P&G, NFL reach sponsorship deal

Procter & Gamble and the National Football League announced a wide-ranging sponsorship agreement Wednesday giving P&G exclusive rights to use NFL trademarks in marketing more than a dozen of its products.

Under the agreement, at least four P&G brands will become "Official Locker Room Products of the NFL," equivalent to exclusive rights to use NFL trademarks in advertising.

The deal gives P&G, which traditionally has marketed to women, high visibility to the more than 200 million people who watch NFL games during the season -- most of them men. The 18- to 49-year-old, largely male audience that tunes in each week is a key demographic for P&G, as it tries to extend the reach of its Gillette brand and its other male grooming products.

Announcement of the deal came Wednesday between practices at Bengals Training Camp at Georgetown College.

Among the Official Locker Room Products is Old Spice, a brand that P&G transformed into one that appeals to men under 35 with a range of products, including body wash, body spray and deodorant. The others are Gillette, Febreze fabric freshener and odor remover, and Head & Shoulders shampoo.

Those brands join Prilosec OTC, which has had a pre-existing tie-in with the league.

“This really underscores the performance of our brands,” said Jason Dial, P&G’s director of sports marketing. “When you think of the NFL it’s the ultimate battleground, it’s a torture test for our products and P&G delivers. "

Procter has been working on a sponsorship deal with the league since December 2007. Dial said the locker-room products are as important to players and teams as Gatorade and Motorola headsets on the sidelines.

“It’s not every day that one of the world’s companies chooses the NFL to invest its brands in,” said Mark Waller, NFL senior vice president of sales and marketing.

The partnership will likely include sweepstakes in which NFL game tickets and trips could be given away, and Web site promotions, said William Sutton, a professor with the DeVos Sport Business Management program at University of Central Florida. The deal should pay off because it will provide exposure to the growing base of NFL fans, Sutton said. "It's America's national pastime," he said.

This is not P&G's first sports marketing deal, but it may be its deepest, involving 13 brands in all.

The sponsorship arrangement that the Gillette brand has with Major League Baseball may be a model for the NFL partnership.

Gillette's 70-year relationship with baseball includes primary sponsorship rights to the Civil Rights Game, which was played in Cincinnati in June. It also included a sweepstakes to win a trip to the All-Star Game, as well as commitments to buy time on baseball broadcasts on Fox and TBS. A separate deal with the New York Yankees allows All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter to wear his uniform in Gillette commercials. Gillette is also a chief sponsor of the American League and National League Rookie of the Month Award.

Last year, Gillette marketed a limited edition college razor, using deals with 11 colleges to help sell its new Fusion Power razor.

Source: Holthaus, David "P&G, NFL reach sponsorship deal"
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090805/BIZ01/908050360/P&G++NFL+reach+deal
5 August 2009