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Trade Media Realationships
TRADE mEDIA RELATIONSHIPS
In September of each year, we begin negotiations with our 35+ media partners, introducing them to the partnership options for the upcoming game, negotiating their total contribution level as well as schedule and placement. Over the past 7 years of managing the Senior bowl media, we’ve seen drastic changes to the media landscape, including:
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• New restrictions on trade advertising. As a result of corporate buyouts, several local television stations no longer have flexibility in trade agreements. Stations that previously contributed $40,000+ are restricted by corporate policies that limit trade agreements to $5,000, therefore restricting the on-air schedule to a couple of weeks as opposed to months.
• A significant decrease in print readership. In addition, as a result of staff cuts, a long term relationship between the Press Register and the Senior bowl was lost. Where the newspaper used to contribute over $120,000 in print and digital placement to Senior bowl, their contribution has significantly decreased to less than $20,000, with a request or cash each year, and one year of very poor execution of a digital ad plan.
• Requests for dollar for dollar trade. Prior to 2014, we offered only one trade package. Over the past 4 years, we’ve worked together with Julie to develop a level of tiered partnership packages with an exact dollar for dollar value, taking into account changes each year, such as the removal of Seafood Jubilee from the offering.
Digital
2017 was the first year we dedicated cash to Senior bowl media. We monitored a trend of decreasing total trade contributions for 4+ years, and identified the need to supplement the decline. Not only did we witness the decline of trade media, but the advertising industry as a whole shifted spend from traditional mediums to digital. We approached a local digital media outlet with an opportunity to trade and they were not interested. As a result, in order to boost the brand, we started with a minimal cash buy of a 6-month digital run.
