000 for the smallest individual shop down to a few thousand
dollars for shared space like Oak Hill's.
Such are the marketing imperatives of the Olympics. Retailers are giving
space this summer to Olympic merchandise, so some licensees believed they had to
sign on or risk losing their place. ''We felt if we didn't do it, we might not
survive, says Aerial's Joseph.
In the end, the Olympic games present an irresistible opportunity for many
small-business owners. But they had better be ready to live by the rule of the
athletes: no guts, no glory.
GRAPHIC: Photograph: PHOTOGRAPH: HIGH BAR FOR THE RIGHT TO PUT OLYMPIC RINGS
AND LOGOS ON THEIR PRODUCTS, LICENSEES HAVE TO PAY THE ACOG ANAVERAGE ROYALTY OF
15% OF SALES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: May 30, 1996
b
PAGE
14
18TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1996 The Denver Post Corporation
The Denver Post
May 15, 1996 Wednesday 2D EDITION
SECTION: BUSINESS; Pg. C-02
LENGTH: 224 words
HEADLINE: Postal Service reaches accord on Olympic souvenirs
BYLINE: The Denver Post
BODY:
The U.S. Postal Service and the United States Olympic Committee reached an
agreement yesterday that will allow the Postal Service to put its Olympic
postage stamps on T-shirts and other souvenir items.
The Atlanta Centennial Olympic Properties, a marketing venture between the
U.S. Olympic Committee and The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, was
granted exclusive licensing rights for the postage-stamp artwork.
Under terms of the agreement, ACOP will control product licensing for the
artwork and, with approval of the Postal Service, will sublicense the artwork to
its existing Olympic licensees.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Olympic Committee threatened to sue the Postal
Service over a licensing dispute involving reproducing the commemorative
Olympic stamp on souvenir items. The dispute centered on the fact that United
Parcel Service - not the Postal Service - is an official worldwide Olympic
sponsor of the Atlanta Summer Games.
The new agreement calls for the firm that previously received licensing
rights to the artwork by the Postal Service to receive a license to the artwork
through an arrangement with ACOP's licensee, Sara Lee Corp.
All items produced prior to the agreement will be withdrawn from sale. On new
merchandise carrying the art, the Postal Service will recover a portion of
royalties from ACOP.
LOAD-DATE: May 15, 1996
PAGE
16
27TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1995 UMI Inc.;
Copyright Los Angeles Business Journal 1995;
Business Dateline;
Los Angeles Business Journal
September 11, 1995
SECTION: Vol 17; No 37; Sec 1; pg 1
LENGTH: 745 words
HEADLINE: L.A. firms garner licenses for Atlanta Olympics
BYLINE: Tim Deady
DATELINE: Los Angeles; CA; US; Pacific
BODY:
Though still a year off, the Summer Olympics in Atlanta has several Los
Angeles County businesses gearing up to cash in.
Seven companies in the county have so far been designated as official
"licensees" of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, the organizing body
for the event.
Those seven are some of the 100 businesses in the United States that have won
the designation out of about 7,500 companies that sought it. A spokesman for the
ACOG said a few more licenses may be awarded but the total number is not
expected to exceed 110.
The Southland companies hope the designation will mean millions of dollars in
additional revenue over the next 12 months as the hoopla connected with the
games gains momentum.
The local companies granted licenses are: WEK Enterprises in La Mirada,
Authentic Fitness Corp. in Los Angeles, Bopan Inc. in Los Angeles, Equity
Marketing Inc. in Los Angeles, Applause Inc. of Woodland Hills; Mattel Inc. in
El Segundo and Yonex Corp. of Torrance.
What the designation mean is the seven can use the various Atlanta Olympics
logos and markings on their products, and they can promote themselves as
official event licensees.
Some of the seven have been selling Olympics products for several months
while others have just started to get their goods to market.
"Our sales projections are for between $ 3 million and $ 4 million, SO that's
a sizable piece of business," said Bob Evans, president of WEK Enterprises. WEK
is a clothing manufacturer with $ 17 million in annual revenues. "But we also
expect that it will increase our visibility. It is a great way to get national
attention and get our name out there."
WEK will make T-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts and other tops that will carry
various Atlanta Olympics logos and graphics. The items will be sold in upscale
retail shops for between $ 40 and $ 70 each.
PAGE
17
Los Angeles Business Journal, September 11, 1995
"This is the first time we have a license agreement for a big event like
this. We're counting on it to be very successful,' said Evans.
Complicated process
The process of getting a license from the organizing committee began more
than four years ago when Atlanta was first awarded the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Bob Hollander, vice president of licensing for Atlanta Centennial Olympics
Properties, the division of the organizing committee that handles the licensing,
said requirements to get the designation were stringent.
"We have been very selective in who we've picked. We looked for companies
with high-quality products, experience in licensing products, (which) are
currently distributing the products through broad distribution channels and have
a strong financial base," said Hollander.
Any business could apply for the designation but it was then up to organizing
committee officials to determine whether the company's product was appropriate
for the Olympics, said Hollander.
The process of getting the license included filling out an extensive
application, and financial and credit checks by the organizing committee, said
Hollander.
In return for the designation, companies must turn over to the organizing
committee a predetermined percentage of sales revenues, said Hollander. The
usual arrangement is for a licensee to give the committee between 10 percent and
15 percent of its wholesale revenues from the Olympics products.
