2. Football Game, and a meet-and-greet with
Dawkins; this weekend was marketed extensively across various
modes of media. The partners’ goals were to
engage 7 million regionally-based Eagles fans, not just the
70,000 fans who would witness Dawkins’ retire-
ment ceremony inside Lincoln Financial Field during the game.
This case illustrates how the partners came
together to achieve common goals, using Dawkins’ image,
presence, and positive affinity with Eagles fans.
The case details sponsorship and activation trends, the
activation ratio, and other examples of sponsorship
activation tied to athlete retirement. The case asks students to
take what they have learned about sponsorship
activation and analyze the Dawkins retirement, discussing what
was successful, what was not, and what could
be done for future sponsorship activations in similar situations.
Keywords: sport sponsorship, sponsorship activation, sports
advertising, professional sports
It was a cool, late summer evening in Philadelphia. The date
was September 30, 2012, and the National Football
League (NFL)’s Philadelphia Eagles had squeaked out a 19–17
victory over the rival New York Giants, who missed a
last-second field goal that would have won the game. Off the
field, the Eagles had recorded an even more resounding win.
In partnership with the American Automobile Association
(AAA), and featuring elements with NASCAR and Marvel
Entertainment, the Eagles had pulled off an innovative and
effective sponsorship activation centered around legendary
safety Brian Dawkins’ retirement (DiChiara, n.d.). AAA, an
automobile service provider and long-time sponsor of the
Eagles, was in the sixth year of a seven-year deal and had just
finishing working with the team and a number of other
partners on a major and innovative marketing initiative. AAA’s
goal was clear and simple: They wanted their activa-
4. not to be distributed, disseminated, or reproduced without
permission.
demographic metropolitan areas (DMAs) combine to make up
what the club calls “Eagles Country.” They include the
Philadelphia DMA, the Harrisburg DMA, and the Wilkes-Barre
DMA. Scarborough’s research indicates that approxi-
mately 56% of adult residents in these DMAs describe
themselves as Eagles fans. In the Philadelphia DMA
specifically,
that number rises to 64%. Appendix D provides further
information on the three DMAs. As noted, there are more than
five million adult fans in the three DMAs; when extended to the
entire population, including youth, the estimated fan
base in these DMAs grows to seven million.
AAA
Often called “Triple-A” or AAA, the American Automobile
Association is a federation of independently-operated motor
clubs throughout the United States. Its partner, the Canadian
Automobile Association (CAA), extends the organization
throughout North America. AAA is a service provider with
offerings in automotive, travel, insurance, finance, and dis-
counted products. Founded in 1902, the organization has
headquarters in Florida and has provided services to drivers for
over 100 years, ranging from mapping to safety programs to
automobile racing support to driver training to conservation
efforts to lobbying. AAA’s marketing efforts are broad and
include many elements of a comprehensive marketing mix,
including sponsorship. AAA’s Mid-Atlantic division in
particular has made great use of Dawkins’ alignment with the
brand, even including Dawkins on promotional materials and in
an internal “culture-building document.” Appendix E
provides further details on AAA’s involvement with the Eagles
sponsorship.
5. Case Background
Activation
A key driver of sponsorship use by corporations is the ability to
achieve their marketing objectives. Similarly, spon-
sorship—if implemented appropriately—provides the property
(or “sponsee”) with the ability to generate revenue
through the sale of rights fees to interested sponsors (Cornwell,
Roy, & Steinard, 2001). In order for the sponsorship
to be successful for both parties—sponsor and property—
leveraging or activation opportunities need to be provided
(Lardinoit & Quester, 2001) and undertaken (Séguin, Teed, &
O’Reilly, 2005). Activation tactics include any additional
activity undertaken by either the sponsor or the property to
increase the effectiveness of the sponsorship. Examples
include, but are not limited to: concurrent television
commercials, building a related public relationships campaign,
including the sponsorship on packaging, developing associated
promotions to drive the sponsorship, associating social
media campaigns, hospitality, signage, sampling, merchandise,
meet and greet with VIPs, cause-related tie-ins, and
giveaways. Marketing agency IEG defines activation as “the
marketing activities that a company conducts to promote
its sponsorship” (IEG Sponsorship Report, 2010), while recent
thinking divides activation between ‘standard’ (e.g.,
packaging, advertising, sampling) and ‘value-added’ (e.g., VIP
hospitality, creative) activities (O’Reilly & Lafrance
Horning, 2013). Researchers also point to three reasons why
activation aids with sponsorship effectiveness: (i) ability
to break through clutter, (ii) prevention of ambush marketing,
and (iii) differentiation that is difficult for competitors to
mimic (Bal, Quester, & Plewa, 2009; Cornwell et al., 2001;
Crompton, 2004; DeGaris, West, & Dodds, 2009; O’Keefe,
Titlebaum, & Hill, 2009). Another group of researchers has
found that for high involvement products, such as an air-
6. line, activation is more effective than for low involvement ones.
