When the sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency helped Nextel Communications claim the NASCAR Cup series in June 2003 (replacing R.J. Reynolds Tobacco’s Winston brand) it “painted the town yellow” to celebrate.
Scrambling in advance of the February 2004 Daytona 500, the Norwalk, CT-based shop mounted Nextel banners at the track, in the city and at points from the Orlando airports to race fans’ hotels. It also helped Motorola develop NASCAR-themed cell phones with the likeness of the circuit’s most popular racers.
“Nextel was able to do things that Winston couldn’t because of tobacco regulations,” says Jeff Shifrin, Octagon executive VP. “It changed people’s perspective of the sport while showing they wanted to support and enhance the sport.”
Nextel’s subscriber base grew by 4 million between the Daytona 500 and October, when Kurt Busch became the NASCAR Nextel Cup champion.
“[Octagon] didn’t have a ton of experience in motorsports, but they were really integral in every step of the process,” says Michael Robichaud, Nextel’s senior director of sports and entertainment marketing.
This is the first year that 22-year-old Octagon has entered the PROMO 100. It debuts at No. 11 by virtue of strong campaign work and growth. Estimated net revenues topped $26.7 million for 2004, up 44% from 2002. Worldwide net revenues are estimated at $117 million. In the U.S., 41% of Octagon’s growth came from new clients, including Bank of America, The Home Depot, Monster.com and Lysol, which all signed with Octagon in 2003; 59% of growth came from existing clients, including BMW, Pfizer, Celebrex and Unilever (which made Octagon its AOR in January).
Octagon has 11 offices across the U.S. to foster a regional focus on its properties. For example, its Charlotte office is exclusive to its NASCAR and other motorsports dealings, and Naples, FL, and Tulsa, OK, are set up to handle the Senior PGA.
In February, Octagon joined Civic Entertainment Group to sell sponsorships for New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. They will pitch marketers this fall on name rights for many of the city’s rail stations, subways, bridges and tunnels.
A similar assignment last year for NYC’s Department of Education drew critics, who tried to block a $126 million, five-year deal that Octagon cut for Snapple. As an official city sponsor, Snapple was to get exclusive beverage vending in all 6,000 city-owned buildings. City Comptroller William Thompson sued in April 2004 to overturn the contract, calling it a “backroom deal.” A state judge let the sponsorship proceed.
“We still don’t understand why [Thompson blocked the deal], but the City is happy and Snapple is happy,” Shifrin says.
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