High hopes
The committee expects to receive between $ 50 million and $ 100 million in
revenue from the licensees, which will be used to fund the Atlanta Olympics,
said Hollander.
A potential problem in licensing, and one that occurs particularly for big
events like the Olympics, is counterfeit products.
"We're very concerned about the potential for someone to put our logo on
their products without our permission," said Hollander.
"We're going to be very protective of our marks and will go after and
prosecute violators."
Gary Trumbo, senior vice president and general manager at Equity Marketing,
said the company has received a license to make stuffed versions of Izzy, the
Atlanta Olympics mascot. The company has just started making and selling the
stuffed Izzy, a cartoon-like character. The stuffed toys will retail for between
$ 4.99 and $ 14.99.
"This is very good exposure for the company and we have been looking for more
opportunities in licensing,' said Trumbo.
PAGE 18
Los Angeles Business Journal, September 11, 1995
Products that will be made by the local companies include swim wear by
Authentic Fitness; jewelry by Bogarz; toys and games by Applause and Mattel and
sporting goods by Yonex.
GRAPHIC: Photo
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
UMI-ACC-NO: 9589402
LOAD-DATE: November 1, 1995
PAGE
19
30TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1995 U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Nation's Business
August, 1995
SECTION: COVER STORY; Pg. 16
LENGTH: 4014 words
HEADLINE: Hot Names, Top Dollars
BYLINE: By Dale D. Buss
HIGHLIGHT:
Product licensing -- despite some potential pitfalls -- represents terrific
growth opportunities for companies of all sizes.
BODY:
Tony Zazzu has made at least one blockbuster decision in the licensing game:
His company, Papermates Inc., started producing Power Rangers merchandise when
the TV characters' popularity was blasting off.
Largely by selling Power Rangers pencils, sharpeners, stampers, and other
school supplies under its Noteworthy brand, Papermates has boosted employment
from 30 people two years ago to about 50 today. At the same time, the
Chatsworth, Calif., concern has grabbed other profitable licenses, including The
Mask, Batman Forever, Star Trek, and Barbie. Papermates' licensed lines
generate "the glamour and glitz of our business, says co-owner Zazzu, and they
bolster hope that still another blockbuster product is just around the corner.
Nonetheless, despite his success in licensed products, he says he is
frustrated that he still hasn't snared a Disney property -- a hot ticket in the
licensing business. Disney's blockbuster movie release this summer,
"Pocahontas," is the latest in the company's string of strong product-licensing
vehicles. And he's also uneasy about his company's dependence on licensed
merchandise for nearly half of its revenues. "Licensing gives you instant
distribution of a product that's well-recognized," says Zazzu. "It opens up
çbtremendous doors for you with retailers. The right people want to see you. The
problem is, if they don't perceive it to be a strong property, there's not a
thing you can do to make it successful. You live and die by the sword."
Never before has product licensing offered such potential bounty for U.S.
manufacturers. Driven largely by small firms, the field expanded by 5 percent
last year to a record $ 70 billion worth of business in the United States and
Canada, following a 7 percent gain in 1993 over the previous year. The figures
come from The Licensing Letter, an industry-monitoring trade publication based
in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"Licensing is hot because the consumer will buy it, and the consumer will buy
it because it's got a favorite something that they like," says Beverly Cannady,
a licensing consultant in Woodland Hills, Calif. "It's not new. We had the
Shirley Temple doll and the Daniel Boone cap. But there are so many more media
now, such as video games and all the new television channels, to give us this
stuff."
PAGE
20
Nation's Business, August, 1995
Even with strong recent sales increases, however, licensing has slowed from
its explosive growth in the late '80s. As the industry has matured, some
retailers have complained that they're confused by the proliferation of licensed
products, and they fear consumers may be befuddled, too. Meanwhile, licensors
continue to increase the royalties they demand for popular properties. And,
signed by players' strikes and worried about merchandising excesses, major
professional sports leagues have been quickly weeding out licensees.
Nevertheless, rivers of licensed products continue to pour forth from small
companies across the U.S. Among the licensed products recently introduced by
entrepreneurs are Nittany Lion perfume (honoring Penn State University), Forrest
Gump chocolates (after the lead character in the Oscar-winning movie), Ricki
Lake T-shirts (hyping the hot TV talk-show host), a TV remote control that looks
like a National Football League playing field, University of Tennessee
mascot-shaped pasta, and software that blurts out lines from "Star Trek."
Although pitfalls and frustrations keep many small concerns on the sidelines
or make them wish they had stayed there -- product licensing still offers
tremendous avenues to growth, particularly for entrepreneurial, nimble,
innovative, high-quality manufacturers. "The opportunities for small companies
in licensing are bigger than ever, maintains Karen Raugust, executive editor of
The Licensing Letter.
For many small manufacturers looking to jump-start growth and open the tap on
creativity, the appeal of licensing has become irresistible. "It's a way of
taking a name with brand recognition and applying it to your merchandise without
having to do the advertising and brand building that is SO expensive for any
company to do," says John Detar, owner of Unique Event Products Inc., in San
Diego. His six-employee company, which produces inflatable toys, made about 90
percent of its $ 3.5 million in revenue last year from professional-sports
licenses.
