Development Of United Airlines Sailing Team

United Airlines Sailing Team

Summary of Activity

Mike Tunnicliffe – Marketing Manager, U.K. United Airlines

Development of United Airlines Sailing Team Ultra 30s The Ultra 30 Grand Prix circuit was well established as an event when United Airlines became a boat sponsor in 1997. At the time, Vauxhall Frontera was the series sponsor. The lightweight Ultra 30s are oversize dinghies with a large amount of sail and with nine crew on trapezes can be powered up to speeds of over 25 knots. The boats have three 30 minute races per day over very short courses close to the shore, providing spectators with spectacular entertainment.

The cost of the boat sponsorship in 1997 was £40,000 including all branding. The series was televised on BBC Grandstand in the autumn and a media evaluation was calculated by United’s global advertising agency Young & Rubicam. The other boat sponsors included DBS, Mobil, Hoya and Save & Prosper. The summary analysis of exposure and media value is detailed below: National Television

BBC Grandstand – 10/08/97 BBC Grandstand – 28/09/97

£68,514 £89,344

Press

National/Regional/Specialist

£201,000

Total media value (excluding regional TV and radio) £358,858

This demonstrates that from a pure media evaluation alone the sponsorship of the Ultra 30 boat in 1997 achieved a return on investment of at least 9:1. In 1998, Hoya Vision Care announced it was sponsoring the 10th Anniversary of the Ultra 30 Grand Prix Series. The other boat sponsors were DBS, Henri Lloyd, Gul, and David McLean Homes. In addition to the same sponsorship fee, United sponsored the Yachts and Yachting pull out section detailing the series. The return on investment was equally impressive. In the Sydney to Hobart race that year Glyn Charles, skipper of the United Airlines boat was lost at sea. A memorial trophy was made to present during the 1999 regatta series. Glyn’s sailing partner in a class of boat known as a Star was Mark Covell. With the loss of his sailing partner, Mark teamed up with Ian Walker who had lost his sailing partner the previous year in a car crash. Together they approached United Airlines for support in their bid for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Soon after, Andy Beadsworth, tactician on the Ultra and previous Olympian sought backing for his campaign with two team mates in the Soling class. With discussions about chartering a boat for Cowes Week the sailing sponsorship now had several different facets. A collective term needed to be devised for the sponsorship and it was agreed to band everything as the United Airlines Sailing Team. The key objectives for the team: • Complement PR • Badging exercise for greater brand exposure • Primary sponsorship as a fundamental part of marketing mix • Relationship marketing, staff motivation, internal / external communication,

media coverage, link with advertising to communicate brand values, link with direct marketing (unique access to certain databases), strategic associations

Cowes Week In 1999, the Royal Ocean Racing Club launched a new rule, which resulted in the world’s first IRM boat racing at Cowes branded as ‘United Airlines’. The 50ft. ‘Mandrake’ served as a means for media exposure and corporate entertainment. The boat was crewed with a mixture of the owner’s crew and members of United Airlines Sailing Team. There was space for 6 guests including 1 United host on each of the racing days at Cowes. The boat was officially entered in the Class 1 regattas and competed for her place alongside other large racing yachts.

The format in 1999 involved boarding the guests at Hamble Point Marina and sailing across to Cowes. Because it was the first of its kind the media exposure of the boat was considerable. The cost of the charter was £50,000, which did not include clothing and additional entertainment. The three objectives were to obtain media coverage, brand exposure and provide corporate entertainment. In 2000, United secured a base for entertainment at Cowes Yacht Haven on the first floor of the harbour masters office. The venue was in an area of activity and afforded great views over the Yacht Haven and Cowes river mouth. With a base at Cowes, there was the facility to do some shore entertaining and the guest list for sailing invitees included their partners. The 60ft yacht ‘Yes’ was chartered for £43,000 and a similar format was followed to 1999. Guests were taken over to Cowes on a fast rib, which was branded ‘United Airlines’ and they were served breakfast at the Yacht Haven. Sailing guests then boarded the yacht and took part in Class 0 racing for the day whilst the shore guests had time to wander around Cowes and were entertained to lunch. When the sailing guests returned, a buffet dinner was served in the Yacht Haven before guests were ferried back across the Solent to the mainland. Media attention focussed on the Olympic sailors we had on the boat. A press day was included in the week and United entertained some key sailing journalists. This resulted in coverage in the national press as well as specialist sailing publications. The objectives for Cowes had been met once again with good media coverage, brand exposure on one of the largest yachts participating in the racing, and excellent corporate entertaining. The formula proved so successful in 2000 that it was repeated in 2001 with another 50ft yacht owned by Peter Harrison called ‘Chernikeef’. The charter was agreed on a barter basis (20 economy return tickets to Auckland) as part of on-going negotiations to be the official airline for Peter Harrison’s Americas Cup bid. United’s presence at Cowes in 2000 and 2001 was enhanced with flags and banners around the Yacht Haven. In 2001 the main poster site on the Haven’s shed was taken with an advertisement for United’s sponsorship of sailing. Star & Soling Olympic Classes In 2000, United Airlines added the sponsorship of the Soling crew of Andy Beadsworth, Richard Sydenham and Barry Parkin, to the eight month old sponsorship of the Star Class crew - Ian Walker & Mark Covell. Marketing Activity and then Craigie Taylor International (CTI) were employed to maximize both the coverage and commercial benefits from the sponsorship.