They also report that quality of activation should take
preference over quantity (Davies & Tsiantas, 2008).
In their review of the sponsorship literature, Cornwell and
Maignan (1998) note the need to leverage sponsorships
actively and strategically with other promotion tactics. Other
scholars (Crimmins & Horn, 1996) report that if a spon-
sor cannot afford to activate, then they should not undertake the
sponsorship at all. Papadimitriou and Apostolopoulou
(2009) found that the acquisition of the sponsorship rights to a
property with category exclusivity does not normally
provide the sought results unless additional investment and
activity is undertaken beyond the rights fee spent to initially
acquire a property. Sponsor management teams typically
classify these additional investments as “working” and “non-
working” costs. Working costs include media, on-site/in-store
programs, and sideline promotions, while nonworking
costs include agency fees, production, and research-based
activities (O’Reilly & Lafrance Horning, 2013). Results
from a series of studies report that sponsorships that are
effectively activated achieve a range of objectives includ-
ing awareness, combatting ambush marketing, and brand
differentiation (e.g., Crompton, 2004; DeGaris et al., 2009;
Papadimitriou & Apostolopoulou, 2009).
Measurement
In 2009, O’Keefe, Titlebaum, and Hill concluded that, “The
world of sponsorship is rapidly escalating from simply
branding the corporate logo in the stadium towards activation.”
They also found that the systems of measurement cur-
rently available are difficult to interpret, and that industry
professionals across the four leagues surveyed (NFL, NBA,
D
10. spent, there were not enough resources allocated to the
activation of these sponsorships outside the initial rights agree-
ments. At the time, they reported that there may not be a perfect
model to measure the full value of being linked to a
professional sports team, and that teams and sponsors must
continue to strive for effective measurement to expand the
industry. With rising budgets and additional resources,
properties are realizing the benefit of activation, and are able to
measure their success—to a certain extent—with the activation
ratio (O’Reilly & Lafrance Horning, 2013).
Activation Ratio
Although scholars (e.g., Chadwick & Thwaites, 2004) have
reported that uncertainty exists around how much to spend
on sponsorship budgets beyond what was invested in rights fees,
recent work has proposed the activation ratio as a
type of formula by which to guide these decisions (O’Reilly &
Lafrance Horning, 2013). The activation ratio reflects
the magnitude of the investment by the sponsor in activation as
compared with what they invested in the rights fees for
that sponsorship. Thus, an activation ratio of 1.7:1 means that
the sponsor invested $1.70 in activation for every $1.00
they spent on the rights fees. Previous research has suggested
that the ratio of expenditures to activate a sponsorship
investment should be at least equal to, or greater than, the
amount spent on the investment itself (ideally from 1:1–8:1)
(Séguin et al., 2005; Tripodi, Hirons, Bednall, & Sutherland,
2003), which, in turn, enables the engagement of target
audiences via creative, flexible, and fully-integrated activation
platforms (Davies & Tsiantas, 2008; O’Keefe et al.,
2009; Papadimitriou & Apostolopoulou, 2009; Weeks,
Cornwell, & Drennan, 2008).
Activation ratios between 1:1 and 2:1 are most commonly found
in the industry (CSLS, 2012; O’Keefe et al.,
11. 2009; Seguin & O’Reilly, 2007). In addition, organizations that
use agencies are shown to deliver stronger and more
strategic activation programs, with higher activation ratios. In
2009, a case study of a highly recognizable global brand’s
Canadian branch showed that hockey was found to have the
highest media activation ratio (measuring spending on
activation through media channels) at 3.3, followed by
basketball at 1.3, and football at only 0.4 (O’Reilly & Lafrance
Horning, 2013). It can be inferred from this study that the
popularity of hockey in Canada led to a higher emphasis on
sponsorship activation and that for professional football in the
United States, the numbers could be reversed. Further
analysis of the study reinforced the need to strategically
activate sponsorship using specific business objectives, brand,
and past sponsorship efforts. Specific activation plans, along
with a ratio of 1:1–7:1 was recommended (O’Reilly &
Lafrance Horning, 2013).