"There's 24-hour-a-day, constant reinforcement of your brand," says Hank
Roth, co-owner and vice president of Fun Designs Inc. The company, in Duxbury,
Mass., entered licensing four years ago. Today, his 25 lines of snack
containers, printed sandwich bags, and other food-toting products carry licensed
images of properties ranging from Barbie to Batman. The licensed products
account for 80 percent of sales for the 14-employee company.
"If you're a small company and you're living by your ability to design
creative and different products, rather than have to go out every year and sell
new and different products, all you really have to do is change the license," "
Roth says. "You don't have to re-sell the concept every year."
Zak Designs Inc. is one of many small businesses built largely through
licensing. The Spokane, Wash., company launched a generic children's dinnerware
line 10 years ago and got its first license, for Disney's Chip and Dale Rescue
Rangers, in 1988. Business really took off after Zak licensed Little Mermaid
dinnerware (also based on an animated Disney character) in 1989: Revenues have
increased 20-fold and employment 10-fold, to about 100 people, in the past five
years.
"When kids want a character item, they'll want it over everything else on the
market no matter the cost or where they have to go," says Irv Zakheim, president
and CEO of Zak Designs. "They'll go to extremes to get it, and parents are
PAGE
21
Nation's Business, August, 1995
going to look at it. And because our product is under $ 10 and aimed at 3-to
8-year-olds, many of the kids are even at an age where they can purchase it
themselves. The power of licensing is incredible." This year, Zakheim is
developing a line of adult drinkware for such properties as Coca-Cola and the
1996 Summer Olympics.
Key players in the licensing industry include entertainment companies like
Walt Disney Co., Time-Warner Inc., and Viacom Inc. Their sway is growing apace
with the continued expansion of the licensing of movie and TV characters and
symbols, a product-licensing segment that wasn't nearly as active a few years
ago. Last year, driven largely by the triumph of Disney's "The Lion King" and
by the continued success of Saban Entertainment's "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers"
TV show, entertainment and character licensing grew at a 9 percent clip,
according to The Licensing Letter, far outpacing the rest of the business.
Such results have allowed the market to put out of its mind recent licensing
busts like the movies "Batman Returns" (the 1992 sequel to "Batman"), "Dick
Tracy," "Swan Princess" (the 1994 New Line Cinema release), and "Barney &
Friends, the public-television children's show that flashed like a meteor
across the licensing sky in 1993. "There was too much Barney merchandise too
fast, and it wasn't top-quality," says a veteran licensed-goods manufacturer.
Sales of music-related licenses increased 8 percent last year, driven by
strong merchandise sales tied to major tours by big-name artists such as Barbra
Streisand and The Rolling Stones, the newsletter says. Licensing of toy and
game properties, including computer and video games, grew 7 percent.
Licensing's other major force -- sports is a mixed bag these days after
heady growth for a decade. The baseball and hockey strikes took the wind out of
the category. For example, Major League Baseball's licensing revenue last year
dipped to $ 2.1 billion from $ 2.5 billion in 1993, its first year-to-year
decline. Moreover, the slide is expected to worsen this year for the sport's
350 licensees as professional baseball suffers a huge attendance shortfall
following settlement of the strike and the season's late start.
Concerns about quality and quantity are leading baseball and other
professional sports to winnow peripheral products. Despite its rising
popularity, hockey, for example, is cutting its licensee list by about 10
percent, says Michael Jacobsen, editor of Sporting Goods Dealer magazine. And
in the past year, the National Football League has pared about 100 licensees,
mostly of nonapparel novelties, to get down to 300.
This retrenchment is hurting small licensees in particular. The leagues
prefer larger licensees that have large ranges of merchandise. Four years ago,
the NFL liked John Detar's "inflatable helmets" so much that it gave him a
license without requiring Unique Event to pay an up-front guarantee -- a payment
against royalties that licensees agree to pay licensors. "That would never
happen today,' " says Detar.
On the other hand, collegiate licensing is expanding, and some small
licensees would rather piggyback on the enduring loyalty of the alumni of big
schools like UCLA and Ohio State than deal with pro sports. It is estimated
that more than 4,000 companies license some form of collegiate merchandise,
mostly apparel, and that the number will grow as more universities diversify
into nonclothing licenses.
PAGE 22
Nation's Business, August, 1995
Opportunities also are emerging with more and more nontraditional licensors.
Pro players' associations are shopping athletes' images apart from the leagues.
Other new properties range from the Canadian Mounties to the Ms. Foundation's
National Take Our Daughters to Work Day to Hyperman, a new, IBM-created
superhero science maven who is slated to have his own CBS Saturday-morning show
this fall.
Entrepreneurs who want to delve into licensing should consider the following
suggestions drawn from the experiences of business people and others
knowledgeable about this dynamic industry:
Make The Initial Contact
Go directly to most major licensors to find out their requirements. The
principal exceptions are colleges and universities. About 140 schools -- small
as well as large -- work through Collegiate Licensing Co., in Atlanta, by far
the market's biggest licensing agent.
Others, including Notre Dame, Georgetown, Michigan, Indiana, and Duke, handle
their own licensing.
Although you can venture into this sometimes-quirky world on your own, you
might be better of enlisting the help of a licensing consultant or an attorney
an expert who knows the field and has the relationships that can open those
first doors for you. Expect to pay such an expert a retainer and a small
percentage of sales.
