Category: Culture & News

KemperLesnik will host the 2019 Chicago Legends presented by Roman on December 21 to honor the history of college basketball in Chicago. The tournament serves as an annual event in the Chicago sports calendar featuring some of the nation’s top college basketball programs. The doubleheader will feature Dayton vs. Colorado followed by Cincinnati vs. Iowa at the United Center. All four teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament at least twice in the past four seasons, and have a combined 91 NCAA Tournament appearances between them. The 2019 NCAA Tournament and National Invitation Tournament gave fans a preview of what’s to come in Chicago, with tenth-ranked Iowa upsetting seventh-ranked Cincinnati 79-72 and Colorado defeating Dayton 78-73 in each event, respectively.

Chicago Legends will be televised by CBS Sports and The Big Ten Network on December 21 with the following tip-off coverage:

– University of Dayton vs. University of Colorado at 5:30 p.m. CT
– University of Iowa vs. University of Cincinnati at 8 p.m. CT

Click here to purchase tickets.

In the world of college basketball, preseason tournaments such as the KemperLesnik produced Maui Jim Maui Invitational, CBS Sports Classic, the Champions Classic, and Battle 4 Atlantis among others play a large role in setting the stage for fan engagement throughout the season. We spoke with Tom Valdiserri, Executive Vice President of Sports & Events at KemperLesnik on the topic.

Q: What role do you think preseason tournaments like the Maui Jim Maui Invitational play in fan engagement throughout the season?

A: Preseason tournaments bring great excitement and anticipation to the coming season as these tournaments feature top-ranked matchups. These tournaments set the stage for rankings/ratings battles that continue throughout the season.

Even more importantly, the tournaments offer mid-major program access and opportunity for teams to improve their overall NET ratings, by playing “up” in competition- competition that would not otherwise be available to them.  NET rankings are the NCAA’s new measurement for determining the NCAA Tournament’s selection process.  Additionally, they enhance the student athlete’s overall experience, by allowing them to travel to places like Maui, learn its culture and bond with their teammates early in the season.  Finally, events like the Maui Jim Maui Invitational shine a spotlight on college basketball right at the start of the season with matchups between ranked teams.  With NFL, college football, the NBA and NHL all in action, the college basketball spotlight would be dark until the meat of the conference schedules in mid-January.

Q: Which do you think plays a bigger role, the exposure of preseason tournament play or the matchup itself (ie. Equal playing field/competitive team ranking)?

A: They are inextricably linked; The key matchups provide greater exposure for college basketball at the outset prior to conference play beginning. This allows for greater competition on a national stage. And, in the eyes of the Selection Committee, it adds to the strength of the schedule.

Q: How does technology play a role in preseason tournaments to keep them relevant?

A: Livestream and social media have become integral parts of pre-event promotion and in-game coverage creating opportunities to engage with the target audience year-round. For example, the Maui Jim Maui Invitational announces the matchups coming to Maui via social through a bracket release in the summer. The bracket is announced on the official tournament social channels, tournament sponsors, podcasts and typically through a number of ESPN analysts’ and talent’s social channels, creating buzz and interest in the team’s fanbases prior to the event.

Q: How do we integrate fan engagement in our promotion of preseason tournaments?

A: Fan engagement is key for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. On-campus activations create ways for the tournament to engage with the schools’ fanbases. Beginning in January/February, the Maui Jim Maui Invitational celebrates each school’s involvement through Official Surfboard Presentations on campus and then again in the fall with Midnight Madness and at home football games. These events provide additional value and opportunities for our title sponsor, Maui Jim, to engage with the school fanbase.

For the tournament itself, we also offer our fans traveling over to Maui, opportunities for added value experiences while on the island. Events such as a school fan golf tournament, 5K run, access to Maui Jim sunglasses and personal fittings, as well as island cultural and adventure excursions, are all offered to create a memorable experience for fans.

Q: How has the Maui Jim Maui Invitational benefited from strong fan engagement and how is it taken into account due to the tournament’s remote location?

A: The Maui Jim Maui Invitational is in rarified air, in terms of best location, best schools, players and coaches.  No other tournament can match those essentials to success and longevity.  Add to that our long relationship with ESPN. All 12 games are televised annually, with 6 in Prime Time.  We draw the largest household numbers annually vs. other tournaments at that time of year.  But we never rest on our laurels.  We continue to strive to elevate and reinvent the Tournament.  We feel we are the closest thing to the NCAA Final Four and continue to use that as our measuring stick, in terms of fan, player, coach, sponsor and media experience.

 

As the media landscape changed, we marketers sought new ways to inform, engage and persuade our audiences. We saw the rising influence of individuals on social media and jumped in with both feet to capitalize on this influence for the benefit of our brands. We worked with celebrities and athletes to tout our products on their social channels and saw immediate increases in demand.

