Dr. Pepper/7-Up Sign Onto New ICAS Sponsorship Program
The International
Council of Airshows has hinted for several months that something
"Really New" was in the wind for airshow sponsorship programs. They
weren't just blowing smoke. A program expected to serve as a model
for a number of sponsor-dependant industries has been announced in
which Dr. Pepper and 7-Up will pony up an amount confirmed to be
"well into 6 figures" for a specific series of airshow program
sponsorships.
Dr. Pepper/7-Up, a Fortune 500 soft drink and food processing
corporation, will sponsor eleven air shows in what ICAS President,
John Cudahy, calls their "Heartland" markets of western Louisiana,
Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma – during the 2004 air show
season. In addition to the five-figure benefits of activation
investment by DPSU, each of the shows will receive a five-figure
rights fee. The program will be managed by ADC Group, a sponsorship
sales, management and fulfillment company based in Dallas,
Texas.
A number of additional agreements are being sought. Cudahy calls
those talks "very encouraging... we're being received very
positively and no one has said 'No' out of hand. We're off to a
great start..." Cudahy even hinted that this pivotal agreement may
not be the only one to be seen in the 2004 season, which is about
to hit high gear in a matter of weeks.
"This deal is a good example of what we think the new ICAS
sponsorship program can do for the air show business and Corporate
North America," says ICAS Vice President of Sponsorship Deb
Mitchell. "Dr. Pepper/7-Up is making effective use of the
consortium concept around which the ICAS program is being built.
And eleven ICAS member shows will benefit from the participation of
a national sponsor that would not have contacted any one of them
individually."
The eleven shows are Defenders of Liberty Air Show, Barksdale
AFB, Shreveport, LA (4/24-25); Temple Air Show; Temple, TX (5/1-2);
NAS/JRB Ft. Worth/Carswell AFB Air Show, Fort Worth, TX (5/15);
Little Rock AFB Air Show, Little Rock, AR (6/5-6); Aerospace
America, Oklahoma City, OK (6/19-20); AirFest 2004, Fayettville, AR
(6/19-20); FINA/Commemorative Air Force AirSho, Midland, TX
(10/2-3); Wings over Houston, Houston, TX (10/16-17); Amigo AirSho,
El Paso, TX (10/23-24); Sertoma Cajun Air Festival, Lafayette, LA
(10/30-31); and Lackland AFB Air Show, San Antonio, TX (11/7).