Definitely get seasoned advice if you're trying to evaluate a number of
properties. "Seeking out and acquiring licenses can be a full-time job, says
Sheldon Morick, president and CEO of Janex International, a Woodland Hills,
Calif., company that makes licensed children's appliances. "You get a
reasonable return from hiring a consultant."
Document Your Qualifications
The best candidates for major nationwide licenses have a track record in the
target product line, distribute nationally, have good sales representatives, and
can provide substantial documentation, including balance sheets. "Licensors
don't want you to use their property to get into business; they want you already
to be in business," says licensing consultant Cannady.
Your company also must demonstrate sophisticated and perhaps proprietary
graphics and design capabilities. "The days of taking a decal and slapping it
on a product are over," Cannady says. She notes, for example, the striking
soft-plastic flashlights sculpted by Janex, one of her clients, in the shapes of
cartoon and movie characters.
Finally, you also must convince licensors that your company can handle the
boom that might come your way. "That isn't easy, because oftentimes the
addition of a license for a smaller-tier company can really catapult them into
the big leagues, where they might not have been before, says Neil Newman, vice
president of marketing for Viacom Consumer Products, in Los Angeles. The
company licenses properties such as "Star Trek" and "The Andy Griffith Show. "
Know The Bottom Line
PAGE
23
Nation's Business, August, 1995
Typically, licensees agree to pay 5 to 12 percent of wholesale revenues to
the licensor over the period of the agreement; the specific percentage depends
on the industry and how hot the property is. Royalty agreements almost always
include a guaranteed minimum return to the licensor and advance payment of
typically 20 to 50 percent of that guarantee. Thus, for example, if revenues
from a licensed product were expected to be $ 1 million at retail, or about $
500,000 at wholesale, a small company might be able to get started by paying as
little as a $ 5,000 advance, or 1 percent.
The length of a typical deal is two years, with a general range of one to
five years. If sales take off, all you owe the licensor is the fixed royalty,
including the advance guarantee you've paid, until contract-renewal time; but if
sales disappoint, you're committed to pay all of the guarantee anyway. Because
of this, even a newcomer to licensing will take a handful of properties in order
to spread the risk hoping that even one moderate success will help cover the
guarantees of any properties that turn out to be duds.
The stakes involved are getting higher for licensees because most licensors
are raising royalties. For instance, the National Basketball Association is
nudging its typical royalties from the high single digits to 10 percent and
beyond, according to some licensees. And many well-received Hollywood
properties now routinely are priced in the teens.
As Viacom's Newman says, the Starship Enterprise "does not get backed out of
the garage for free."
Select Your Markets Carefully
In many market categories, small companies have little hope of swooping in
and disrupting long-standing relationships between major licensors and existing
big licensees. But many other segments are wide open to small manufacturers.
For example, for 23 years, Janex has succeeded at manufacturing and selling
flashlights and battery-operated tooth brushes, book lights, and other
children's products carrying images such as Mickey Mouse and Spiderman. "The
big companies tend to leave us alone because we stay within our niche, says
Morick, the CEO, whose company has about 10 employees. "We make practical
products for kids which have value beyond being a toy, and larger companies
aren't necessarily interested in that.'
And by staying up to date on licensors' changing priorities, you can find new
niches. Collegiate Licensing these days is searching specifically for
nonapparel licensees and for companies willing to manufacture goods linked to
some of the company's smaller schools. For example, Collegiate just lined up
licensees for Appalachian State University, in Boone, N.C., because retailers in
nearby Charlotte were getting requests for school apparel.
In short, choose markets that are relatively unoccupied, and respond quickly
to licensors' changes in marketing and product emphases.
Find A Lonely Niche
Of course, if you have an innovation that fits into a previously unoccupied
niche and really tickles the fancy of a licensor, you can throw most of the
other rules out the window.
PAGE
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Nation's Business, August, 1995
That's how a small-company owner got MCA Universal to grant him a license for
a patented water-powered watch tied to the new Kevin Costner movie,
"Waterworld." That's also what Detar, the toy manufacturer, managed to do when
he proposed to the NFL a seemingly incongruous new product: inflatable,
softball-sized balls with team imprints. "It's not the shape of the ball, it's
the association with a team or the NFL that makes them sell," he says. "The
league was a little surprised when we brought them the idea, but they ended up
liking it."
Star Trek is one property that "depends on smaller companies coming in with
fresh products to keep licensing programs refreshed all the time" because the
property is 30 years old and is being continually reinvented, Newman says.
Vincent Bitetti is principal owner of one Star Trek licensee, Sound Source
Interactive Inc., a Westlake Village, Calif., company that produces synthesized
sounds. From a $ 1 million company in 1991 with seven employees, Sound Source
has been transformed at warp speed into a $ 4 million concern with 25 employees
largely because of the success of its Star Trek Audio Clips software. The
software attaches sounds to computer functions: Hear Spock say, "Computing now,
Captain," every time you open a file, or Captain Kirk bark, "Get off my bridge!"
when you eject a floppy disk.
"We just had an idea that no one else had thought of -- or at least hadn't
exploited in the same way," says Bitetti, who founded Sound Source in 1988.
"Sometimes those kinds of things are right under your nose."
The Pasta Shoppe, a Nashville start-up, has burst onto the licensing scene
with dry pastas shaped like university logos and mascots. The first varieties,
University of Tennessee and Vanderbilt University pastas, proved SO popular with
alumni when the products debuted last fall that the company was planning to
license the imprints of 33 schools by the opening of football season and to
include teams of the nation's six biggest athletic conferences by Christmas.