Main Objective The main objective for the sponsorship was to achieve a five to one media coverage return on the sponsorships, specifically targeting terrestrial television, broadsheet newspapers and specialist press. Secondary Objectives There were three secondary objectives from the sponsorship: • To provide a platform for United Airlines sales promotions • To provide a platform for a corporate hospitality exercise at Cowes. • To link the sponsorship with a strategic advertising plan, thereby linking it to

the product. Strategy Positioning The two crews were positioned as the ‘United Airlines Sailing Team’, in order to maximize coverage of the sponsorship as a whole. Media Plan A pro-active media plan for the nine month period prior to the Olympic Games was devised for:

National broadsheet coverage Specialist yachting magazine coverage Regional coverage

Imagery It was decided that imagery would be the best medium to communicate United Airlines’ sponsorship. Therefore, a proactive distribution of United Airlines branded, copyright free photography and television images was instituted. Information dissemination A proactive Press Office role was undertaken, in partnership with the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and within the confines of the Olympic Symbols Protection Act, in order to achieve regular coverage for the sponsorship. Event coverage United Airlines’ involvement was heavily promoted at relevant high profile sailing regattas

Chernikeef RYA Olympic Trials Cowes Week United Airlines Invitational Regatta

Tactics At a tactical level, a number of initiatives were undertaken to ensure that United Airlines was communicated visually in any coverage achieved on television or in the written press. Photography A photo shoot was undertaken at the Miami Olympic Classes Regatta, allowing bright photography of the individual crews and the two boats together. The further advantage of this was that it involved a substantially higher level of United Airlines branding than would be permitted by ISAF regulations at a regatta. Video News Releases Video News Releases were commissioned, to ensure a high level of news coverage for the teams and to provide a resource of United Airlines branded library footage for any other events throughout the year. CTI’s relationship with APP Broadcast guaranteed a high level of video news releases at both Cowes Week and at the Olympic Trials. Features Feature stories were placed on the crew, most notably at Cowes where the Daily Telegraph’s chief feature writer came and sailed on ‘United Airlines’. In addition, a number of features were placed with the specialist sailing writers for broadsheets and yachting magazines throughout the year.

Information dissemination Regular press releases and stories were issued to promote the crews’ performance throughout the year. Corporate entertainment CTI offered advice and consultancy on the United Airlines corporate hospitality event at Cowes. Sales Promotions CTI also worked on a proposal with the RYA to introduce a discount for their members on United Vacations holidays. Specific Events Chernikeeff RYA Olympic Sailing Trials In conjunction with the RYA, Marketing worked to ensure that United Airlines was heavily promoted at this event by effectively managing the press office for this class. In reality the press releases were written on behalf of United Airlines, but issued via the RYA, to ensure maximum exposure but avoid the British Olympic Association regulations. Marketing also co-ordinated a media day for the Star Class, which led to coverage of this class on Grandstand despite the fact that it was not involved in the event. Sail for Gold Ball The Sail for Gold Ball was undoubtedly a huge success for United Airlines, with a high degree of exposure achieved for a minimum investment. CTI worked with United’s Marketing Executive to invite high profile sailors and a national journalist, in addition to co-ordinating a raffle prize. Marketing also worked to ensure a favourable advertising arrangement that included United Airlines editorial and photographic coverage. Overall, the link between United Airlines and Olympic sailing was very strong. Cowes Week In terms of media coverage, this event was a huge success for United Airlines. The CTI team organized a very successful media day, that led to some very valuable features and television coverage. Fundamental to the success of this day was the fact that CTI used their relationship with the England cricket team to get Alan Mullaly (England fast bowler) onto ‘United Airlines’, which proved a great ‘hook’ for the national press, regional press and local television. In addition to the features written by those on

board: Martin Johnson, chief feature writer for the Daily Telegraph, and Sally Simmonds from Meridian; CTI also generated coverage on Sky News and Radio Five from this event. Throughout the period of Cowes Week, United Airlines benefited enormously from Cowes Week television and the video news release service from APP. Again, this was achieved at no cost and the level of coverage was increased by CTI’s relationship with this production company. United Airlines Soling Invitational CTI ran the event management and the press office for this event, devised by Andy Beadsworth, in conjunction with the RYA. Promoted as the final warm-up for the Olympics, CTI again worked with the RYA to avoid the strict confines of the Olympic Symbols Protection Act. The specialist press and television coverage from this event gave a good return on investment. However, despite getting United Airlines into the results section of each national newspaper, the lack of editorial coverage in these publications was disappointing. The reason for this was that the event was held on the same weekend as the culmination of a number of major sporting events such as the Lords Test Match. Coverage Television The level of television coverage achieved to date in 2000 is outstanding, surpassing all hopes and expectations. That this has been achieved with very little investment is remarkable. Whilst CTI worked hard to maximize both existing and new opportunities, part of this success is due to the success of the team throughout the year. The United Airlines Soling Invitational was another example of CTI maximizing a limited opportunity, ensuring that the branded footage formed the basis for BBC South’s Olympic preview programming. Most of the television successes were news stories. Although these were relatively short in duration, they communicated a good level of branding to a high audience. Newspapers The level of coverage achieved in the key broadsheet publications has almost met the 2000 target set by UAL of a five to one return on investment, without the assistance of television value. This must be viewed as very encouraging, given that additional coverage will be achieved between now and the end of the year.