Current Trends in Professional Sport Sponsorship and
Activation
Sponsorship has continued to grow in recent years despite the
presence of difficult economic climates around the world.
IEG (2016) approximated that more than US$60 billion would
be spent on sponsorship rights fees globally in 2016—a
4.7% increase from 2015—with even more money estimated to
be spent on activation. IEG also estimated investment
in sport sponsorship rights fees in North America at about
US$22.4 billion in 2016, a 4.7% growth over 2015. Recent
North American industry research (CSLS, 2016) reports on a
number of important trends in sponsorship, two of which
are relevant to this case. First, the concept of ‘festivalization’ is
introduced and supported by sponsors’ increasingly
reporting high proportions of their sponsorship in festivals and
higher ROI from festival sponsorships than others. It
could be possible to consider the marketing elements of this
12. case as the act of ‘festivalizing’ a typical NFL game.
Second, the CSLS (2016) analyzes its results from 2006 to 2016
to show that activation spending is trending away from
traditional promotional tactics such as advertising, public
relations, and media buys toward more event-based activi-
ties such as hospitality, internal marketing, and creation of
branded content. The research predicts that rights fees and
activation spend will hold steady over the coming years, but
that the nature of activation will change. The academic
literature also points to a number of recent trends in activation
related to digital, mobile, and online mediums, such as
sponsor websites, Twitter, and Facebook (O’Keefe et al., 2009;
Weeks et al., 2008).
Sponsorship Activation, Athlete Endorsement and Retirement
Athlete endorsement is the particular context of sponsorship
where the property is an athlete, as opposed to an event,
a team, a league, an association, a venue, or other sport
property. In both sponsorships and endorsements, the brand
activates around the partnership to enhance its impact and ROI.
Thus, the term ‘sponsorship activation’ applies to both
contexts, including athlete endorsement and retirement. As
such, the term sponsor is used to describe the brand in both
the sponsorship and athlete endorsement situations. Similarly,
the term sponsorship activation is used to describe efforts
to enhance the benefit of either a sponsorship or an athlete
endorsement.
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16. utes (Heitner, 2014). The “RE2PECT” hashtag began trending
on Facebook and Twitter and a YouTube video around
the campaign reached 8 million views. The same day of Jeter’s
final home game showed Nike’s revenues up 15% to
US$8 billion. Gatorade’s “2” campaign provided one of the best
advertising spots in this history of athlete retirement
sponsorship activation. The 90-s salute to Jeter, set to Frank
Sinatra’s “My Way,” showed Jeter walking the streets of
New York interacting with fans. The spot garnered over 2
million views in its first 24 hours (Lee, 2014). Jeter himself
had input in the song selection and Gatorade allowed him to
mingle with fans in a genuine way (McCarthy, 2014).
Gatorade followed up the wildly successful spot with a full-
page ad written by Jeter in the New York Daily News and
Sports Illustrated. In addition, Gatorade placed customized
cups, coolers, and towels in the Yankee dugout with Jeter’s
#2 in place of the traditional Gatorade “G” logo for a game on
Sept. 22. While Gatorade was an individual endorser
of Derek Jeter and not a corporate sponsor at the club level,
their process and activation strategy around an athlete’s
retirement can be mirrored for the latter.
Other examples of sponsorship activation around athlete
retirements include giveaways such as replica banners,
jerseys, and bobble heads (Table 1). When Donovan McNabb,
another Philadelphia Eagles legend, retired in 2013,
Caesars and Harrah’s Pool hosted a retirement party with
cocktail reception (Casino Connection, 2013). In addition,
retired athletes can continue to profit from endorsements long
after their playing days are over. Forbes (2016) publishes
an annual study of the sponsorship earnings of retired athletes
across the globe. NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan
topped the list with US$110 million earnings the year before
thanks to deals with Hanes, Gatorade, and Nike’s Jordan
brand. Soccer star David Beckham and golf legend Arnold
Palmer rounded out the top three, with athletes from football,
17. racecar driving, and tennis also among the top 10.
Case Study: From 70 Thousand to 7 Million
Capitalizing on an Opportunity
On April 17th, 2012, the NFL announced its regular season
schedule, including times, television coverage, and match-
ups. The preseason and regular season schedule for the Eagles is
attached as Appendix A. Following the release of the
schedule, a key game was identified on September 30th between
the Eagles and the defending Super Bowl champions,
the New York Giants. The NFC East showdown was scheduled
as the nationally-televised Sunday Night Football (SNF)
game for that week. Television network NBC held the rights to
that game from the NFL and has built the SNF property
into one that attracts significant national television audiences.
