Thursday, November 6, 2008

Team sponsorship - The Skinny on the St. Paul Saints

On any given night, the clean-up hitter on minor league baseball’s St. Paul Saints likely wouldn’t be called skinny. Muscular maybe or occasionally a tad overweight, but from August 3 thru 9, all of the players were dubbed the “Skinny Saints.” This was part of a unique naming rights deal that the Skinny Water (asi/90296) brand struck with the team.

Visitors to the ballpark that week found that it was renamed “Skinny Water Field.” Here, the Skinny Water flag flew next to the American flag, and logos adorned the field. Behind home plate, the beverage’s tagline “0 calories 0 sugar 0 guilt” was emblazoned.
The roughly 10,000 fans that watched the team daily were handed free samples of Skinny Water as well as mementos such as rally towels and water bottles. “We are looking for promotional opportunities that not only give us an opportunity to promote the brand, but let them experience it and taste it in an environment beyond just handing them a sample,” says Michael Salaman, chairman of Skinny Nutritional. “Minor league baseball is a great environment to have them experience Skinny Water.”

The enhanced water brand, which includes multi-vitamins, antioxidants and an energy boost, is working to expand its distribution across the country. The Saints were chosen because distribution “is really starting to take off in the St. Paul/Minneapolis market,” says Salaman.

The samples, promotional products and naming rights “introduce the product to a large number of people and support our retail partners,” Salaman says. Now that’s phat.

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