C4 is seeing triple.
This week, the energy-drink brand expanded its sponsorship slate into basketball, announcing multiyear deals with three NBA teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Miami Heat.
The deals, which include sponsorship assets like LED and courtside signage, digital ads, retail displays, and hospitality opportunities, came out of a desire to reach the fans of the three teams, according to Katie Geyer, VP of partnerships and experiential marketing at C4 parent company Nutrabolt.
“What we know about these fans is they really believe in the sponsors and the partners of the teams, and they’re very influenced by that,” Geyer said. “Not only that, but their fans tend to be younger, they tend to be more diverse, and they also tend to be more interested in sports and athletics and fitness, so for us…it just makes all the sense in the world.”
The partnerships also present an opportunity for C4 to expand its foothold in major east coast markets and differentiate itself from other energy-drink brands via an association with elite athletes, Geyer said.
Triple double
The Knicks, Celtics, and Heat are all storied NBA franchises, plus the Celtics are the reigning champs, which may be reason enough for a brand to want to partner with them. C4 was also interested in targeting the Eastern Conference markets, since those geographic areas tend to over-index in energy-drink consumption, Geyer said. Another benefit: the brand has “key business partners,” like retailers and distributors in those areas, too, she said.
At risk of inflaming basketball rivalries, the Knicks and Heat can perhaps thank the Celtics for serving as the start of the deals. A smaller partnership between C4 and the Celtics at the end of last season that involved local retail displays and social posts “was incredible for us,” Geyer said, and was “what propelled us to this three-team strategy that we’re going out with this year.”
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It’s the Heat partnership, though, that includes a little something extra. C4 has pouring rights at the Kaseya Center and is also doing sampling there, and hopes to eventually do the same with the other teams, she said, though teams don’t always own their arenas, which can complicate pouring rights deals.
“The athlete’s energy drink”
Beyond tapping into the NBA’s audience—a younger, diverse crowd likely to frequent the gym and reach for energy drinks—Geyer said C4’s move into basketball is an effort to redouble ongoing efforts to be associated with high performance.
“We call ourselves the athlete’s energy drink,” she said. “We really feel like we’re made for athletes.”
To back it up, C4 holds the National Science Foundation’s Certified for Sport certification, a third-party certification program for products that is recognized by the US Anti-Doping Agency and leagues like the NBA, NFL, and MLB. Working with one of those leagues, then, is perhaps a no-brainer.
“By diving into the NBA, we’re able to really spread that message and own that platform,” Geyer said.
C4 also has the endorsement of other leagues and athletes. Its sports partnerships span WWE, Top Rank Boxing, Overtime, Austin FC in MLS, and several top NFL athletes. Since it’s early days in basketball for C4, Geyer said her team plans to evaluate how the next year or so goes before moving deeper into the space, but further deals with teams and players aren’t off the table. Geyer said she’ll look to see brand awareness and sales growth in those three markets, as well as increases in social impressions and engagement for the brand.
“Assuming we see the ROI, I think there’s more to come for us in the NBA,” she said.
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