It is a rare automotive marketer who doesn't target car buyers with active lifestyles, and automakers have reached out to car buyers through sports advertising for years. But manufacturers are just learning to get more bang for the buck in sports marketing.

Magazine money Top automotive advertisers in major sports magazines in 1999. Figures are in thousands of dollars. Top five total spenders* General Motors $58,747.0 Ford Motor Co. 44,635.6 DaimlerChrysler 42,448.1 Toyota Motor Corp. 22,545.8 Nissan Motor Co. 13,180.1 Spending in selected magazines ESPN Magazine GM $2,207.2 DaimlerChrysler 1,230.2 Ford 1,167.9 Nissan 1,074.4 Volkswagen 715.4 Golf Digest GM $4,678.2 Ford 4,517.6 DaimlerChrysler 4,045.6 Toyota 3,045.2 Nissan 2,994.4 Golf for Women GM $582.3 Ford 530.9 DaimlerChrysler 522.2 Toyota 287.7 Honda 105.9 Golf Magazine GM $3,766.3 Ford 3,625.7 DaimlerChrysler 2,627.9 Toyota 2,603.1 Nissan 1,885.6 Sporting News GM $1,612.8 Honda 1,179.8 DaimlerChrysler 1.025.5 Toyota 563.9 Ford 265.4 Sports Illustrated GM $43,173.7 Ford 31,267.1 DaimlerChrysler 30,545.4 Toyota 14,502.1 Nissan 5,746.9 Tennis Ford $2,063.8 DaimlerChrysler 1,838.7 Nissan 1,259.6 GM 1,059.9 Saab 721.3 Travel & Leisure Golf GM $432.4 BMW 294.4 Ford 160.9 Volkswagen 61.3 DaimlerChrysler 57.0 Source: Competitive Media Reporting *Total spending based on following magazines: ESPN Magazine, Golf Digest, Golf for Women, Golf Magazine, Golf World, Senior Golfer, Sport, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Tennis and Travel & Leisure Golf. The sports marketing game Automakers stepping up sponsorships, endorsements Buick's 3 by Tiger: One eagle, one near-miss, one lost in the rough Isuzu sponsors triathlon Dodge dives deeper into motorsports Chevy truck unit is marketing to motorcyclers

Sports ads are TV spots that air during a game or print layouts that run in sports magazines. Sports marketing, on the other hand, is much broader, ranging from company logos emblazoned on scoreboards to stadiums named after companies.

Detroit's Ford Field, slated to be the new home of the NFL's Detroit Lions when it opens in 2002, will carry the name of Ford Motor Co., as well as the name of its volume division. In this case, it doesn't hurt that William Clay Ford owns the team and sits on the board of directors of Ford.

Looking for leverage

Still, automotive marketers are beginning to leverage more than a scoreboard sign, hospitality suite and season tickets from their sports marketing ventures. Automakers are advertising and promoting their sponsorships, signing athletes to endorsement contracts and using dealers to target potential customers with local sports events.

Sports account for 65 to 70 percent of the $7 billion spent annually on event sponsorships, says Mike Bernacchi, a marketing professor at the University of Detroit Mercy.

Sports marketing executive Adam Appleby says that automakers, "certainly from the truck and SUV side of things, understand that they still need to reach the weekend warriors, who are mostly sports fans. But the days of just throwing out your commercial or just throwing a sign on the building are over. You really need to do a lot more applications." Appleby is CEO of General Sports and Entertainment, a Rochester, Mich., sports marketing firm.

For instance, automakers are stepping up their endorsement deals with athletes. Formula One race car driver Michael Schumacher reportedly signed a four-year, $140 million sponsorship and endorsement contract with Ferrari. Buick's five-year, $25 million endorsement deal with golfer Tiger Woods is a major marketing coup. And the sleeper of the year may be Chevrolet's endorsement contract with world class ice skater Michelle Kwan.

"Figure skating," says Bernacchi, "is the No. 1 spectator sport for women and it's growing."

Emotional appeal

Steve Potter, supervisor of sports marketing at Mercedes-Benz USA Inc., says, "The kind of communication that changes the way people feel takes place on an emotional level and fans respond to sports on an emotional level."

Sean Brenner says: "That's a key, not only in the automotive industry but for sponsorships in general. It's aligning your product with the affinity that consumers have for a team, or a sport, or an event like the Olympics." Brenner is managing editor of "IEG Sponsorship Report," a marketing newsletter in Chicago.

Sports marketing is a way for dealers, dealer marketing groups and automakers to connect with consumers through their attachment with a team or an event. Sporting events also lend their prestige to sponsors.

Mercedes-Benz USA's sponsorship of golf tournaments in the United States, the ATP international tennis tour and Formula One racing are examples of how a manufacturer can leverage its sports sponsorships. The price can be steep; Potter has said the cost of being a title sponsor of a PGA tournament is at least $4 million to $5 million.

Golf and tennis are the two sports in which the demographics of participants and fans are closest to those of Mercedes-Benz buyers. "And they're even a better match for the younger groups of buyers that we're trying to attract," says Potter. "Sports helps us broaden our appeal to a younger group of clients."

Powerful link to fans

"There's a reason that the whole state of Wisconsin lives and dies with every possession of (the NFL Green Bay) Packers, or that 37 billion people watch the World (soccer) Cup," says Appleby. "Companies are always eager to associate with something like the power of sports."

Appleby estimates it can cost from $50,000 to $500,000 to sponsor a major league sports team, and from $50,000 to $100,000 to sponsor a minor league sports team.

In the past three years, sports marketing has increased considerably, says Richard Martin, manager of sports marketing and shows and exhibitions at Volvo Cars of North America Inc., which sponsors mountain bike racing and sailing.

"It's the thing to do these days," Martin says. "Look at the college bowls and any type of sporting event."

Indeed, among the postseason collegiate football bowl games are the Plymouth Holiday Bowl, the Toyota Gator Bowl, the Ford Motor City Bowl and the Jeep Aloha Bowl.

Sports marketing is an easy way for automakers to reach their demographic target buyers, Martin says.

"If we find that Volvo customers like bocce ball, then we owe it to ourselves to look into bocce ball tournaments."