While highly recognized individuals became influencers, so did many average Joes. People who truly just love to cook, those who naturally like to explore the outdoors, those moms of multiples and the ones who have always had an eye for fashion. So, in a true opportunistic fashion that is a hallmark of a good marketer, we jumped on it. We began engaging with “influencers” all over the place. People with followings large and small who were active on social media.

Our reach expanded from sea to shining sea and among people with as few as thousands of followers to those with millions. We utilized these people to promote, promote, promote! The one thing we didn’t pay that much attention to, however, were those watching and following our army of so-called influencers. These consumers got into the game by simply being curious and voyeuristic. They wanted to see what Kylie Jenner was wearing and to know how one’s teeth could be so white. At first, they bought into the influencers’ recommendations, ideas and promotions.

But then, we got greedy. We added offers and deals. We started programming robotic and inauthentic content like, “I just love this {INSERT NAME HERE} product, and anyone who uses {INSERT PROMO CODE HERE} will get a discount. You’ll love it too!”

Then, boom, it hit them (meaning, those humble followers on social media – read: consumers). These “influencers” are just trying to make a buck! These people are just shamelessly promoting products so that they can get paid. They don’t really love that curling iron. They aren’t really using that amazing new kitchen tool five times a day. They can’t possibly have such an addiction to new shoes that it requires that much footwear. We’ve been duped!

And thus, the lowly consumer wised up. They stopped listening. The invasion of inauthentic marketing in what started out as genuine passion sharing ruined the influencer.

Today, very few consumers pay attention to the promoted products served up by influencers. Even fewer rush out to buy those products. Many brands have stopped investing in influencers. And many people with large followings refuse to get paid for social posting. The party is over.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there will always be a place for influencers in the world. So long as people have aspirations, we will watch others and mimic the ones we aspire to be. That’s human nature. We marketers will just have to find a new way to reach them – authentically – because the influencer as a marketing tool is dead.

A floating green on the Chicago River for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and a one-stop Smoothie Shoppe at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Whoever would’ve thought? As experiential marketing becomes more and more prevalent with the millennial demographic, title sponsors across all industries are required to get more creative with event marketing and activations to engage consumers. Studies show that 72 percent of millennials are more willing to spend money on experiences than material goods, which has opened doors for creativity in sports marketing and public relations (Harris Group Study) And, the golf industry is no different.

The PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions organizations have embraced these tendencies in a way that respects the game of golf while appealing to a wider and younger demographic through the integration of unique experiences. KemperLesnik’s long-standing relationship with the game of golf has provided the opportunity to lead and grow with the industry. Here’s how the industry’s doing it:

1. Tailored Sponsorships and Activations- Companies from just about every industry have a stake in sponsorships at major sporting events. Title sponsors are not only participating in TOUR events to use the platform for brand awareness, but also to engage locally to foster personal connections that create memories. For instance, the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf Pro-Am event has attendees partake in fishing and hunting at Big Cedar Lodge to showcase the breadth and beauty of the Ozark region. By doing so, the title sponsor Bass Pro Shops cultivates memories with the brand that further the company values of family and spending time outdoors.
2. Foster the FOMO– The fear of missing out (aka FOMO) is a driving factor for many choices made by millennials. By creating unexpected experiences, the PGA of America is appealing to the younger demographic that might not normally buy a ticket to a golf event. The method of fostering the FOMO was utilized to promote the 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship by placing a floating green on the Chicago River and engaging celebrities and defending champ Danielle Kang to show their skills across this major water feature. The fact that this was the first floating green to be placed on the river combined with the integration of former champion and social influencers instilled the idea that the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was not something to miss. And, brings us to our next point.
3. Integrating Influencers- What’s the easiest way to get your brand in front of millennials? Authentic social influencers. Every industry has them, but for golf, they can range from past and present players to on-air personalities and trick shot artists. For brands in the golf industry, authentic social influencers are a tool to break through the clutter and be face-to-face with the consumer.

Whether it’s the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship mobile Smoothie Shoppe or the first floating green on the Chicago River for the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship, golf is appealing to millennials through experiential marketing to create memories for avid and novice golfers alike. There’s no better time for brands to utilize the sport of golf for consumer activation and experiential marketing.

The world has never seen anyone quite like Zion Williamson. He’ll tell you that himself. And it’s been difficult to look away.

Over the course of this season, Duke ticket prices skyrocketed (at one point approaching Super Bowl prices), television ratings soared, social media followers flocked, and even the most casual fan followed along to catch a glimpse of the young superstar.

But what makes Zion, Zion? Some will say it’s his pure physical dominance. Others will claim that it really is all in the name. Ultimately, Zion is the perfect storm, all bottled into one incredible athlete.

The Beast

Standing at 6’7” and weighing in at 285, Zion is hard to miss. And with a 40-inch vertical, he’s even more difficult to stop. To put this into perspective, Zion weighs more than every single current NBA player (aside from Boban Marjanovic who measures in at 7’3”), and has a vertical leap just half an inch shorter than fellow Duke grad Grayson Allen.