During the 2011–2012 television season, for instance, SNF
was the top program for both adults 18–49 and total viewers in
the United States. Nielsen estimated more than 20.7 mil-
lion total viewers on average for each of the 15 SNF telecasts
that year (Andreeva, 2012). To emphasize, in 2011–2012,
SNF knocked American Idol out of the top-watched program
slot following eight straight years in that position.
Table 1 Examples of Sponsorship Activation and Athlete
Retirement
Athlete Sponsor(s) Year Activation Source
Martin Brodeur Prudential, New Jersey
Devils
2015–2016 Replica banner, ticket promotion, jersey
patch
18. New Jersey Devils
(2015)
Lisa Leslie Farmer’s Insurance, LA
Sparks
2010 Jersey backpacks to first 5,000 fans Ingram (2010)
Allen Iverson Wells Fargo, Gatorade,
Philadelphia 76ers
2013–2014 Ticket package, Iverson-themed promotional
giveaway
Philadelphia 76ers
(2014)
Craig Biggio Coca-Cola, Kroger, Houston
Astros
2015 Retirement weekend, bobblehead, replica
jersey, replica HOF plaque, ticket package
Rohrbacher (2015)
Donovan McNabb Harrah’s Resorts, Caesars
(Atlantic City)
2013 Retirement weekend, cocktail reception,
pool party
Casino Connection
(2013)
Mike Piazza NY Mets, Citi, Topps, Delta 2016 Retirement
weekend, replica jersey,
22. ing Super Bowl champion on national television. However, the
Eagles were not the only ones to notice the schedule
and the tremendous marketing potential of this game. Managers
at AAA, one of the Eagles’ major, long-standing
sponsors, had also noted the marketing opportunities the game
presented. In addition, AAA management recognized
the potential fit with one of their other sponsored properties, the
AAA 400 NASCAR race held annually at the Dover
International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, which—
coincidentally—was slotted for 2 p.m. on the same day of the
Eagles/Giants game.
Serendipity
If the good fortune of having the SNF game the same day as the
AAA 400 was not enough, on April 23rd, 2012—just
one week following the announcement of the 2012 NFL
schedule—legendary Eagles safety Brian Dawkins announced
his retirement from the NFL following three seasons with the
Denver Broncos. Before his stint in Denver, Dawkins had
played 13 memorable seasons with the Eagles, where his
performances and charisma endeared him to the Philadelphia
fans. Appendix B contains additional background on Dawkins
and his career.
Most agree that Dawkins is one of the most popular players in
the club’s history. As an illustration of his popularity,
in 2015, 3 years after this case and his retirement, Dawkins was
(still) named the “Most Popular Living Eagle” (see
Appendix B). In response to the announcement of his retirement
from the Broncos and professional football, the Eagles
began planning a jersey retirement ceremony for Dawkins for
the 2012 season (McPherson, 2012). When a major star
retires, a ceremony to commemorate the event is typically of
interest to a sports club’s fans. Reports indicated that both
Dawkins and the Eagles were contemplating such an endeavor.
23. Case Stakeholders
The key stakeholders in this sponsorship are the Eagles, AAA,
Marvel, the AAA 400 NASCAR race, and Dawkins
himself. The Eagles, a leading NFL club in a large market, are
the sponsorship property. Their objectives include: (i) to
drive revenue by attracting and renewing sponsors, (ii) to
provide their sponsors with high return on their investment,
(iii) to promote their club and players to generate increased
interest in the club, and (iv) to achieve maximum expo-
sure for the Eagles brand. AAA, a nationwide service provider
to owners of automobiles, is a sponsor, as is Marvel,
an entertainment company the produces comic books,
merchandise, movies, and more. AAA is an ongoing sponsor
of the Eagles, with Marvel partnering for the Dawkins
activation only. Sponsors have many objectives which could
be relevant to this case including: (i) to increase sales, (ii) to
build affinity with certain target markets, (iii) to engage
internal stakeholders such as staff, (iv) to enhance their
reputation, (v) to build awareness of their product(s), and (vi)
to leverage existing marketing assets. Dawkins, the star athlete,
is an element of the activation hired for the day. The
AAA 400 is another property that AAA sponsors integrated into
the activation.
