superchivo

Just a question for you guys. Do you think Postal's sponsorship has had any positive effect on the public's perception of the postal service. If so what elements do you feel make that positive connection? What other teams do you feel have a strong team to product connection?

BigFloppyLlama

There was a thread about this a while back in the road cycling section.
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/44316-does-sponsorship-work.html

I still feel pretty much the same way. If the quality and price is comparable, I'll usually go with the company that has shown an interest in cycling.

superchivo

True, but I am asking a slightly different question. Not does sponsorship lead directly to sales, but does it increase awareness and change the way people think about the product. Do people see Brioche race and think "I bet that company has way better rolls" or see Their mailman and think he is more dedicated to getting the mail there because of Lance's determination.

Or do you the effectiveness is something shallower? Is the Peloton simply a rolling billboard?

A deeper question is do you (and I'm especially interested in the opinions of actual employees) think employees identify with the teams and internalize the message the team personifies?

pinky

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're asking, but I worked for Gillette for 3 years, and when they bought the rights to rename Foxboro Gillette Stadium employees became much more proud and aware of the Pats (and Revolution). I know that a winning day for the Pats would mean a much better day at work...that answer anything?

superchivo

Pinky -

Thanks. I was asking more in the cycling context, but I think it's fair to say that employee reaction wouldn't be sport-specific. I would assume that say a tour victory or a stage win would hype up the employees.

BigFloppyLlama

Ah, sorry didn't understand the question. But now that I do, I'd be rather split. While seeing a company sponsored rider win may evoke feelings of pride and a sense of an efficent company, it may not always be the deciding factor of how you view a company. If the postal service was repeatedly late with mail, never sent it to the right person, etc. no amount of cycling sucess could change the negative perception that would be associated with it. There may be some underlying positive feelings if a company has sucess in one area (cycling in this case) but they have to match the performance of their star if they want people to believe in them. For example, A Fedex sponsored (talking theoretically here) rider could win a bunch of classics, the Giro, Tour, and Vuelta and I'd still think very poorly of the company around here.

Schiek

I think Postal won the lottery with Lance. Having a champion ride for your team is huge most anywhere, but in the US, where cycling is normally a hummingbird size blip on the radar, Lance's accomplishments have reaped substantial benefits for USPS in terms of goodwill and name recognition. Despite what the General Accounting Office found, having your brand mentioned daily in every type of media is huge, and since winning is the only way it is going to happen in the States, Postal is extremely lucky. CSC also got a fair amount of press with Tyler. However, I think that their exposure was piggy-backed onto Lance's, and without Armstrong transcending the sport, Tyler and CSC's story would have received less notice in the mainstream press. I'm also not sure people outside of CSC's niche market really know who they are, or what they do. Most may not even know CSC is an American, and not Danish company. Maybe Bobby Julich will return to form and change all of that. Bottom line, if North America is the market you are after, it is a gamble. Chances are an American company will not get the same up-side from their sponsorship that Postal did until they have an American Tour champ.

As far as employees are concerned, I have seen both sides. My UPS guy loves it when I talk NASCAR with him. However, when I lived in Rochester, NY, KODAK employees were up in arms over the company paying millions to sponsor a Los Angeles theater and a racing team, when the employees at their headquarters were being laid off.

roadbuzz

Not a lot here in the US, but I think the intent is to increase their visibility in Europe and for international shipping. Really need one of our European counterparts to chime in...

el Inglés

Can´t say that anybody I know has decided to use Us Postal but then who said that advertising works ( except the ad agencies ) most cycle sponsers are cycling fans who can browbeat the board over the advertising budget ( does anybody believe that people smoke marlbro because they sponsor Ferrari ? )