Co-owners John and Carey Clarke Aron had left New York City
software-development jobs with plans to start a fresh-pasta shop when Clarke
Aron came up with the collegiate idea. "But because we were a new company,"
John Aron says, "we had to spend a lot of time with colleges making them
understand that we were serious about managing the quality and the risks of
being involved with a food product. They weren't sure at first that they wanted
to bother with it."
Print-A-Shirt Inc. used to depend on licensed sports apparel for the vast
majority of its sales. But as that business has become more competitive on the
national scale, the 30-employee company, in Omaha, Neb., has deliberately pared
sports licensing to about half of its revenues by redirecting itself to regional
and event-related markets like the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament. "We
thought we'd be better off in the long run focusing on what we were good at, and
in this region of the country," says Jeff Huff, the firm's president.
Consider Taking A Risk
Another way to score in licensing is to place a big bet on an unproven
property that you're convinced has big potential. The now-classic example of
how well that sort of thing can turn out, of course, is "Power Rangers."
PAGE
25
Nation's Business, August, 1995
By all rights, the success of that property shouldn't have happened. Created
in Japan, "Power Rangers" was brought to American Saturday morning TV in 1992 by
Saban Entertainment, a children's programmer based in Burbank, Calif.
It was the entertainment descendant of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," some
said, without the Turtles' exotic reptilian nature and engaging Valley-talking
dialogue. Some experienced licenses, including Zak Designs, quickly passed on
the Rangers.
Papermates' Zazzu didn't find Power Rangers instantly appealing, he says, but
an executive acquaintance at Saban told him that the property was "getting very
good attention by retailers. So we took a flier.' Papermates was one of the few
companies that got in on Power Rangers before sales tied to the property took
off.
Make The Sports Team
While entertainment licenses are demanding enough, many small licensees say
that they draw the line at pro sports. While a manufacturer with even limited
design capabilities can do a single Batman property, major pro-sports licensees
must come up with a separate image for each team in the league, whether it's as
simple as a decal or as complicated and expensive as a plastic mold.
"You can't come and say, 'I can make a really cool Orlando Magic hat, 1 11 says
the NBA's Land. "You need to be able to do it for all the teams, because they
all share equally in licensee revenues."
The long strike badly damaged pro baseball of course, but licensees like
Gordon Peele, president of P&K Products Inc., in Elgin, III., take the long
view. His company licenses all major pro sports on waste-baskets, throw rugs,
wall clocks, bumper stickers, and 30 other items. The baseball strike hit P&K
hard, and Peele had to lay off 20 of his 100 production workers.
But Peele has been in the business for 27 years and has survived other player
walkouts, including the 1982 pro-football strike, when NFL-licensed merchandise
accounted for 70 percent of his business. "Now 90 percent of our manufacturing
is sports licensing, so we really have no choice but to look at things
optimistically, Peele says. "But fans are funny. They'll come back."
Try A Knockoff
One less-expensive way to tap into the fervor created by licensed properties
is to create products that approximate them. For example, dinosaur-related
items of all sorts did well when "Jurassic Park" dominated movie screens in
1993. And in the wake of "The Lion King," many companies have brought out
generic products with wildlife themes.
In Brown Deer, Wis., 23-year-old Darrin Reasby got a deal for Starter Corp.,
the big NBA-licensed sports-apparel maker, to sell his clothing designs. But
Reasby, who operates Mountaintop Design Inc. from his parents' basement, also
plans to bring out his own GBA (Ghetto Basketball Association) line with
graphics reminiscent of the NBA.
Spread Your Bets
PAGE
26
Nation's Business, August, 1995
Holding multiple licenses can offer significant economies of scale. Miki
Kagan and Lori Horowitz, co-owners of the apparel maker Identity Inc., in New
York City, last year began making jackets for Major League Baseball's new Negro
Leagues line. They picked up an NHL license at a trade show and soon added
permits to make products tied to some colleges and to the '96 Summer Olympics.
"It's cost-effective to have more than one license," Kagan says. "If you've got
sales reps going around the country selling your goods to retailers, it's easier
if they have more lines to sell."
Pick Only Winners
That's the toughest discipline of all, and it gets more difficult as
available licenses proliferate. One particular licensing consultant, for
example, is able to advise clients on nearly 250 different properties currently
available.
So how should you select? Look at who's backing a property and scrutinize
track records. If it's a children's license, always find out who has the master
toy license; if it's a major company such as Mattel or Hasbro or Bandai, you may
be on to something. Try to find out if peripheral promotions might boost the
property's profile, like those by fast-food restaurants.
Consider pursuing old reliable characters -- like Looney Tunes, Peanuts,
Garfield -- even if they're not especially hot sellers right now. If properties
are unfamiliar to you, spread your investments among, say, five new children's
TV shows instead of concentrating on just one.
Roth, of Fun Designs, conducts "focus groups" of children ages 4 to 10 who
are schoolmates of his two young children. "We show them our drawings and
product models, and they'll gravitate to the ones they like best. If they're
excited about a character and they can articulate why, we take it the next
step, Roth says. "It's not foolproof, and it's not scientific, but it works
for us."
