2004 Ad

Mortgage Banking, Oct, 2004 by Steve Bergsman

The big play

In sports there are transcendent moments that always stand out in memory: the hail-Mary pass that wins a football game, a clutch homerun over the centerfield fence or the alley-oop pass that ends in an athletic slam-dunk. In sports marketing, the big plays are more prosaic. Being at the top of that game might include getting your company's name before a major sporting event or having a sports stadium bear your name.

Financial companies often have gone for the big play, especially in regard to stadiums. There's INVESCO Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, and Bank of America Stadium, home of the Carolina Panthers. Before its acquisition by Bank of America, Fleet Bank's name adorned Fleet Center, home of the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. And as of 2004, Ameriquest Field in Arlington is home to the Texas Rangers baseball team.

Ameriquest's commitment to baseball now includes the Rangers' stadium, sponsorship of Major League Baseball All-Star voting and becoming the official mortgage company of Major League Baseball. The company has been looking at other sports as well, saying it was recently involved with the NFL Kick-Off, a music and football extravaganza that "kicks off" the new pro football season.

One aspect of the sports-marketing program that appeals to Ameriquest is how these sponsorships can be leveraged through other media. The company sponsors a blimp called the Ameriquest Airship Freedom, which travels across the country covering public celebrations and local and national sporting events, including the Indianapolis 500, Rangers home games and the 2004 All-Star Game.

Community relations

Ameriquest, as with other mortgage companies, also does a lot of community interest programs, which tie very well into sports marketing. It gave away 1 million tickets this year to people all over the country so they could come to a baseball game, including thousands of tickets to New York firefighters and police officers.

"This is a way to familiarize millions of homeowners with our brand while at the same time reaching out to communities," says Bass.

In another example, Ameriquest has been a supporter of Habitat for Humanity and, Bass says, "Part of our contractual arrangement with the Texas Rangers is for us to jointly build 90 Habitat for Humanity homes. We've already built three."

Since Habitat for Humanity uses nongovernmental donations of funding, materials, professional services and volunteer labor to build homes that are sold to qualified, low-income families, it is a natural fit for mortgage companies involved in community relations.

Oddly, it is also a way to leverage sports marketing.

Habitat for Humanity is one of the primary corporate charities for HomeBanc Corporation, the parent company of HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation.

The latter hires a lot of ex-athletes, and one of those athletes working in the Athens, Georgia, branch office suggested getting players from college football teams involved with Habitat. In 2002, HomeBanc Mortgage and players from the University of Georgia football team helped build a Habitat home; they did it again in 2003. In 2004, HomeBanc teamed with two other gridiron groups from Georgia Tech and the University of South Florida to build more homes.