Posted by chicagomedia.org on June 02, 2008 at 22:49:36:
WMAQ AND BANK OF AMERICA OFF AND RUNNING
TVNEWSDAY, Jun. 2, 4:23 PM ET
NBC's Chicago O&O is getting ready for the annual Bank of Chicago Marathon, with not only race-day coverage, but the many "tentacles" of promotion, programming and sales opportunities—both on air and online—in the months leading up to it.
By Arthur Greenwald
After a five-year hiatus, NBC O&O WMAQ Chicago, better know locally as NBC5, will return as the media outlet for one of the city's major annual events, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.
The marathon, this year slated for Oct. 12, is a big deal, generating about $140 million for Chicago, says Marianne Caponi, director of marketing for Chicago Event Management, which stages the event. It draws 45,000 runners and 1.5 million spectators, at least 10,000 of whom are active volunteers. "It's now the biggest hotel occupancy weekend for Chicago."
And, for WMAQ, it's a golden opportunity, says VP of Sales Patty Golden.
"An event like the marathon has lots of 'tentacles' - sales opportunities on air and online that tie our advertisers closely to promoting the race and all it represents to Chicago," she says.
WMAQ knows what it takes to cover and promote a marathon because it's done it before. It televised the event until 2002 when CBS-owned WBBM captured the contract. But when it came time to renew, the marathon's new owner, the Bank of America, returned the event to WMAQ.
"We chose NBC5 largely because of their ingenuity and creativity in developing training tips and runner education programming that will lead up to the race," says Bank of America corporate spokesperson Joe Goode. "That's important for those casual but avid runners who want to better understand the best ways to prepare for an endurance event like the Chicago Marathon.
"One of NBC5's key selling points was their streaming coverage," says Goode. "They've really established themselves as a sports category leader in the Internet space."
Bank of America acquired the event when it acquired LaSalle Bank.
While live Marathon coverage "will feature our whole talent roster," according to Golden, the weeks leading up to the race will rely heavily on the NBC5 Fitness Team, whose credibility with health and fitness-related advertisers is well established. Golden's sales team has already begun to sign up additional product categories of special interest to serious or even casual athletes.
In fact, the Internet is just one new media advantage the station plans to exploit, Golden says. "We've got more out-of-home viewers than any other station in the market. We're going to use our digital channel for special promotions and for special event coverage as well."
Thanks to NBC Local Media, the station also has video screens at the gas pumps of 102 Shell stations, in all Jewel Grocery Stores, on the Wrigley Field concourse and in numerous local gyms. It can also distribute video highlights on U.S. Cellular.
"We're going to start 18 weeks before the event," says WMAQ VP of Creative Services Diane Hannes. "We're already planning [sponsored] runner profiles and all kinds of health and exercise tips, not just for marathon runners but for their families and friends."
Runners not quite up to tackling the full 26.2 mile course can sign up for 5K or 10K races. WMAQ is also promoting them.
Of course, major events make major demands on promotion inventory—but then event-driven marketing is a deliberate strategic choice for WMAQ. WMAQ defines itself with major local event promotion, says Hannes. "We pride ourselves on localism and there's nothing more local than an event where we're literally shoulder to shoulder with the runners."
WMAQ's four month ramp-up to the Marathon follows NBC's August Olympics coverage ("The best promotional platform you could ever ask for," says Golden) and coincides with the network's NFL coverage, which the station is expanding "with more local shows and segments than we've ever done before."
It all leads into November's Travel Expo at Navy Pier. Then NBC's got the Super Bowl in February followed by WMAQ's annual Health Fair in March. It's a year-round strategy.
WMAQ's partnership with Bank of America is further cemented by very mutual public relations goals. "Having established ourselves as a leading financial services provider, we want Chicagoland people to see that we're serious about supporting the community," says Goode. "We want everyone to see that we're going to be a strong steward of this event."
Patty Golden agrees. "In a time when everything in broadcasting is changing, our viewers and the consumers here in Chicago have a culture that's respectful of all the things that were."
And they're honoring those traditions in brand new ways.
Speaking of which, covering a marathon can be every bit as grueling as running one. Covering anything that spans a 26.2 mile course taxes any station's resources to the limit. As October looms closer, we'll revisit WMAQ for the inside story of how the station's news, sports, engineering and IT departments are preparing for race day.