Development of the Sponsorship
Based on public reports, the Eagles, AAA, and their agencies
began envisioning the summer of 2012 with the goal of
building out the concept to activate the AAA-Eagles
sponsorship around the September 30th SNF game, an
appearance
by Dawkins, and the AAA 400 race. Executive vice president,
AAA Mid-Atlantic Marke Dickinson was excited to work
with Dawkins, referring to him as “a beloved Eagles legend and
24. also a long-time AAA member” (AAA Mid-Atlantic,
2012). Dickinson pointed to Dawkins’ work ethic and leadership
making him “the perfect person to represent the AAA
brand.” The following elements of the sponsorship were
observed (Table 2).
1. Dawkins Weekend—The central point of the activation was
around Brian Dawkins appearing at both the SNF
game and the AAA 400. According to reports, Dawkins was
supportive—the Eagles fans had very high affinity
for him and he loved the fans back (Berman, 2012).
2. Meet & Greet Promotion with Dawkins—Dawkins Weekend
was launched with a smaller event on Friday night
to build interest. A contest would be used in the weeks
upcoming to create a buzz and tease the weekend. Dubbed
the “Eagles Welcome Back Brian Dawkins Sweepstakes” and
promoted as the “2012 AAA Eagles Win a Night
with a Legend Sweepstakes,” the contest was open to legal adult
residents of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New
Jersey. The contest ran from April 29th to September 14th, with
entry possible by completing an entry online at
www.PhiladelphiaEagles.com or by mail. A draw was planned
for September 18th, where 50 winners would be
selected from the entries received. Each of the 50 winners and a
guest would be able to attend a special VIP meet
and greet reception to honor Dawkins on Friday, September
28th at Lincoln Financial Field or NovaCare Complex.
The prize was valued at approximately $350. The promotion
ended up being a success, with 3,216 entries received
and 500,000 web impressions on the Eagles’ splash page
(internal communication, Philadelphia Eagles).
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28. 4. AAA 400—The good fortune of the AAA 400 being
scheduled on the same day as SNF was recognized by AAA,
who took advantage of the opportunity. The AAA 400 was
integrated into the Dawkins Weekend and plans were
made to involve Dawkins in the car race, serving as the Grand
Marshal. News of Dawkins acting as Marshal
was publicized throughout Dover, less than 100 miles from
Philadelphia, reaching Eagles fans across state lines
(WGMD Radio, 2012). In addition, the news was published in
several press releases and pamphlets for fans. An
additional partnership with Michael Waltrip Racing and one of
their drivers, Martin Truex Jr., was formed to pro-
vide an additional element to the activation and another
platform to promote AAA. One of the reasons that Truex
was selected was that he is from the Philadelphia area and an
Eagles fan. Dawkins served as an honorary pit crew
member for Truex and gave the “start your engines”
introduction. Truex’s car also had Dawkins’ name painted on
its side and he wore a special Philadelphia Eagles helmet.
5. Collaboration—The partners made a commitment to each
other up front that they would do whatever was required
to make the Dawkins activation work. All knew from previous
experience that if this agreement was not in place,
that the activation would not reach its potential. Thus, efforts
were undertaken early in the process to achieve buy-in
and develop a plan to coordinate all of the moving parts that
would be involved.
6. Marvel Partnership—Dawkins’ nickname of “Weapon X” and
its association with the character Wolverine,
Dawkins’ favorite comic book superhero, led to a partnership
with Marvel as part of the activation (Petzar, 2012).
Marvel agreed to join the activation, with a number of
associated elements, including 70,000 Marvel Wolverine
29. prints, e-mail and social media blasts, a videoboard feature, and
articles/advertisements in the local and national
media (internal communication, Philadelphia Eagles). Marvel
editor, Bill Rosemann, summed up the partnership,
saying: “A peaceful family man while off the field, once he
donned his #20 jersey, Brian Dawkins—inspired by
and embodying the best traits of the tenacious and unstoppable
Wolverine—was one of the most intense, hard-
hitting, resilient and respected players in the history of the
game. Marvel is excited and honored to partner with
the Eagles and AAA in honoring one of Philly’s finest”
(DiChiara, n.d.).
