The general consensus among sports gear marketers used to be that giving away free stuff to local squads would cannibalize sales. After all, if young players were handed soccer cleats, they wouldn’t need mom and dad to dole out cash for a pair at the local sports shop. But in the last several years, the industry has learned that a strong, grassroots ‘seeding’ program can actually score points with the target demo, and in turn boost sales.

‘It’s not a lot different than going into a restaurant and getting a free appetizer,’ says Mark Harrison, president and CEO of Toronto-based TrojanOne Sports & Event Marketing. ‘If you try it, you’re more likely to order a larger size of that appetizer than if you haven’t tried it. What companies are finding is that if you run these programs properly, you can seed and increase your sales.’

This is particularly true if brands find the right players to outfit, because there’s a follow-the-leader mentality in sports, and word-of-mouth is a powerful piece of equipment, especially among youth. In other words if a group of 14-year-old boys sees its top goal scorer lacing up Bauer hockey skates before the game, they’ll want to follow suit.

‘If you want to get the word out, and in order to convince [consumers] that the product is beneficial, you have to seed it and get people talking about it,’ says Harrison, adding that another advantage is the ability to garner instant feedback from players.

‘The downside is, if you’re seeding to promote the technical aspects of a product and it doesn’t back your claims, you put yourself at risk, because when consumers find something they don’t like, they tell a lot more people.’

That’s something that U.K.-based soccer brand Umbro doesn’t have to worry about, since it has already established credibility within the international ‘futbol’ landscape, partly through endorsements by the likes of English national and Liverpool striker Michael Owen.

And while the label has only made small inroads within the niche Canadian soccer marketplace to date, Mississauga, Ont.-based RMP Athletic Locker, which recently acquired the licence for Umbro, is planning a significant marketing push to broaden its influence. The timing couldn’t be better, as there’s ripe opportunity for growth: The Canadian Soccer Association recently announced that the number of players registered across Canada was over 789,000 last year, up 4.2% over 2001.

There will be a small delivery of goods this summer, with a major launch planned for spring 2004. According to Gerald Woodman, brand director for Umbro at RMP, which also represents sneaker brand Airwalk, seeding will likely account for 10% of the marketing mix. However, that doesn’t mean every single 16-year-old on the Toronto All-Star team will get free cleats.

‘Our philosophy is not to completely seed and inundate them, or get every possible player wearing boots,’ says Woodman. ‘We just want the best. When it comes to soccer, it’s the strikers who put the ball in the back of the net. Those are the ones we will target.’

The idea is to grab cachet from these ‘exceptional’ players. And indeed, the stars still have a lot of pull; according to ‘The Canadian Sports Monitor,’ a 2001 study from Toronto-based Ipsos-Reid, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 Canadian youth and adults, 57% of 16-to-19s and 62% of 20-to-24s pay more attention to companies that sponsor individual athletes than those which sponsor an entire sport.

While there are no Canadians signed as sponsors yet, Woodman hints that Christine Sinclair and Kara Lang, two stars of the Canadian national women’s team who became media darlings during the under-19 Women’s World Cup in Edmonton last summer, may be possibilities.

‘Just to give shit away doesn’t mean anything,’ he says, adding that in most cases payment would be in the form of free product rather than cash. ‘We want disciples of our brand, who stand for values and integrity. We will take that extra step to have them intrinsically involved.’

Through these relationships, Umbro hopes to support its brand message that ‘the best in soccer is associated with Umbro,’ a positioning which will also be prevalent in print and poster advertising geared at soccer clubs, as well as in-store.

Like Umbro, The Hockey Company in Montreal believes finding aspirational players at every rank is imperative. Says Len Rhodes, VP of global marketing: ‘We realized that there is a lot of talk in the locker room, and that these key influencers have a lot of talk value, so therefore we could get coverage in all our hockey markets.’

While seeding at the pro level has always composed a healthy one-third of the company’s overall marketing efforts, with the remaining emphasis on product innovation and building brand equity, the last two years have seen The Hockey Company, which carries the brands CCM, Koho and Jofa, develop its grassroots seeding program with the 12-to-16 age demo, in order to ‘build trial’ among younger players.

So far this game plan has worked: the last three product launches – for the Externo skates, the Vector 110 hockey stick and the Tacks helmet – used seeding at both the NHL and grassroots levels and were the most successful to date.

For instance, after The Hockey Company handed out 1,000 Vector hockey sticks to grassroots organizations across North America in fall, sales doubled and tripled expectations, to the point where the firm ‘didn’t have enough supply to meet demand,’ according to David McGibbon, category director of sticks and protective equipment.

