March 2006 - FedEx's playbook includes piling corporate events on top of its National Football League sponsorship. You don't need instant replay to gauge its success, with 90-percent satisfaction rates on customer surveys. Since 2000, FedEx Corp. has scored big with consumers through its sponsorship of the National Football League. Its NFL Air & Ground Campaign includes sweepstakes, online promotions, special vignettes on Monday Night Football, and an ad during the Super Bowl. But the Memphis, TN,-based company wanted to put points on the board with its local corporate clients as well as its consumer market.

FedEx's original business-to-business strategy was to invite clients to games such as the Orange Bowl and the Super Bowl. But prohibitive costs and the finite availability of tickets limited the number of clients it could invite. That's why three years ago, FedEx marketers called a play that would impact customers as much as Dick Butkus in a bad mood – but in a good way. It decided to piggyback corporate events on top of its existing sponsorship activities.

Game Plan

FedEx called for the NFL Open House, a series of annual events where current and potential customers gather at their local NFL team's stadium with FedEx representatives for a behind-the-scenes tour. The guest list is based on a mix of criteria, including: company size; which FedEx product they use most (Express or Ground, for example); and the industry, such as retail, automotive, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. FedEx looks for a good cross-section of customers, spanning industries and its operating companies, including FedEx Kinko's, FedEx Express, and FedEx International.

The company has held 23 of these events since 2003 in cities such as Denver, Detroit, Seattle, and San Francisco. The Open Houses, produced by Velocity Sports & Entertainment based in Norwalk, CT, each host groups of 400 or more and offer guests behind-the-helmet tours of NFL stadiums, appearances by players and coaches, dinner, and presentations by FedEx executives. Part trade show, part jock talk, the events appeal to guests' inner football junkie, and are more cost-effective for FedEx than shelling out the average NFL ticket price of $90 for each customer.

"You can't buy 400 tickets for clients for regular games," says Nancy Altenburg, FedEx's sponsorship marketing manager. "But even if you could, this is a much better strategy. It's based on an already popular FedEx promotion, gets more people to come, and involves them longer."

The events – like one on Sept. 13, 2005, at Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots football team in Foxboro, MA – are held on a non-game day, such as Wednesday or Thursday. Clients receive snail mail and e-mail invitations. At least 90 percent of invited clients typically show; in Foxboro, close to 95 percent attended.

Kick Off

The guests (usually a 60/40 male/female split) arrive by way of their own wheels at the stadium parking lot, where FedEx blitzes them with company trucks, sign-age, and uniformed staff directing traffic. An escort leads them to the stadium's club level, where they register and receive a gift such as a blanket, backpack, or mini football co-branded with FedEx and the home team's logo. Later, team stars autograph the gifts, which is another reason why FedEx limits the attendance size – to keep it manageable for the athletes who will spend time with guests.

Surrounding attendees like a gang tackle are FedEx sales staff, area-operations workers (the people who oversee customers' shipments), and trade show-like exhibits for five of FedEx's operating companies. Here the advantages of the piggyback strategy continue: While attendees may be familiar with FedEx promotions and services through the NFL sponsorship, the exhibits explain the more complex, detail-heavy items that aren't mass-advertised.

"We show products for fulfillment house and catalog customers, like SmartPost, where FedEx will pick up bulk mailings and expedite them to the local post office, where they are then delivered by the post office," Altenburg says. "That's something that takes more time to explain than we can through ordinary sponsorship activities, and at this event we have a chance to do that."

For the clients, it's like they died and went to football heaven. Every 15 minutes team personnel lead 20-minute guided tours of the stadium, through areas the average Joe would never see. The small groups of 10 to 12 guests explore the locker room, the team boxes, and maybe even the playing field, where the only time you usually see non-uniformed personnel is shortly before they're arrested. On the field, the JumboTron runs FedEx commercials along with ads focused on FedEx/NFL Air & Ground Campaign.

After the exclusive junket, it's a short run back to the lounge area at the club level for the kick-off of the Open House's second hour. Guests mingle with sales staff, enjoy an upscale dinner and short presentations by local FedEx executives, who cheerlead with short speeches on how valuable the clients are to FedEx, and how valuable FedEx can be to them. The executives' talks center on things that affect the local clients directly, such as a new transportation hub or shipping facility opening up in their area.

All that's just the pre-game warm-up. Then it's game time, with the executives handing off to star players from the NFL team, who toss out speeches that spiral with FedEx and football imagery. At the Gillette event, wide receiver David Givens and linebacker Larry Izzo talked about the importance of an air and ground game, working in references to FedEx services. When athletes finish, guests take possession of the event and sack the athletes with questions and autograph requests. By the time they're finished, each Open House runs 3.5 to 4 hours, almost exactly the length of an average NFL game.

Post-Event Analysis

Like football teams who dissect their performance after the last whistle blows, FedEx measures its success through post-event online surveys of attendees. With a goal of a 90-percent satisfaction rate on the surveys, the majority of the events – including the Gillette Open House – have scored above that, with one hitting 100 percent. While FedEx keeps its actual sales numbers tighter than its sealed cargo, Altenburg estimates the Open Houses have meant millions to the company.

Football may be a game of inches, but by building on top of an already-popular promotion, FedEx is winning this one by a country mile.

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