Lou McErlean helped resurrect a stalled media deal between the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) and Wendy's agency. By analyzing the needs of all parties, McErlean realized a sponsorship promoting Wendy's on tickets for local high school sporting events could benefit everyone. This provided Wendy's daily consumer exposure, supported NCHSAA championship events, and saved high schools ticket printing costs. The solution secured the original $180,000 deal plus an additional $1,495,000 for ticket promotion, increasing revenues by 74% and deal value eightfold.

1. Lou McErlean
5809 Brushy Creek Trail
Dallas, Texas 75252
972-571-0448
lou.mcerlean@gmail.com
SUCCESS STORY: Resurrecting a Dead Deal and Making it 74% More Profitable
SITUATION: A deal to sell a $180,000 North Carolina High School (NCHS) Championship Event media
package to Wendy’s agency was stalled. The agency stated that they needed more day-to-day exposure to
consumers in addition to the several weeks they would get via media vehicles for the sports events.
SOLUTION: Upon analyzing the capabilities and needs of the organizations involved, I realized we could
create a win-win-win situation by capitalizing on the ability of each, while also delivering benefits they each
sought:
• Wendy’s Agency: As a marketer/prospective sponsor, they had money to spend, but lacked a
method to reach NC-based consumers on a consistent, multi-month basis.
• NCHSAA: As the authoritative body to 322 High Schools throughout the State of North Carolina,
they needed sponsors to support the championship events they conducted.
• NC High Schools: As a constituency comprised of students, family, staff, sans, and community
members, each HS had access to hundreds of thousands of consumers via events they conducted
throughout the fall, winter, and spring. For these events, each HS was using and paying for the
generic, “Admit One” tickets, so they needed to save money.
ACTION: Using NCHSAA as the distribution conduit, designed the “Wendy’s NC High School Sports
Ticket” and delivered 4,000,000 of them to member high schools, free of charge.
RESULTS:
• Secured original $180,000 deal.
• Secured an additional $1,495,000 for the ticket promotion.
• Increased the deal value by 800%.
• Increased revenues by 74%.