Capitalizing on the Hispanic community's appreciation of good beer and good boxing, Cerveza Tecate was in Las Vegas, Nevada, recently to promote the fight between Mexican favorite Juan Manuel Marquez and Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, as well as announce its most aggressive marketing campaign to date. The promotion, in partnership with GoldenBoy Promotions, is an extension of one of the more successful, and logical, marketing relationships in the sport.
Tecate, GoldenBoy Promotions, and the De La Hoya vs. Mayweather Blockbuster
The relationship between Tecate and GoldenBoy started from a chance meeting in early 2007 when representatives of each company were in Las Vegas. Casual conversation eventually turned into a business agreement and the most successful promotion either company had been involved in to date, the May 2007 blockbuster fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
"The benefit to us was immediately apparent," Carlos Boughton, Brand Director for Tecate, told Suite 101. "Where our growth rate had been six to eight percent, which is good in what is a basically flat market, we jumped to 20-25% as a direct result of our association with GoldenBoy and boxing."
Although Tecate's relationship with GoldenBoy started out on a fight per fight basis, its obvious success led to a two-year contract that extends through 2009.
According to Boughton, GoldenBoy operates differently than other boxing promoters.
"You have to realize that these are very smart people (referring to GoldenBoy management). They operate more like an established corporation than regular boxing promoters. It isn't just Richard Schaefer (GoldenBoy CEO) either, Oscar de la Hoya is very intelligent and a brilliant businessman."
Tecate Works with FormuLatin
Tecate and Hispanic public relations firm FormuLatin (a division of Formula PR), took advantage of the Marquez vs. Pacquiao fight to set a massive marketing campaign in motion. By employing retail and radio sweepstakes, Tecate offered its customers a chance to win tickets to the superfight and participate in an autograph and photo session with GoldenBoy fighters and the Tecate Girls. Rounding out the promotion, Tecate multi-packs contained $20 mail-in discounts for the HBO pay-per-view event.
Not content with "plastering our name on the ring canvas," Boughton insists that Tecate expose every layer of promotional possibility in every event they participate in. A policy that boxing is uniquely suited to.
There's Nothing Like Boxing
"There is nothing like a major boxing event. Even for the (soccer) World Cup you may have a championship match at the Los Angeles Coliseum, and it will sell out, but it won't go much beyond Los Angeles and the respective countries of the teams who are playing. Boxing (on the other hand) is truly global. It's electric."
Through its title sponsership of "Solo Boxeo Tecate," a weekly boxing program broadcast live on Telefutura, Tecate brings boxing, and brand recognition, to 42 national markets and 70 foreign countries.
Established in Mexico in 1954, Tecate was the first Mexican brewed and distributed beer. Since 2004 Tecate has been imported, marketed and sold by Heineken USA.
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Bill Scherer - Bill Scherer has written for RingSports.com and TigerBoxing.com, enjoyed a stint as the Managing Editor for FightTube.tv and is a United ...
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