Priloscec OTC makes a science of NFL sponsorship

Had a great chat with Steve Steinbrunner, Interactive Marketing Mgr. for Prilosec OTC. Like all P & G brands, Prilosec OTC takes a scienfitic approach to marketing, media and sponsorships.

The first thing Steinbrunner and his team look for is the “who”, as in “who is our prospect?” For Prilosec OTC, the “who” is a woman they call “JoAnn”. JoAnn is not a real person. She is a persona, and every marketing decision revolves around her.

Apparently, 30% of Americans suffer from heartburn and 60% of those are female. Plus, while many men suffer, it’s often the female (spouse) of the male heartburn sufferer who actually makes the purchase decision. So JoAnn is the MAN when it comes to heartburn.

With the “who” in mind, the Prilosec OTC marketers look for the “passion”, as in the place and time where JoAnn is in a heightened emotional state – and if possible – where food (and the potential for heartburn) might be involved. These factors helped lead the Prilosec OTC marketers to the NFL. Joann, it turns out, loves to go to games, and when she’s not at the game, she’s hosting parties at her house, cooking meals and generally enjoying the NFL with friends and family.

Prilosec OTC seeks to reach JoAnn both on and offline. The brand buys TV, magazines, and FSIs (for example) as well as online promotions, anywhere they can reach JoAnn at the “highest point of emotional leverage.” Reaching Joann during her NFL experience is perfect because it involves both heightened emotions AND Food, which gives Prilosec OTC what it calls the “right to win.” If food werent’ involved, the brand message might seem out of context.

Prilosec OTC’s online focus is a promotion called “NFL Season of a Lifetime”, a register to win platform in which a lucky fan wins a chance to go to NFL games every week of the season. The online promotion gives the brand a chance to make a “deeper, richer connection” with JoAnn since she’s not just watching a commercial, she’s leaning forward and engaging with the brand through her computer.

Steinbrunner told me this promotion, which just completed its second season, is getting better all the time. He couldn’t share exact details, but did tell me that he measures success in various ways including: how excited retailers get and how much support he gets in store, and the amount of earned media the promotion generates. Online, Prilosec OTC does pay close attention to “directional” indicators like how many signups, how many page views and how much time is spent on it site, but at the end of the day, sales are the critical measure of success.

While all this NFL sponsorship is happening, Prilosect OTC is also running what it calls “equity” messaging, which are the ads you see touting the benefits of the drug itself. But for pure emotional connection, sports in general and the NFL in particular offer Prilosec OTC a great way to reach its target consumer at the right time. They want to be around JoAnn whenever the game is on her mind, and that includes fantasy football and party planning.

In addition to its spnsorship with the NFL, Prilosect OTC has made deals with a handful of NFL clubs, but has yet to do anything with any team Web sites. This surprises me. Given ALL of the various things Prilosect OTC is doing, I would think they’d be ALL OVER team sites. Fan passion is at its strongest at the TEAM level, not the league level, and team sites attract more AVID fans, more often than any other media channel.

For more on this read these posts:

We’ve got what sponsors want, I think

Colts.com beats ESPN.com

We know that 30% of avid NFL fans are women, and 30% of the frequent visitors to colts.com are female. We also know from our advance research, that our upcoming social networking site will be heavily used by younger women, who seem to be more active than men when it comes to social activities online.

When I asked Steve how he intends to improve results for next season, he said they will try to be more clear and concise in their messaging. They want to make is simple for JoAnn to get the message, and tell her friends, as they enjoy the NFL together.

My Colts Network anyone??