7. Media Activations –A number of media-related activities
were planned, including:
a. NBC—Sunday Night Football, the most watched television
program in the United States (Appendix F). Jersey
retirement ceremony shown at halftime.
b. ESPN—Television mentions and a Front Row (2012) podcast
recapping the retirement weekend.
c. SPEED TV—Two behind-the-scenes episodes on the now-
defunct racing network.
d. Radio—Two spots were broadcast on 94 WIP, one on NBC,
one on the Comcast Pregame Show, and one on
97.5 The Fanatic on 9/29 and 9/30.
e. Social Media—Two Facebook posts, receiving a combined
167,000 impressions (internal communication,
Philadelphia Eagles), and one Twitter contest.
f. Local Philadelphia media—Several Philadelphia area media
networks, including the local CBS affiliate, picked
up the story of Brian Dawkins Weekend and promoted the
30. schedule of events (Leon, 2012).
8. Promotional Tactics—Promotional tactics implemented
included banner ads, magnets, photo marketing, overlays,
social media posts, giveaway items, billboards, and more
(Appendix G). Over a 4-day period before the SNF game,
a series of seven billboards were run in the Philadelphia area
promoting the game and retirement ceremony, with
AAA tagged as the “Game Presenter.” These billboards received
1,957,806 “eyes on impressions” (EOI), calculat-
ing the amount of people who saw them in that time frame
(internal communication, Philadelphia Eagles).
As the eight key elements of the activation suggest, there were a
large number of moving and integrated parts
involved. Coordination of these activities was vitally important
for the success of the activation. To guide the coordina-
tion, the parties established their goal of reaching all seven
million Eagles fans.
The Activation Weekend
Appendix C provides the planned integrated schedule for the
day and Appendix G outlines the activation outcomes. The
AAA 400 had strong television ratings (Jayski, 2012) and many
fans wore Dawkins jersey to the race (Smith, 2012).
The Eagles game did well on television (see Table 3 and
Appendix F). Many elements of the activation were broadcast
live on PhiladelphiaEagles.com (CSN Philly, 2012) and
Dawkins himself was highly engaged (Fleischman, 2012).
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34. future? Second, how could this learning inform other activations
with other sponsorship partners? Finally, how
could you use this experience as a sales tool to find new
corporate partners?
Case Questions: AAA
• Now take the role of marketing director at AAA. It is October
10th, 2012 and you are meeting as a postevent recap.
Respond to your vice president’s questions as to (i) whether this
was a worthwhile endeavor or not, and (ii) come
up with some other creative sponsorship ideas for AAA based
on this example.
Case Questions: External Agency
• Now take the role of the principal consultant for an agency
hired by both the Eagles and AAA to assess the spon-
sorship and make recommendations for the future. Answer the
following questions:
i. Based on the info you have in the case, was the sponsorship
a success?
ii. If you could go back in time, what methods and metrics
would you put in place to measure the sponsorship?
iii. What other activation elements or activities could be
implemented around a retired star athlete with a very high
fan following?
Table 2 Activation Elements
Element Description
Dawkins Weekend AAA 400, Dawkins helicopter back to
35. Sunday Night Football (SNF) game, jersey
retirement ceremony at halftime
Meet & greet promotion with Dawkins “AAA Win a Night with
a Legend Sweepstakes”—50 winners attend an exclusive
reception with Dawkins
Take the Brand Outside the Stadium Activation elements
designed beyond the SNF game to reach all seven million
Eagles fans
AAA 400 Dawkins as Grand Marshal, honorary pit crew member
for Martin Truex, “start your
engines” introduction
Collaboration Buy-in and a plan from all sponsorship activation
partners
Marvel partnership Dawkins “Weapon X” prints, e-mail and
social media blasts, videoboard feature
Media activation TV and radio spots on national and local
networks, social media
Promotional tactics Banner ads, magnets, photo marketing,
giveaways, billboards, etc.
Table 3 NFL Ratings for Sunday 9/30/12 (Philadelphia DMA
Only)
Game Time Station Rating Share Households P2+ (Viewers)
Patriots vs. Bills 1:00 PM CBS 7.6 17 226,000 299,000
49ers vs. Jets 1:00 PM FOX 6.5 14 192,000 249,000
36. Saints vs. Packers 4:30 PM FOX 13.3 24 394,000 593,000
Abbreviations: NFL = National Football League; DMA =
demographic metropolitan area.
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Q
39. i. What can be learned from a successful sponsorship
activation case such as this?
ii. In your opinion, could this activation be repeated by the
Eagles or was it a one-off? Explain your answer.
iii. What can be adopted from this case study into everyday
sponsorship practice? Provide three items of advice.
iv. How can an activation such as this one help with future
sponsorship renewals and acquisitions?
v. How could these eight elements of the sponsorship (listed in
the case) be coordinated in a further execution to
achieve the goal of reaching seven million?
vi. What are the best ways to measure the success or failure of
this activation and all of its specific elements?
