March 8th, 2011
Airlines team with athletes for marketing
USA Today
NFL quarterback Michael Vick once sold a lot of tickets for AirTran Airways.
When he was with the Atlanta Falcons, Vick was a pitchman for the low-cost carrier, showing up frequently on local billboards and radio commercials.
AirTran, which has a large hub in Atlanta, chose not to renew his contract when it ended in 2007, following an embarrassing episode in which Vick was detained at the Atlanta airport for a water bottle with a secret compartment and a felony conviction for dog fighting.
“He had a lot of issues,” says Tad Hutcheson, AirTran’s vice president of marketing. “We were able to exit gracefully.”
The airline’s fondness for NFL quarterbacks hasn’t waned, though. Also big in Indianapolis, AirTran now has a contract with Peyton Manning, who quarterbacks the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts and who’s as prolific on Madison Avenue as he is on the field.
AirTran is one of many U.S. airlines that see teams and athletes as convenient vehicles for their commercial message. For years, the industry has aggressively tapped the unique commercial promises and passionate affinity that sports can deliver, resulting in a long-standing relationship that has withstood airlines’ penny-pinching ways and volatile financial cycles.
Fans who attend sporting events are deemed by advertisers as active and likely travelers, which dovetails with airlines’ marketing strategy to reach high spenders. To get their brands in front of fans, airlines sign exclusive deals with athletes and teams, paint team logos on aircraft, and buy naming rights to sports arenas and stadium lounges.
With the economy recovering, sponsorship is likely to grow even more, analysts say.
“It makes natural sense if you look at the data of rank-and-file sports fans,” says Paul Swangard, managing director of the University of Oregon’s Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. “They’re people who travel. Then there is a corporate base of season ticketholders — business travel types. Airlines see good opportunities.”
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2011-03-08-businesstravel08_ST_N.htm