Browning best bet, image-makers wager

IT WAS hardly business as usual for some 250 Investors Group employees who crowded into the atrium of One Canada Place overlooking Portage Avenue late last month.

It was the first chance for most of them to welcome four-time world figure skating champion Kurt Browning into the fold. It was also Browning's first opportunity to meet the folks at the personal financial planning services company that has agreed to contribute $100,000 over five years to the Kurt Browning bursary fund. Now called Team Investors Group Kurt Browning Junior Skating Fund, it provides financial assistance to some of Canada's most promising figure skaters each season.

In return, the popular athlete signed on for two years to make personal appearances and participate in various corporate programs on the company's behalf.

Investors' alliances with Browning and Chrysler Stars on Ice, the annual 10-city tour which Browning leads across the country, are just two of several relationships the company has with the sports world.

"This arrangement has been really positive for me. It's been really smooth, really pleasant and the motivation behind it is very exciting," said Browning who sandwiched the get-to-know-you session between a morning photo shoot for Investors and a reception with the company's clients prior to the Stars on Ice performance at Winnipeg Arena.

"Kurt enhances our existing sponsorship with Stars on Ice," explained Richard Irish, Investors vice-president of corporate and community affairs. "He has a tremendous following and we can associate ourselves with his following by being a partner with him. Also, through his bursary we're doing something we think is good corporate citizenship. It's on the public relations side, corporate image side of things."

It has been Browning's experience that corporate-athlete partnerships also have a positive influence on employees.

"I think, generally, it does make people feel good about their company, knowing that you're going to work with a company that does that sort of thing. You are a reflection of what you're being told, being shown. It's important to set a good example. It's tough to motivate people and this is a cool, very interesting way to do it," said Browning.

He spent an hour meeting, being photographed with and signing autographs for Investors personnel.

Irish said his company did extensive research on various sports three years ago before deciding to pursue both contributions and sponsorship opportunities in professional golf and figure skating.

Investors looked at demographics, growth potential, what other corporate sponsors were doing, its budget, properties available and, most importantly, which properties would best meet company objectives.

"When you threw it all in and sorted through, that's what came out," Irish said of their sport choices.

In the golf world, Investors sponsors the Export A Skins Game, Air Canada Championship, Canadian PGA Championship and, this summer, the AT and T Senior Open in Winnipeg. The company is in its second year of sponsoring Winnipeg pro golfer Rob McMillan.

Investors also puts a major focus on amateur sport. The company recently committed $500,000 to a five-year bursary fund for Canada's national team athletes in financial need.

"When people think of corporate sponsorship, they're thinking millions and millions of dollars and that is not the case here," Irish noted.

What's more important, he said, is making sure you really understand your company and what your objectives are -- whether they be pure corporate citizenship, business-related, or marketing or sales focused.

"There's a whole range of publics that corporations need to talk to, but the first step is to really understand what you're all about and what associations you want to develop. If you don't know what you want, no matter how much money you have, you might not fulfil the potential of whatever sponsorship you enter into," Irish cautioned.