Monday, February 14, 2000
Tristate companies want Junior to pitch
New Red is popular with advertisers
BY RANDY TUCKER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Ken Griffey Jr.'s batting average is one reason why rabid Reds fans are drooling over his recent signing with Cincinnati.
But business owners in and around the city hoping to land the hometown hero as a pitchman for their goods and services are even more excited about another of Junior's statistics: his “Q-rating.”
The Q-rating is a widely used advertising industry reference to a celebrity's popularity and familiarity, based upon responses to national Q surveys conducted annually by Marketing Evaluations/TvQ Inc. of Port Washington, N.Y.
Mr. Griffey consistently ranks among the Top 10 of all sports personalities measured by the survey, Marketing Evaluations' Henry Schafer said.
His appeal should be even greater in Cincinnati, where he grew up and showed the first signs of his baseball greatness at Moeller High School in the mid-1980s.
“About eight out of 10 people know who he is,” Mr. Schafer said. “With the publicity that he's getting in Cincinnati now, and the fact the he's from the area and his father played there for many years, his recognition is probably 100 percent there.”
Ken Griffey Sr., now a Reds coach, played for World Champion Reds teams in 1975 and 1976.
His son's drawing power has not been lost on Tristate merchants, including big-time retailers such as The Joseph Auto Group — the largest automotive group in the Tristate — and sports-supplement seller GNC Inc. Representatives of both companies declined to comment publicly but said privately that they would love to sign baseball's answer to Michael Jordan to a promotional deal.
Jerry Maas of the Harrison, Ohio-based food manufacturer J.T.M, which has a concessions contract for Reds games at Cinergy Field, put it this way: “If it was possible, we'd do it tomorrow.”
Mr. Maas — who said he recently bought four more Reds season tickets after it became apparent that Mr. Griffey was coming to Cincinnati — said he thinks that the home-run-hitting center fielder will be the stadium's single biggest attraction.
Mr. Maas said that with such stature, the youngest member of major league baseball's All-Century Team would an ideal spokesman for J.T.M., who's main advertising vehicles are Reds television and radio broadcasts.
But J.T.M., like many other local businesses, probably can't afford to sign Mr. Griffey to the type of million-dollar endorsement deals he has with such corporate powerhouses as General Mills, Nike, Pizza Hut and Nintendo. Collectively, those deals earned Mr. Griffey more than $6 million in 1998.
Also, experts say, his biggest sponsors are probably concerned about the overexposure of one of their most popular pitchmen and might discourage the perennial All-Star and former American League Most Valuable Player from doing too many local promotions.
Ultimately, the decision will rest with Mr. Griffey, who doesn't have a clause in any of his endorsement contracts barring him from doing local spots.
And if history is any indication, the man many call the best player in baseball could become a familiar figure on local televi
sion, radio and billboards.
“I think what we've seen in baseball, in particular, is that athletes, even though they're a major name, they find a way to do local deals,” said Andre Taylor, president of the New York-based sports marketing firm Urban Sports Network.
Mr. Taylor said part of the reason is that many celebrity athletes want to portray themselves as part of — and not above — the communities in
which they live and work. Also, local marketers generally offer plenty of incentives to bring high-profile sports figures into their fold, he said.
“Typically, these athletes get some sort of local consideration to appear in ads,” Mr. Taylor said. “They (marketers) give these guys a car, or they give them some sort of services.”
Mr. Taylor said just about any Cincinnati business would benefit from having Mr. Griffey as a spokesman because he projects a positive image that transcends the sports world and appeals to people with traditional values.
“I think the key thing you've got with Ken Griffey is that he's very appealing to families, and Cincinnati seems to be a very traditional, family-oriented city,” Mr. Taylor said.
But it's not just businesses that will benefit from Mr. Griffey's triumphant return to Cincinnati, Mr. Taylor said.
“The major thing that's going to happen for Cincinnati is that the Reds are going to once again become a national brand,” he said. “When they had those fabulous teams with Pete Rose and Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench, the Big Red Machine was a national commodity. Over the last couple of years, it hasn't quite been the same. But Ken Griffey coming back to Cincinnati will raise the whole stature of the team, and attract people who wouldn't normally come to the games.”
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Tristate companies want Junior to pitch
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