References
AAA Mid-Atlantic. (2012). AAA Brand Ambassador and Eagles
legend Brian Dawkins to serve as “AAA 400 Grand Marshal
prior to having jersey retired in Philadelphia [Press release].
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aaa-brand-ambassador-and-eagles-legend-brian-dawkins-to-
serve-as-aaa-400-grand-marshal-prior-to-having-jersey-retired-
in-philadelphia/.
Andreeva, N. (2012). Full 2011-2012 TV Season Series
Rankings, downloaded April 10th, 2013 from
http://www.deadline.
com/2012/05/full-2011-2012-tv-season-series-rankings.
Bal, C., Quester, P., & Plewa, C. (2009). Event-related
emotions: A key metric to assess sponsorship effectiveness.
40. Journal of
Sponsorship, 2(4), 367–378.
Berman, Z. (2012). Dawkins will speak from heart when Birds
retire his number. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved from
http://
articles.philly.com/2012-09-30/news/34164679_1_brian-
dawkins-player-in-franchise-history-football-game.
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2016/article/caesars-and-harrahs-pool-host-donovan-mcnabb-
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Chadwick, S., & Thwaites, D. (2004). Advances in the
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Cornwell, B.T., Roy, D.P., & Steinard, E. (2001). Exploring
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54. http://wp.wgmd.com/?p=70246
SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATION 2
RUNNING HEADER
(This is a textbox because it’s not possible to add a comment to
a header). Use a shortened version of the title as a Running
Header (e.g. SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATION). It cannot exceed
50 Characters. Go to Insert- Header.
Also insert page numbers in top right corner. Go to Insert- Page
Number.
LinkedIn Profile Assignment
Chris Gibbs
084016077
HTT601 Events and Live Entertainment Management
Chris Gibbs
55. October 25, 2019
Ryerson University
Sponsorship Activation with Philadelphia Eagles Comment by
Author: The title of the paper is centred, NOT bold, with capital
letters for main words.
Sponsorship is similar to fishing in a lake. Some of the best
sponsorship activations leverage the marketing rights derived
from sponsorship to have an in person activation with targeted
consumers (Tourism Toronto, 2016). When you catch a fish,
you eat it. …..
Event and Live Entertainment Activation Comment by Author: It
would be acceptable to use the same headers for your
assignment should you wish
Activation is an important part of sponsorship. Research by
IEG (2017), suggests that on averaged sponsors spend more than
two dollars on activation for every dollar spent on fees. What
that means is that if Heinz ketchup spend one million dollars
buying the sponsorship rights for the Philadelphia Eagles, they
would spend an additional two million dollars activating it. …
Learnings for Fall for Dance North Festival
With more than 70% of advertising sponsorship dollars being
directed to sports organizations (Busker Fest, 2016a), they can
be easily used as best practices for sponsorship activation ideas.
Some of the be
…. Essay is 3-4 pages and answers the question two different
questions. Remember to follow all APA format protocols.
REMEMBER ASSIGNMENT DUE AT 3PM ON OCTOBER
25TH.
References Comment by Author: REFERENCES
OVERIVEIW
For a full set of instructions on how to create your reference list
56. see the ‘Reference List’ section in this document
http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/studentlearningsupport/reso
urces/citation-conventions/APA_Basic_Style_Guide.pdf.
The reference list must:
Start on a new page (but is not counted in the page count).
Be in alphabetical order by author last name.
Show every source cited in the paper.
Have all sources shown be citied in the paper (if you didn’t cite
this source then it doesn’t stay in the reference list!)
Have each line after the first indented by 1 tab.
Busker Fest (2016a). About us. Retrieved from
http://torontobuskerfest.com/about_whoweare.php.
IEG. (2017). IEGs guide to sponsorship: everything you need to
know about sports, arts, event, entertainment and cause
marketing. Chicago, IL: IEG. ISBN: 0-944807-74-7
Tourism Toronto. (2016). Annual report. Retrieved from
www.seetorontonow.com/Media/CorporateandCommunityReport
s.aspx Comment by Author: DOCUMENT FROM
ORGANIZATIO WEBSITE
This is a document from an organization’s website. DO NOT
USE GOOGLE SCHOLAR CITE TOOL FOR WEBSITES!
