Get in the Game

When it comes to promoting its business, shoe and sportswear giant Nike knows to accept “no excuses” for failure.

Perhaps that is why the internationally recognized company chose Paralympic basketball great Matthew Scott as the face of its 2008 “No Excuses” campaign. Scott, a Detroit native with spina bifida, represents the sportsman’s ideal — an athlete willing to go the distance despite all odds. A victor, even when the chips appear down. A champion.

That’s certainly why Sunrise Medical chose Scott. A member of the company’s Team Quickie, Scott is one of many disabled athletes sponsored by the HME manufacturer. Through the sponsorships, each athlete receives a customized wheelchair and complimentary services on that chair for life.

“Team Quickie is our Ambassador Program,” explains Rachel Kline, marketing coordinator for Sunrise. “We continue to supply wheelchairs and parts as they need it. They never want for anything for their wheelchairs. In return, the athletes are extremely loyal. They are very passionate about how they have been treated.”

That passion translates into good will and recognition — for both athletes and sponsors. The promotional model has proven so beneficial, in fact, that Sunrise has continued the practice for more than 20 years.

The key is outreach.

In much the same way as Michael Jordan’s face launched Nike to new plateaus, faces of athletes like Scott, Beth Arnoult (tennis) and Dave Durepos (basketball) are becoming synonymous with both sport, HME and Sunrise.

To help with the athletes’ promotion, Sunrise provides personalized posters and signature cards for individual Team Quickie members.

“Each athlete gets their own personalized one. They can sign them and give them to kids. It seems to be getting a wonderful response,” Kline says, adding that each promo item includes the Quickie logo and the company’s Web address.

And Sunrise isn’t the only manufacturer to have discovered the many positive aspects of sports sponsorships.

The Roho Group has been one of the two continuous sponsors of the annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games since the Games’ inception in 1985. Each year, Roho provides a financial sponsorship and all of the bottled water for the Games, and gives out promotional items at the event’s Fitness and Sports Expo.

Additionally, the company sponsors the Quad Rugby Nationals, the Roho Gateway Wheelchair Tennis Classic and the Wheelchair Basketball Nationals, among other events.

The benefit of the continuous and varied sports sponsorships?

“Getting your name and your brand out to hundreds or even thousands of people who are in a central location — there’s nothing better,” says Jackie Klotz, corporate events and marketing specialist for Roho. “It’s good for all businesses to go to events like this and meet the customers who use your products.

“There are ideas that come from customers every day, and that’s what you want. You want feedback from those people who use your product. Whether it’s positive or negative feedback, it’s a great way to gain information on your product,” she says.

Mary Carol Peterson, marketing manager for Invacare’s Top End, could not agree more.

Through its Team Invacare sponsorships, the company is getting more than just its name out there; the manufacturing giant is also getting valuable information on how to improve its products.

“It’s labor-intensive,” Peterson says of the week-long process Invacare takes to fit each athlete’s wheelchair individually for peak performance.

“What we do is we take the information and work very closely with the athletes to keep on top of our product development. They give us input as to the product so we can offer the same high-quality product and product enhancements to people throughout the world.

“I can honestly say that any athlete, if they see something on [track star and hand-cyclist] Ernst Van Dyk’s wheelchair, we can do that for them,” she says.

For example, “Basketball and tennis chairs need to be quick-turning and maneuverable, and those are qualities you need in all chairs,” Peterson says.

“So we took the technology on those [athletes’ chairs] and incorporated it on the everyday chairs. What resulted was a better turning wheel with less maintenance.”

Such hands-on research and development is one of the reasons Invacare was recently chosen to provide 240 Top End wheelchairs for the Chinese Paralympic team, according to Peterson.

Invacare also sponsors the National Veterans Wheelchair Games, where the company provides repairs for the Games’ more than 600 athletes.

It’s a combination of caring and positive image.

“Positive image brings business,” Peterson says. “If you work to organize rides, if you are out there promoting and getting involved … these things translate into sales.”

Presented by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Paralyzed Veterans of America, the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games were held July 25-29 in Omaha, Neb. The event heads to Spokane, Wash., next year.

With 4,000 athletes from 145 countries, the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games are being held in Beijing next month.