Jonny Lieberbaum, owner of Swago T-Shirts, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., looks
for "very undervalued properties. It's no different than what a Realtor would
do with real estate.' He also simply pursues what he's interested in. "Most of
the licenses I've bought were just characters that I was into as a kid, he
says. "It hasn't been any real science."
"The biggest companies out there have failed with licenses," Zazzu says.
"They go through a whole marketing staff and all that research, but even they
can never tell what the public is going to buy." In the end, he adds, "you hear
the information that's being given you by the licensors, you probe around, and
then you go on your gut feelings."
GRAPHIC: Photo 1, Properties such as Barbie, Batman, and the Power Rangers bring
"glamour and glitz" to Tony Zazzu's California toy-licensing business; Photo 2,
Product licensing offers major potential for U.S. manufacturers, as Papermates
Inc.'s co-owner Tony Zuzzu has found; his firm's products for children reflect
popular characters such as Barbie and Batman. Cover Story; Photos 1 and 2 by
BART BARTHOLOMEW; Picture 1, no caption; Graph, Total Retall Sales Of Licensed
Merchandise, 1982-1994, SOURCE: THE LICENSING LETTER; Photo 3, Sports licensees
Lori Horowitz, and Miki Kagan of New York sell apparel bearing the logos from
baseball's old Negro Leagues, the NHL, and the '96 Summer Olympics. PHOTO:
PAGE 27
Nation's Business, August, 1995
TOM SOBOLIK -- BLACK STAR; Picture 2, no caption; Photo 4, Undervalued
properties have made money for Jonny Lieberbaum's Florida T-shirt company.
"Most of the licenses I've bought, " he says, "were just characters that I was
into as a kid. PHOTO: KEN TOUCHTON; Picture 3, no caption; Photo 5, The
baseball strike forced Illinois sports licensee Gordon Peele to lay off 20
people, but his business has bounced back from previous sports strikes. PHOTO:
L TODD BUCHANAN; Picture 4, no caption
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: July 27, 1995
PAGE
28
31ST STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1995 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
July 19, 1995, Wednesday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: MONEY; Pg. 1B
LENGTH: 1458 words
HEADLINE: Sponsors go for gold // Sponsors warm up a year before Games
BYLINE: Bruce Horovitz
BODY:
Forget the 100-meter dash. Never mind the basketball finals. Perhaps the
most important record for the 1996 Summer Olympics already has been set:
sponsorship moola.
The 1996 Summer Olympic Games will begin in Atlanta one year from today. By
then, an expected 45 sponsors from Coke to Kodak will have kicked in a record $
500 million - nearly twice the $ 265 million sponsors anted up for the 1992
Summer Games in Barcelona.
It took arm-twisting aplenty - and some serious soul-searching - to coax many
companies to pay the hefty fees for the Atlanta Games. Sponsors were forced to
ask themselves: What do I get for my money? The painful answer echoed by many
marketing experts: not much.
"You'll see a lot of gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands when these Games
are over," says Katharine Paine, CEO at Delahaye Group, a corporate
image-consulting firm. "Sponsors will be asking themselves: 'Oh God, now what do
we do to justify all the money we just spent? II
Many of the biggest sponsors will pay about $ 40 million - nearly twice the $
25 million top-tier sponsors paid four years ago in Barcelona. For that, they
get the right to flaunt Olympic logos in their ads and on their packaging. And
they get prime access to Olympic seats, hotel rooms and even athletes. But at
the Games themselves, sponsors can't so much as hang their banners in front of
TV cameras. Ads are no-nos at all Olympic venues during the 17 broadcast days.
And days after the Olympics' end, a minority of consumers have a clue which
companies were sponsors, polls show.
Of 100 Olympic sponsors reviewed since 1984, consumers draw Olympic
connections with only half, according to polls by ad agency DDB Needham
immediately after each Olympics. With SO many sponsors, it's no wonder. The 1996
Summer Games look like a sponsorship smorgasbord. Thirty-four worldwide and U.S.
sponsors are in tow with 11 expected to sign on the next few months. Nissan
signed on last week.
Visa is SO convinced the Olympics is the world's top marketing platform that
it will spend more money advertising during the 1996 Olympics than it has spent
on any event, says Michael Beindorff, executive vice president of marketing.
"You have the whole world watching for 2 1/2 weeks," he says. "Where can you
find a better stage?"
PAGE
29
USA TODAY, July 19, 1995
Besides sponsorships, $ 1.1 billion more must be raised from ticket sales,
NBC's broadcast fees, and product licensing revenue to cover the $ 1.58 billion
cost of the Games. By contrast, the Barcelona Games cost less than $ 1 billion
to put on.
To generate income, officials have concocted sponsorship categories that
border on the silly. King World, distributor of game shows Wheel of Fortune and
Jeopardy!, will promote its sponsorship with Olympic-themed shows that might
feature athletes' relatives. Still, there are compelling reasons for companies
to link with the 1996 Olympics:
They're on U.S. soil. American consumers go ga-ga over Olympics at home. And
these Games at least sound historical. It will be the 100th anniversary of the
modern Olympics - the Centennial Olympic Games. Advertisers are enamored of that
term.
-- Sponsorship can bolster a company's image. A recent survey shows 64% of
consumers say they are more likely to buy products made by Olympics sponsors
because sponsorships help make it possible for the athletes to compete.
Gobs of people watch the games. More than 85% of U.S. households will tune in
for some part of the Games, compared with 60% that clicked on the Super Bowl.
