Zach's Sponsor Attack:
AP
Zach Johnson
We know that Zach Johnson earned himself $1.3 million for winning the Masters, but he actually earned his sponsors $7.5 million. That's how much they made back in broadcast exposure time, according to sponsorship evaluation firm Joyce Julius & Associates. Here are the totals, according to the firm:
Company Exposure Total Value
TransAmerica:
4 minutes, 40 sec. (shirt front); 39 sec. (shirt sleeve);1 mention = $2,104,645
RSM McGladrey:
4 minutes, 18 sec. (shirt front); 1 mention = $1,719,650
Aegon:
3 minutes, 46 sec. (logo on hat); 1 mention = $1,514,325
Footjoy:
3 minutes, 3 sec. (side of hat) = $1,174,255
Titleist:
1 minute, 19 sec. (side of hat); 17 sec. (golf bag); 12 sec. (back of hat) = $692,980
Dunning:
23 sec. (shirt sleeve); 19 sec. (back of shirt) = $269,475
Johnson mentioning his sponsors after winning was worth $64,165 to each one of them that he uttered. Now, let's give you a little bit more in-depth look. Despite the fact that Aegon, one of the world's largest life insurance and pension companies, has been one of Johnson's longest sponsors, the company still has nothing on its Web site about Zach Johnson winning the Masters. In fact, I was hard pressed to find anything at all about Johnson save for some Powerpoint presentation. TransAmerica, which is owned by Aegon, put a congratulatory page up for Johnson on Monday as did Dunning Golf , the clothing sponsor that has had Johnson on its roster since Jan. 2006, and is using Johnson to sell its Spring collection.
For a segment on "The Closing Bell" on Monday, I interviewed Art Smith, the chief marketing officer of RSM McGladrey, about hitting the jackpot with Johnson's victory. McGladrey has sponsorship deals with Johnson, Chris DeMarco and Natalie Gulbis and signed Johnson to the deal in August of last year.
Me: When did you know you wanted to sign Zach?
Smith: It was last summer when we looked at him. We looked at him as a strong, young, up-and-coming golfer and that characteristic really resonated with us. It's a like like the clients we work with every day – mid-market, up-and-coming companies, so we felt it was a real good fit from that perspective.Me: Why did you need him?
Smith: RSM McGladrey is the fifth largest accounting, tax and consulting firm in the country. But the business challenge we were faced with was that the brand profile was a lot less than that. So entering into a long-term strategic golf partnership with players like Zach Johnson is part of that strategy to raise our brand profile.Me: What did the Masters win do for your brand then?
Smith: From a brand perspective, it raises the awareness of our brand. But at a very grassroots level, the phone has been ringing with clients and potential clients and employees of RSM McGladrey who are excited and enthused to be a part of the golf platform that we started a year ago. So the returns have far exceeded so far what we have anticipated. In the last 24 hours, the outpouring of support has just been incredible.Me: Can you tell me anything about your contract with Zach and whether or not you anticipate you'll have to pony up more money?
Smith: We've got a long-term relationship. We entered into relationship with somebody like Zach Johnson before he won the Masters and that was a very strong statement of confidence we had in Zach. We knew he had a great future on the tour. I don't anticipate that Zach is going to forget that or that our costs are going to go up a great deal in the future. I think he sees long term gain as well."
Johnson on eBay:
Love to see the speculators come to cash in out of the nowhere. From Thursday through Saturday, eight Zach Johnson items were sold on eBay. On Sunday and Monday, more than 130 items sold. By the end of Monday, there were 165 Johnson items for sale.
Prince Signs Hantuchova:
Prince Sports, which has Maria Sharapova and more than 80 other WTA and ATP touring pros under contract, announced it has signed Daniela Hantuchova. The Slovakian star will be using the company's patented O3 technology. Hantuchova will play with the white racket, the company's most popular. We were honestly waiting for an announcement for quite a while since Hantuchova has been stencil-less on her racket for a couple months now. The Yonex stencil came off her racket just before the Australian Open this year. Now that the Prince deal is public, it's probably safe for the folks at Yonex to take Hantuchova off their site
The top pick in this year's NFL Draft will get his own Fathead, the life-size wall graphic. It will be the first Fathead that will be available (September) before the player plays in his first official game. Three players from the 2006 draft class have been made into Fatheads: Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Vince Young.
College Business Notes:
University of Michigan athletic director Bill Martin reiterated in an interview with a publication called the Monroe Street Journal that the naming rights to Michigan Stadium were not for sale and that keeping the venue advertising free costs him $4 million to $5 million per year…The University of Wisconsin is ready to sign a $76 million deal that will give Learfield Communications the rights to continue holding the rights to the Badgers television and radio broadcasts for football, basketball and hockey. The deal would run until 2019 and would replace the seven-year, $30 million agreement that runs out at the end of the 2009 season, according to the Associated Press … Florida's fall semester 2007 applications have increased a university-record eight percent, no doubt in part to the school's national championship in football and basketball…
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