Here in the northeast, spring is finally showing signs that it is ready to emerge. Baseball season is in full swing, as are hockey playoffs, and if you follow either league with regularity, you’re bound to see multiple examples of industry dealerships and manufacturers that have purchased advertising space within a stadium or arena. It always elicits a smile, and is a reminder that our industry is not quite so small.
Sports advertising has long been a fantastic way to gain more visibility for your brand. While the manufacturers are pretty widely known, even if for products other than MFPs, it is the dealer community that stands to benefit most. Attendees—business people in particular—will spot ads and ask themselves, “What is a UBEO? What does Loffler do?” and immediately Google the names. If the baseball game gets boring, as they are wont to do, the viewer might do extended research.
We’ve covered this subject in the past, but from time to time, it’s interesting and fun to collect ads from our industry leaders and give them a little more exposure. So take a few minutes to check out what your partners and/or competition are doing.
This first example was taken from Camden Yards a couple weeks back, when my Reds tangled with the O’s on a Saturday. It’s an interesting progression of signage, with ubeo.com and Sharp sharing the same digital display. That was a pleasant sight. What wasn’t nice was the scoreboard next to it, showing Baltimore with a lead it would not relinquish. Cincy scored 24 runs the next day, and also won the Friday game. Timing is everything.
DEX is the Word
That sent me hunting for more examples. Here are two screen grabs that show DEX Imaging at two different stadiums. That’s not out of the ordinary; DEX sponsors a number of stadium, sports team and individual performers and has visibility [offices] in many U.S. cities.
In some cases, dealers are the official office technology supplier for teams and stadiums. Some ads are static and can be viewed in person; others are brought to us via digitally enhanced dasherboards, which were introduced in the NHL back in 2022. Since the league does not reel in the staggering level of revenue that the other leagues enjoy, particularly the NFL, the ability to rotate a greater number of ads for TV viewers is a nice benefit. Here, we have examples of KDI Office Technology, CFBT and Loffler (sorry it’s blurry, that one was a bear to take a still image from the video).
On the baseball side, another combination of New York staples (in addition to CFBT and the Buffalo Sabres) features Canon advertising on the left field fence at Yankee Stadium. Clearly, the New York left fielder isn’t protecting against doubles…he looks downright MIA.
On the golf side, the Epson Tour has served as the official qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour for the past 45 years, with the OEM signing on as the signature sponsor in 2022. The Epson Tour is a springboard for the world’s best young women professional golfers, including Alexis Phadungmartvorakul (pictured). The 20-tournament circuit has an overall purse of $5 million.
Global Gazing
Not surprisingly, manufacturers also advertise across the pond. Sanga Stadium by Kyocera is located in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, and is primarily home to Kyoto Sanga F.C. of the Japan Professional Football League. And for those individuals taking the subway to the field, the Toshiba ad (albeit for non-industry products) sits above an exit.
Finally, we have an example of a manufacturer’s ad sharing a piece of baseball history. Prior to its Minolta marriage, Konica had a front row seat to one of MLB’s most important moments. See the white blur under the “t” in printers? That happens to be the baseball Mark McGwire launched for his then-record 62nd home run of the 1998 season, passing Roger Maris for the single-season standard. You never know when you may be a historic backdrop.
I’d love to have more examples of sports advertisements to share with readers. Send me an email with a pic and any details. Thanks!