The coverage has been acquired in a number of ways with branded photography clearly communicating UAL’s branding and website address, meeting one of the strategic aims of the sponsorship. Specialist Press The coverage of the sponsorship in the specialist press has been very high, due to CTI utilizing their relationship with these publications to maximize editorial interest in the team’s very consistent results. Liaison with Young & Rubicam also raised the level of publicity in these magazines, and provided a strong link between the sponsorship and the product. Overall results The overall results on the media coverage are as follows: Print coverage £186,976 Television coverage £213,528 Total £400,504 Overall, this shows an eight to one return on investment from a media buying point of view, easily surpassing the main objective for 2000. In addition to this, the sponsorship has also achieved the following:

An extremely high level of goodwill and brand awareness within the sailing community

Provided a platform for corporate hospitality and relationship marketing exercises, such as Cowes.

Provided a platform for sales promotions with the RYA Provided a platform for advertising to the sailing community

Therefore, all of the secondary objectives have been satisfied to an extent, although the sales promotions have only just started. Conclusions It is clear that the main objective for 2000 has already been surpassed, achieving an eight to one return purely on media coverage, before any post-Olympic coverage is achieved. Whilst this was made possible by the team’s results, the PR strategies and tactics have worked extremely well to maximise the coverage from this sponsorship. These results have been achieved in spite of a heavy-handed approach by the British Olympic Association, which endeavoured to protect the investment made by British Airways.

United Airlines is now viewed as a major sponsor in sailing, with a higher profile than many companies that invest far more money in the sport. Again this is partly due to the performances of the sailors and their accessibility to the media, in addition to the substantial work undertaken to maximize the sponsorship. The secondary objectives have also been achieved, although the sales promotion with United Vacations is still in negotiation. It is hoped that this is the start of the next phase of the sponsorship, to raise the number of sales amongst the sailing community. From a corporate hospitality perspective, the concept of sailing with the Olympic sailors at Cowes Week seemed to work very well, with the majority of guests enjoying their day out. However, the lack of a proper cuttings service for written press and a tracking agency for television features has made it very difficult to fully evaluate the success of the sponsorship. Whilst the absence of these was a conscious decision made due to budgetary pressures, it is suggested that these services be brought in for 2001.

Proposals for Continuation of Sponsorship RYA Match Racing British Match Racing Program, 2001. ‘United Airlines/RYA British Match Racing Championship’ and ‘United Airlines/RYA Match Race Open’. Costs: £44,000 £14,500 clothing Expected equivalent advertising value of the branding at the United Airlines RYA Match Racing Open 16th - 20th September 2001. A stopwatch has been used to record the time length of each exposure of United Airlines branding of more than one second across the total 41 minutes Grandstand Programme on the 4th November 2001. The media value is calculated based on advertising airtime costs as given by ITV based on the same day, time and demographic target audience of ABC1. Four different weightings are then introduced designed to take into account factors which affect viewers recall and recognition of the branding. In summary, the proposed methodology is:-

Advertising value of brand exposure x quality weighting x frequency factor x time length weighting x distraction factor. Equivalet 30 secs

Advertisig Value

£

Total

number of seconds coverage

No of 30 second sections within

coverage

Advertisig equivalent

value

Quality

weighting

Frequeny weighting

Time/ length

weighting

Distraction weighting

Value

£

50,000

493

16.43

821,500

1.08

0.7

0.75

0.8

372,632

TOTAL:

£372,632

GBR Challenge & Americas Cup Jubilee Bronze level sponsor at Americas Cup Jubilee. Sponsor of the trophy for the race titled ‘Modern Class IRC Division 1, Saturday 25th August 2001. £10,000 + tickets. Hemispheres article. GBR Challenge. Official airline in return for special ticket price. Branding as supplier. The next steps for United? • Marketing objective in the UK

• to overtake American Airlines as the no.3 transatlantic carrier • to increase business class sales for transatlantic flights

• Objective of sailing sponsorship – now at period where can capitalise on substantial goodwill and name awareness in sailing community

• Sponsorship for 2001 • Fully integrated sponsorship linking

• Admirals Cup • Swedish Match Tour

• Corporate hospitality at Cowes Week and Americas Cup Jubilee Possible benefits for United of increased investment in sponsorship • Increased national media coverage and name awareness within and beyond

the sailing community (via dedicated television program on terrestrial television)

• Increased sales through a direct marketing campaign to the RYA and other databases

• Sales promotions to relevant communities, in conjunction with strategic partnerships

• Comprehensive internal communications program • Relationship marketing program with Mileage Plus members • Corporate hospitality for company flight buyers