-- The electricity of the Olympics can be a powerful way to impress clients and
reward employees.
Coca-Cola, and other consumer giants such as McDonald's and AT&T, are in this
for one reason: image. But image has never come at such a price. Atlanta-based
Coca-Cola kicked in an unprecedented $ 50 million for a sponsorship. Because the
Games are in its back yard, Coca-Cola is expected to spend $ 150 million more to
promote its status as the Olympics' "official" soft drink.
Coke hasn't fared too badly with sponsorships. One day after last year's
Winter Olympics, a respectable 43% of consumers polled by Performance Research
recalled that Coke was a sponsor. But 57% mistakenly thought Wendy's was an
official sponsor while the real sponsor, McDonald's, was selected by only 34%.
This time around, McDonald's has effectively blocked Wendy's by purchasing
all available fast-food ad slots during NBC's broadcast.
Companies rarely make back in increased sales what they spend on sponsorship
costs, says Michael Marsak, a marketing consultant.
Just ask Hilton and Kellogg.
Hilton was the official hotel of the 1992 Summer Games, but only 8% of
consumers were aware of that just weeks after the Olympics ended, according to a
DDB Needham poll conducted by Jim Crimmins. Worse yet, 9% thought the sponsor
was Holiday Inn. Kellogg also was a sponsor. But only 20% of consumers named
Kellogg's Corn Flakes as a brand sponsor while 35% named Wheaties.
Kellogg and Hilton no longer are Olympics sponsors. Hilton declined to
comment. However, Kellogg spokeswoman Karen McCloud, says: "We can't justify
their high fees.
The sponsorship spotlight can blur even more when similar companies have to
share it. Delta paid about $ 30 million to be the official airline of the
Atlanta Games. But longtime sponsor United paid less than one-quarter of that to
be the official airline of the U.S. Olympics Team. Both will feature different
PAGE
30
USA TODAY, July 19, 1995
Olympic signage in their upcoming marketing efforts.
"There is certainly an opportunity for confusion in the consumer's mind,"
says Dick Veatch, manager of promotions at United. "Obviously, we're not
thrilled about it."
Delta has started placing the Olympics symbol on everything from its business
cards to ticket jackets. Later this month, it will even unveil one aircraft it
has painted, nose to tail, in an Olympics theme, says Delta's Terrence Burns.
Home Depot has added a wrinkle that critics say will further confuse and
dilute the Olympics image. It paid $ 40 million for its sponsorship. As part of
the deal, it asked 28 vendors to help pick up the costs. In exchange, those
suppliers - from Black & Decker to Armstrong - get to have a sign bearing this
message posted by their products in Home Depot stores nationwide: "Proud Member
of the Home Depot Olympic Family.'
Without that deal, "we couldn't have afforded the sponsorship," says Home
Depot's Dick Hammill.
But critics say it sets a bad precedent. The Olympic rings rank among the
most-recognized symbols in the world. "The prestige of the rings has got to be
diluted when you suddenly find them by every power saw, Lesa Ukman, executive
editor of IEG Sponsorship Report.
Olympic officials scoff at the criticism.
"Change is part of every successful business entity," says Bill McCahan,
chief marketing officer of Atlantic Centennial Olympic Properties. "We hope to
leave behind some marketing legacies that will be used by others in the future."
While the Games might be about the spirit of competition, sponsorships are
about winning at all costs. No company exemplifies that more than Coca-Cola,
which some say is the sponsor most responsible for bringing the Games to
Atlanta. "The Olympics will help us build our brand - and increase sales - in
125 countries," says Coke's Stu Cross.
Coke will have Olympic images on products and ads. It is also sponsoring the
Olympic Torch Relay and building a temporary Olympic City theme park. Marketing
experts say Coke is doing all this for one reason: to keep Pepsi out.
Coke, a sponsor since 1928, is locked into the Olympic box, says retail
consultant Marsak. Should Coke ever drop out, he says, "Pepsi would snatch it
and rub it in Coke's face.
Worldwide sponsors Top level. Can use all of the symbols; exclusive use of
the five-ring logo. Access to tickets, hotel rooms, athletes, cultural events,
hospitality village.
Coca-Cola, Bausch & Lomb, Eastman Kodak, IBM, Matsushita/Panasonic, Time
Inc., Visa International, Xerox, United Parcel Service, John Hancock.
Centennial Olympic Games Partners Some access as worldwide sponsors, but can
only use Atlanta Games, U.S. Team logos.
PAGE 31
USA TODAY, July 19, 1995
Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Delta Air Lines (1), Home Depot, IBM, McDonald's,
Motorola, NationsBank, Sara Lee/Champion, SMH/Swatch.
1996 Olympic Games Sponsors Provide services to the Games. Can negotiate
event tickets, access to athletes.
Avon, BellSouth, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, BMW, Borg-Warner Security, General
Motors, Holiday Inn, King World, Nissan, Randstad Staffing Services, Scientific-
Atlanta, Sensomatic Electronics, World Travel Partners, York International.
1 - Atlanta Games sponsor only Source: Atlanta Committee for the Olympic
Games. Research by Tammi Wark
GRAPHIC: GRAPHICS, color, Elys A. McLean, USA TODAY (Logos, 3); PHOTO, color, USA
TODAY
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: July 20, 1995
PAGE
32
35TH STORY of Level 1 printed in FULL format.
