Sponsorship: taking a daring leap: celebrity athlete sponsorships are often overlooked by community banks out of concern that they are too challenging or costly. However, Norway Savings Bank in Maine found that a relationship with an Olympic gold medalist offered benefits that overshadowed the risks.

• Author: Hakala, Karen

EVERY DAY PHONES RING IN BANK MARKETING DEPARTMENTS with callers asking for donations and sponsorships for local charities and fundraising events. But it's not every day that an agent representing a world-class athlete and Olympic champion calls a small community bank.

That's what happened at Norway Saving Bank, Norway, Maine, in October 2009. Celebrity athlete sponsorships offer a unique marketing, opportunity. Banks looking for posit we media exposure to position and brand themselves, or to reach and attract Gen Y, can help accomplish these goals by sponsoring a celebrity athlete--provided dial the celebrity athlete is the right fit for the bank.

Brand alignment

The management at Norway Savings knew the day they met Seth Wescott that he was the right person to represent the bank. Wescott is a Maine-based professional snowboarder who is a two-time Olympic champion in the snowboard cross. (In snowboard cross, a group of snowboarders start simultaneously atop an inclined course and then race to the finish line.)

Before bank managers entered into a two-year sponsorship agreement and partnership with Wescott, they assessed risks and developed a marketing strategy as to how the athlete's image would be used to enhance the bank's brand positioning.

Norway's franchise is located in southern and western Maine--with 20 branches bordering the Atlantic coastline and nestled in the heart of ski country. With $945 million in assets, the bank competes with three large national banks and 14 regional and community banks. In 2006, Norway launched a combined cultural/rebranding initiative with the goal of building an achievement and support culture as well as a new, differentiated brand.

The effort to change the bank's culture took place under the direction of an organizational development company. The goal was to evolve from the bank's previous "top-down management power and role" culture. Instead, employees wanted to create a new culture that fostered personal achievement--in balance with teamwork support--that also empowered employees to make their own decisions.

The rebranding effort was started when the bank's market research firm conducted a consumer awareness study to help the bank's marketing agency build strategies to position and rebrand Norway Savings.

Several years later as a result of these dual efforts, the bank was recognized both for its cultural and rebranding efforts. In 2008, it was cited as the number one Best Place to Work in Maine in the large company category by the Maine State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management. In September 2009, the bank was cited as the "Overall Winner" at the ABA Financial Marketing Awards for the bank's "Colorful Solutions" brand campaign.

Two Maine-based brands

Why did Seth Wescott's agent telephone Norway Savings to pursue a sponsorship? The answer was simple. The international sports marketing company Octagon Olympic & Action Sports represented Seth Wescott. In general, the sports agency seeks sponsors to support its athletes financially, but an important part of the arrangement is to find a sponsor that is a good "fit" for the athlete and will support the athlete's personal brand. The agent was searching for a Maine-based bank that might be a good match for Wescott.

Why was Wescott a good fit for the Norway brand? Wescott grew up in Maine and began snowboarding at the age of seven. Today he is a co-owner of a pub and restaurant at the base of Sugarloaf--his home mountain in Carrabasset Valley. More notably, he is one of the most accomplished and...