And consumers are taking notice of the brand’s involvement at the non-pro ranks; during the Ipsos-Reid survey, CCM recorded 5% top-of-mind awareness and 10% total mentions among Canadians aged 12-plus, when they were asked to name sponsors associated with junior hockey.

Rhodes adds that the company’s sales reps are a key component in the process; because they are so involved in their respective markets, they are charged with pinpointing the popular players.

He adds: ‘Every single one of our reps is asked to submit a list of key influencers within their specific region and we send samples along with [information about the] technology directly to the players’ homes.’

The ‘middle man’ is equally important for Concord, Ont.-based golf apparel and equipment manufacturer TaylorMade Adidas-Solomon. Explains director of merchandising Keith DeGrace: ‘[The sales reps] help us get [gear] in the hands of golfers, so they can come to the realization that we have the best products.’

About 200 Canadian PGA professionals have been provided with a total TaylorMade package, including golf clubs, balls and apparel, which in turn enables the brand to build what DeGrace calls a ‘pyramid of influence.’ Obviously, not all of these players are of Tiger Woods’ calibre, but DeGrace says they still get noticed at local golf clubs.

‘They will influence the [lower] levels. If you’re a member of a golf club and your pro is using the equipment, you’ll believe there’s a reason for that.’

DeGrace says this strategy is vital to TaylorMade, which was also lucky enough to sign Masters champ Mike Weir two-and-a-half years ago. While he can’t give specific numbers, DeGrace says sales in PGA zones where seeding is accomplished, are higher than in those where it is not.

‘TaylorMade has the number-one driver on the PGA tour, and our market share has increased dramatically,’ he adds. As well, the brand was noticed by consumers in ‘The Canadian Sports Monitor’ study, coming in with 4% top-of-mind awareness, and 15% total mentions among Canadian sports fans who were asked to name sponsors associated with men’s golf. ‘[Seeding] can transcend into validation of the product, and therefore consumers are more likely to ask about the product, try it and hopefully purchase it.’

Perhaps no other demographic looks for validation more energetically than the youth market – and that is why smart companies engaged with that target turn to seeding as a means of securing credibility, says Darcy Taylor, president and CEO of Masev Communications, a Vancouver-based youth marketing agency which specializes in music, action sports and entertainment. But, when it comes to non-traditional sports such as skateboarding, Taylor advises his clients to secure deals with athletes anonymously.

‘If you come in too far above the radar scene, seeding doesn’t have the same effect,’ he says. ‘If it’s too in-your-face, there could be a backlash to it.’

While Taylor is tightlipped about clients who are active in this arena, he is noticing that the tactic is becoming more popular among marketers in general. In the past, most arrangements were secured in exchange for products when it came to extreme sports endorsements, but Taylor sees money changing hands more often these days, with prices falling anywhere between $500 and $10,000.

Regardless, like in other sports, tapping the right ambassador with the right image is the most crucial requirement for success. ‘You have to have cool talking to cool. Otherwise it will be brushed off.’

How ’bout those fragile hockey sticks?

For avid hockey fans – and there are many in this country – there isn’t anything more nerve-racking than watching a star defender attempt to kill a penalty with his skates after his hockey stick has snapped in half.

That has been a common scenario this playoff season, and spectators are starting to take notice, particularly since broadcasters have wondered out loud whether or not players should resort to the wooden sticks of old, as opposed to the one-piece composite sticks of today.

For Montreal-based The Hockey Company, whose CCM Vector 110 hockey sticks are used by 20% of the league, this is a challenge, but not necessarily because its stick is the culprit.

According to David McGibbon, category director of sticks and protective equipment, players need to use three or four wood sticks per game, because they weaken over time, while a graphite stick lasts longer, but ‘when it goes, it really breaks,’ he says. ‘It’s perception.’

The Vector 110 also performs better than other graphite models, according to Len Rhodes, VP of global marketing. To prove this, CCM technicians tested its durability, by using a special machine that drops weights from various heights, simulating slashes. The Vector 110 beat all other products on the market by a range of 11% to 82%.

In order to get that message across, The Hockey Company has been contacting sports media, retailers and hockey organizations, encouraging them to view a short feature demonstration online and to visit www.ccmsports.com for more info.

‘We convince the retailer with the facts, which are quantifiable,’ explains Rhodes. ‘That goes a long way. Consumers have their first, second and third brand choices when they walk into a store, but they can really be swayed at P-O-P. That’s our approach right now.’

Unfortunately, that doesn’t help your team when they’re killing a penalty in the final minutes of the third period.