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MARKETING
Second Serve
A new tourney director works to market a new tennis event to a new audience
Anne Person Worcester of New Canaan spent seven years as CEO of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Since February she's been in New Haven as tournament director of the Pilot Pen women's tennis tournament, which will bring the likes of Steffi Graf, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams to the Connecticut Tennis Center August 22-28. BNH spoke to Worcester at the tennis center June 29
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Business New Haven
7/12/1999
By: Michael C. Bingham
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What's new?
We just announced a major television deal: Nine hours on ESPN and two hours on CBS for the August 28 final. Eleven hours of coverage for a women-only tennis tournament is the most coverage of any women's tournament in the U.S. That means that sponsor signage on the back wall takes on a whole new level of value.
Speaking of sponsors...
The television was a large part of securing a brand-new presenting sponsor. We are about to announce that Anheuser Busch - with all its promotional and marketing expertise and muscle - will now be presenting sponsor. So the event will be called the Pilot Pen, presented by Michelob Light.
What other sponsors have signed on?
Fleet Bank is our official bank, Pepsi is the official soft drink, Aquafina is the official water, American Airlines the official airline, E-trade, Prudential Securities, M&M/Mars, Comcast Cable, SNET is official provider of telecommunications products and services.
What does it cost for six days of signage?
Side-wall signage is $40,000; back wall is anywhere from $75,000 for the corner on up. The closer you get to the center [of the walls behind the service line], the more expensive it gets.
You certainly appear to have done quite a job with national sponsors.
Women's tennis is at an all-time high in terms of popularity - and corporate America has responded. Eighty-three percent of retail purchase decision in the U.S. are now made by women. Marketers want to reach women.
I'll bet selling Connecticut companies was actually harder. Did you hear a lot of skepticism as a result of past experience?
I can't even tell you. There are some [former] local sponsors who wouldn't even talk to us. Then there were quite a few sponsors who needed to air all their past grievances, which made for a couple of unpleasant meetings. And then some sponsors said, 'I've heard all this before. Let's see you do a great job in 1999, create the buzz, fill the seats, and then come back and talk to me about 2000.'
What do you need to sell to make your nut, as it were?
This tournament and the rule of thumb have nothing to do with each other. We don't own this tournament; we lease it from the U.S. Tennis Association. Usually the promoter is the owner. So, No 1, we have to pay a lease fee that other tournaments don't pay. Second, we have to pay the Tennis Foundation of Connecticut [which owns the facility] an inordinate amount - a percentage of our revenues, rent on our offices...Where other tournaments in the world get a fee from their site for exposing their site, we are completely the other way around. When I first arrived, that was one of the things that just punched me in the face.
What else is different in marketing terms from the former men's event?
We have a brand-new partnership with Yale. Yale is supporting us financially, and we're reaching out directly to the 33,000 alumni who live within a 100-mile radius of New Haven - only a handful of whom have come to the tournament over the years. We're trying to do things that have not been done in the past to put fannies in the seats. Also, I'm determined to make this a statewide event, not just a New Haven event. We're doing a lot more marketing north and west and along the shoreline.
If you could say one thing to the Connecticut corporate community, what would it be?
Try us - you'll love us. We can deliver branding, client entertainment, benefits for your employees - we can design a package that meets your marketing objectives. Give us one more chance. We will deliver.
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