His dunks have brought down backboards, and his feet have shredded Nikes. But the uniqueness of Zion’s undeniable athleticism given his monstrous stature only catches your eye – it takes a lot more to keep your attention.

The Beauty

While noted for his physical prowess, there have been countless stories about Zion’s humility and sincere demeanor. He’ll often defer to walk-on Mike Buckmire during locker room interviews to get his teammate more involved; he refused to do any more dunks for the team’s DukeBluePlanet social channel because he felt he was overshadowing his teammates.

Fans across the world have fallen in love with his infectious smile and easygoing personality; it doesn’t hurt to know that he also writes some lovely poetry.

People may hate the Blue Devils, but nobody really hates Zion.

The Social Phenom

Zion entered high school in 2014, meaning Twitter and Instagram were well out of their infancies, and the short-form-video-hosting service Vine was in its heyday. These platforms were key to Zion’s come-up, as he first landed on the public’s radar via his viral dunk videos.

Social media has been a constant in Zion’s life. He’s good at it, and it comes naturally to him because he’s never known any other way. His worldwide internet presence is a fact of his life – at just 18 years old, he already had 1 million followers on Instagram. On the flipside, no other phenom has been so accessible to anyone and everyone. So while the basketball world knew about high school LeBron, the entire world knew about Zion from the very beginning.

Today, Zion’s social engagement emulates exactly what we believe him to be – hype-man for his teammates, lover of all things basketball, and owner of a great big smile.

Zion’s Next (Large) Step

It’s no surprise that some of the world’s top companies are already more than willing to invest big money in Zion. Rumors have swirled about which shoe brand will ultimately land the titan, EA Sports is reportedly considering him for the front cover of NBA Live 20, and he and teammate RJ Barrett recently starred in a commercial for the upcoming movie Hobbs and Shaw.

When it comes to sponsorships, big brands are looking for much more than fame and notoriety. In this age of political, social, racial, and religious divisiveness, the unilateral likability of Zion is a rare find. As he takes his talents to the NBA, companies need to be ready to pay, because the perfect storm only comes around so often.

KemperLesnik continues to grow in Public Relations, Content Marketing, Event Management, Sports Marketing and esports. Below we recognize those whose performance makes it all possible.

 

 

Steve Knipstein- Promoted to Senior Vice President

Steve Knipstein has been an integral part of the KemperLesnik team since 2012, with a background in leading and managing corporate and agency public relations and corporate communication teams. As the Senior Vice President, Steve will spearhead the new business development function.

 

 

 

 

Nelson Taylor- Promoted to Director of Sports and Events

Nelson Taylor has been promoted to Director of Sports and Events from Senior Manager of Marketing and Client Services. Taylor serves as the team lead for brand activation, event operations and event marketing of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational, CBS Sports Classic, Chicago Legends Basketball Tournament and McDonald’s All American Games.

 

 

 

Katherine Kanner- Promoted to Senior Account Executive

Katherine Kanner has been promoted to Senior Account Executive from Account Executive at KemperLesnik. Kanner serves as the point of contact for media

relations, social media and sports information across major sports partnerships such as the CBS Sports Classic and Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

 

 

Alana Anselmi- Promoted to Assistant Account Executive

In 2018, Alana Anselmi served as KemperLesnik’s Agency Coordinator of Public Relations. She has since been promoted to Assistant Account Executive for the B2B and B2C segments of the public relations department. Anselmi graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in public relations.

 

 

 

Matt Lorah- Sales and Marketing Coordinator

Matt Lorah joins KemperLesnik as the Sales and Marketing Account Coordinator. Lorah graduated from Indiana University with dual degrees in Marketing and Professional Sales and joins the team with experience in corporate sales, sports marketing and event operations.

 

It’s already started. The speculations around which star collegiate will land on a favorite NFL team roster or in everyone’s fantasy draft pool. The news and buzz around the NFL Draft in Nashville is punctuated even louder by the growing popularity of its fan fest and chances to see the next stars of the game up-close.

But, five years ago, when the league announced a new-style draft experience in Chicago, the news and fans were more skeptical about the impact and the access they would receive. KemperLesnik was honored to work alongside the NFL events team to change that narrative and focus on the experience that is the event’s hallmark to this day.

The Playbook

• MANAGING THE MESSAGE: The team worked to shift the discussion towards an understanding of how the new draft provided a free fan experience unlike anything outside the Super Bowl.
• REGIONAL EXCITEMENT: Marketing the event to NFL cities within driving distance of Chicago made the event a destination for fans – who came in droves with all 32 team jerseys counted as represented at the fan fest in the first 30 minutes of opening.
• UPCLOSE AND PERSONAL: Special fan moments to interact with players and legends from the blue carpet to the Draft Town brought fans closer to the action than ever before.
• POSITIONING THE BRAND: Great care was given in all earned media to deliver on the core messages of quality experience and celebration of football for the fans. Thru the discipline and repetition of storytelling, the brand began to rise as the new moment for fans outside the season calendar.