Copyright 1995 Information Access Company, a Thomson Corporation Company
ASAP
Copyright 1995 BPI Communications
Amusement Business
May 8, 1995
SECTION: Vol. 107 ; No. 19 ; Pg. 5; ISSN: 0003-2344
LENGTH: 908 words
HEADLINE: Olympics sponsorship at all-time high. 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta,
Georgia
BYLINE: Waddell, Ray
BODY:
ATLANTA - With corporate involvement in the 1996 Olympic Games higher than
it has ever been, it's clear that corporate America will continue to play a
large role in sporting events of all types.
Sponsorship of sporting events was the subject at a panel called "Developing
Strategic Sports Marketing Relations," part of Sports & Event Management 95, an
annual conference produced by the International City/County Managers Assn.
(ICMA), held here April 20-22.
Speakers were Donald Campbell, managing director, Fantastic Sports
Promotions Inc.; Lisa Delpy, assistant professor, George Washington University;
and Hill Carrow, director, Olympic Sponsorship development, Sara Lee Corp.
(SLC).
Carrow said that Sara Lee has gone well beyond being just a coffeecake and
cheesecake company. "Our mission is to be the best consumer branded concept in
the world," said Carrow. "We're a $ 16 billion company, with half of our
interests in food and the other half in apparel."
SLC's involvement in the Olympics is two-pronged, Carrow said. As a
sponsoring Olympic Partner, the company is involved to the tune of $ 40. million,
$ 20 million of which is in-kind in the form of exclusive knitted apparel. In
Olympic product licensing, a 10 percent royalty goes to the Games.
"With $ 20 million going to the Games up-front, we have to generate $ 200
million in sales to liquidate our commitment," said Carrow.
Carrow said that SLC had committed $ 15 million to television buys on the
NBC telecasts of the Games. Five brands are involved, with the most high-profile
brand being Champion performance-oriented athletic wear.
"Champion is the most natural fit,' said Carrow. "We intend to leverage its
use by outfitting the Olympic teams, including the Olympic Parade and award
uniforms, blazers, loafers and travel wear. We contributed 57 items per athlete
for the Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway"
Other SLC brands tied in with the Olympics include Hanes, which will be used
to outfit all of the Olympic volunteers, and L'eggs, which will sponsor
PAGE
33
Amusement Business, May 8, 1995
women's athletics. We're also working with the governing bodies of Olympic
sports,' said Carrow. "Champion is the largest sponsor in the U.S. of
volleyball, and we also sponsor basketball's Dream Team."
For in-store retail opportunities, Champion will create a "store within a
store,' with a whole section dedicated to the Olympic merchandise.
"We know every time we sell a product with the Olympic logo, we have to pay
a royalty," said Carrow. "We think we'll get our $ 20 million back, but we'd
really have to blow it out to get the rest back. However, we know that there is
a lot of soft value to our Olympic sponsorship."
FANTASTIC
Campbell, who came to the Atlanta office of Fantastic Sports Promotions
after 12 years with MCI, where he reviewed, evaluated and managed national
sponsorship opportunities, discussed how to go about securing corporate dollars
for a sporting event.
"If you want to get to second base, you need to know how to focus your
proposal," Campbell said. "First of all, you need to make sure of the corporate
health of the company you approach. Read the business section of your local
paper and the Wall Street Journal. A lot of companies are down-sizing or
right-sizing, 'and when people lose jobs and a company falls on hard times, it's
not a good time to go to them and ask for money."
If a company has a large presence in your community - or should - it may be
a good company to approach. "If they're not interested, go to their
competitors," said Campbell.
Flexibility is critical. "This is not a game, but you have to try to find
opportunities to get the corporate logo out there within the realm of not making
people mad, said Campbell. "When I was at MCI, he wanted to put a sign up at
the Hollywood Bowl, but they didn't allow signage. So we went to a guy's house
that overlooked the Bowl and gave him $ 100 to put the sign in his back yard.
When a sponsorship is secured, the company should be well-serviced, Campbell
said. "We tell everyone that we're going to over-deliver," he said. "If at some
point you have to go back to the contract then you probably don't have a very
good relationship with the sponsor.'
During Campbell's tenure with MCI, the company was associated on a national
basis with Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Properties. "Like it
or not, baseball is America's pastime, and it won't go away," he said. "I
believe that in the cities where they field competitive baseball teams, they'll
forget all about the strike. But in markets like Milwaukee and San Diego, where
baseball isn't great shakes, there will be an impactful situation."
Campbell described Major League Baseball as 28 small businesses with very
well-known employees and large payrolls. "When dealing with baseball teams, you
become very ingrained to "no' as a first response," said Campbell.
He cited former Oakland A's marketing vice president Andy Dolich, now
president of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Assn., as one
of the more savvy marketing people in baseball.
PAGE 34
Amusement Business, May 8, 1995
"He'd tell you what he could do and the price is x'. If x' was more than you
had in mind, then you'd have to negotiate. And you always had to use baseball
cliches like 'that's not in the ballpark' or 'how do we get to first base?' Andy
truly was a negotiator, and that's not the way a lot of baseball teams do
business."
SIC: 2300 APPAREL AND OTHER TEXTILE PRODUCTS
IAC-NUMBER: IAC 16917486
IAC-CLASS: Trade & Industry
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: October 30, 1995