Dr Pepper Gets Pouring Rights
Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group is expected to become the official soft drink partner at the 64,000-seat Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams.
Bob Reif, chief marketing officer for the Rams, said the “ink is not yet dry [but] obviously we believe it’s going to happen.”
He said Dr Pepper Snapple Group would be the “official carbonated soft drink provider,” which includes the “Dr Pepper family of products,” including the Dr Pepper, 7Up and Snapple lines.
It also includes Deja Blue water, which will be re-branded in the St. Louis area to include a gold cap with the Rams’ blue colors. The package label will feature the St. Louis Arch.
“Really the cornerstone of this deal is that the Rams logos are going to be on over 5 million cans and bottles starting this fall,” Reif said. “That’s activation that our brand has not seen in a very long time.”
CBS ST LOUIS Audio of Bob Reif Interview- HERE
He declined to reveal financial terms.
This marks Dr Pepper’s second exclusive pouring rights deal in the NFL.
In April of 2012, Dr Pepper Snapple Group said it had signed a seven-year marketing agreement with the Chicago Bears to be the exclusive provider of sodas and other non-alcoholic drinks at Soldier Field.
The Rams’ deal comes with a certain level of mystery. Earlier this month the city of St. Louis said no thank you to the team owner’s request for $700 million in stadium improvements.
Published reports say the Rams now have the right to break their stadium lease and go elsewhere after the 2014 season.
We have a call in to Reif to ask about that.
By Karen Robinson-Jacobs
Dallas Morning News
The Website http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/ reports today that the Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group is close to completing a deal that would make it the exclusive soft drink sponsor of the St. Louis Rams.
If true, the match would follow on the heels of another high-profile sponsorship deal, with da Bears of Chicago.
The Bears’ deal was the company’s first category-exclusive vending and pouring rights deal with an NFL franchise, and one of its biggest professional sports team sponsorships.
Dr Pepper is “an official beverage partner” of the Dallas Cowboys, but that is not an exclusive relationship.
Sources said the Rams deal was in its final stages last week.
Dr Pepper, the nation’s No. 3 soft drink maker, has been trying mightily to bring back “lapsed” soda drinkers. Lapsed means, for health or other reasons they’ve chosen to swear off soft drinks.
Having high profile deals in stadiums, where fans still drink soda and eat cheesy nachos, helps the company reconnect with some consumers.