Williams, F. (2009, July 14). The booming festival scene. The
Toronto Star. Retrieved from
www.thestar.com/news/2009/07/14/tiff-people-s-choice-winner-
la-la-land-gets-awards-season-buzz.html. Comment by
Author: ONLINE NEWSPAPER REPORT
This is an online newspaper report. DO NOT USE GOOGLE
SCHOLAR CITE TOOL FOR NEWSPAPERS!
Make sure to have 3+ references with your submission. All
references listed must also be cited in the essay.
HTT610 6.3 Sponsorship Activation
57. Due October 25th 3pm
Students will read the sponsorship activation case study “From
70 Thousand to 7 Million: Integrated Activation as a Driver of
Sponsor and Property Reach”. You will be expected to write a
3-4 page essay that will answer the question “What can be
learned about sponsorship activations from this case study and
how could you apply it to the Fall for Dance North Festival
challenge?”
VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER. The deadline for this is on
Friday, October 25th at 3pm (not 11pm)
NEW See Commonly asked Questions at the end of this
document.
The assignment will be evaluated by a Teaching and Graduate
Assistants using the guidelines outlined below along with the
coaching from the professor.
Sponsorship Activation Background (6%)
In order to add some substance to the essay, students will be
expected to research and identify…
“Why is sponsorship activation important to event and live
entertainment properties?”
This will require students to do research about event
sponsorship activation in order to answer the question. You
must have at least 3 citations with corresponding references
demonstrating support for your research. The objective of this
part of the assignment is to make sure students have a deep
understanding of event sponsorship activation related to event
and live entertainment properties.
Excellent
Very Good
58. Good
Satisfactory
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
6/6
5/6
4.5/6
3.5/6
2.5/6
0/6
Case Study Answer (5%)
The overarching question related to this part of the essay is …
What can be learned about sponsorship activations from this
case study and how could you apply it to the Fall for Dance
North Festival challenge?
This part of the essay must clearly and with detail communicate
what was learned from the case study. Following the learnings,
the essay must clearly and with detail communicated how you
could apply the learnings to FFDN?
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Satisfactory
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
5/5
4/5
3.5/5
3/5
2/5
59. 0/5
Presentation (4%)
Was your essay easy to read and follow along. Some things that
the TA will be
· Structure of paper is logical and easy to follow.
· Points were positioned in order and transition well.
· Paragraphs used to make single point using ‘Claim, Evidence,
Impact’ model where appropriate.
· Correct use of APA for in text citations and reference list.
· Appropriate use of direct quotations.
· In text citations match reference list and vice versa.
· Font, spacing, page numbers, title page etc.
· Professional level of grammar and spelling
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Satisfactory
Needs Improvement
Incomplete
4/4
3.5/4
3/4
2.5/4
1.5/4
0/4
NEW Commonly Asked Questions.
To help all students I will regularly updated this commonly
asked questions section
The essay is to be in APA format. However APA does not
60. allow personal pronouns such as “I” and “we”.
The use of first-person “I” in scholarly writing (e.g. APA,
Walden) is okay if appropriate. However this happens to not be
an assignment that is NOT appropriate for personal pronouns.
The question is “What can be learned..” and not what did you
learn.
![1
This content is copyright © 2017 Human Kinetics, Inc. and is
not to be distributed, disseminated, or reproduced without
permission.
case Studies
IN SPORT MANAGEMENT
Volume 6 Case Study 1
https://doi.org/10.1123/cssm.2016-0003
Gary Pasqualicchio, Norm O’Reilly, and Ed Elowson are with
Ohio University, Athens, OH. Address author correspondence to
Gary
Pasqualicchio at [email protected]
From 70 Thousand to 7 Million: Integrated Activation
as a Driver of Sponsor and Property Reach
Gary Pasqualicchio, Norm O’Reilly, and Ed Elowson
Ohio University
For years, sport properties and corporate sponsors have
struggled to develop strategies to activate their expansive
partnerships, particularly those without high-ranking national
media coverage. This case analyzes a successful,
multilayered sponsorship activation tied to the 2012 retirement
of Philadelphia Eagles star Brian Dawkins.
The Eagles, in partnership with AAA and Marvel, created and
promoted a unique weekend around Dawkins’
retirement that included a NASCAR race, an NFL Sunday Night](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/1thiscontentiscopyright2017humankineticsinc-221012162024-d86215c1/85/1This-content-is-copyright-2017-Human-Kinetics-Inc-and-docx-1-320.jpg)
