In his previous post with Katz Media Corporation the largest media representation company in the U.S. Stern served as manager of sports marketing, where he directed programs for clients such as Xerox, Bell Atlantic, Castrol, the U.S. Postal Service and Citibank. In this interview with SportsTravel s Al Austin, Stern discusses what attracts sponsors to sports, how to put ideal partnerships together and the latest trends in sports marketing and sponsorship. And as the media world becomes more and more fragmented, sports becomes more valuable, because sports are exclusive. For example, in the New York market you have a lot more choices now in terms of cable stations and Internet outlets, but the Yankees are exclusive, and there s only one place to get the Yankees. To a corporation, that means stability and relevance.
People are passionate about the home team and sports.
When you can tap into that passion and that link, it means a lot to your brand. The connections that fans have with their teams loyalty, association, passion are all things that marketers want for their brands. It used to be that if a CEO had a favorite sport, he could get his company behind that sport. Companies have become more bottom line oriented and sophisticated about how they use sports and sponsorship. More time is spent in the planning stage, looking at the alignment, looking at the objectives and the reasons for getting involved with a property.