Baltimore-based Under Armour gets 'Today' show boost

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Nov 6, 2007 by Louis Llovio

Broadcasting live from the Arctic Circle Monday morning, "Today" show host Matt Lauer donned a black ski cap with a gold Under Armour logo firmly centered on the his forehead and exposed the Baltimore- based apparel maker to 5.5 million viewers.

According to a spokeswoman for NBC, Lauer put on the hat to keep warm. It was not a paid advertisement or product placement, she said.

Regardless, the impact for Under Armour is immeasurable, according to Roland T. Rust, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

"This type of placement is even more effective than paid advertising," Rust said.

Viewers are preconditioned to resist advertising when they see it in the form of a 30-second commercial, he said. However, when the audience sees someone like Lauer wearing a specific product, they not only relate to it, but are prone to respond to the product in a more positive light.

Unlike product placement on produced shows or with sports teams, seeing a news anchor adds a level of credibility to the product for the viewer, he said.

"Lauer can be very influential because of the sheer size of the audience," Rust said. "Companies like Under Armour are thrilled when they see someone like him wearing their merchandise on the air."

Lauer showing the logo prominently for several segments could add up to hundreds of thousands pf dollars worth of advertising that the company is getting for free, Rust said.

According to media buyer Jody S. Berg, principal of Media Works Ltd. in Owings Mills, a 30-second spot on "Today" costs, on average, about $50,000.

NBC said "Today" averages about 5.5 million viewers daily.

Berg, though, said she is not so sure that Lauer "just happened" to be wearing the hat.

"This is not a happy accident," she said. "Networks are very strict about what goes on the air. NBC doesn't allow anything bearing a logo to go on the air that hasn't been approved."

That does not necessarily mean that actual money changed hands.

"A lot of times, companies will provide a network or show with product" with the understanding that it is prominently displayed on the air, Berg said.

Under Armour did not respond to calls or e-mails for this story.

Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, adamantly disagreed that the ski cap was product placement or provided under any guise by the company.

"Network folks are very careful about things like that and this is an issue that's been hammered out in newsrooms," she said. "Chances are that this was his ski cap and he put it on simply because it was cold."

She said the prominent placement of the Under Armour logo was a result of broadcasting live while on location in harsh elements.

"I promise you, [hiding the logo] was the last thing on their minds," she said.

Rust said he'd be surprised if Under Armour paid for the placement. If it did, he said, it would put "Today" on par with an average sitcom.

According to The Nielsen Co., which monitors and researches television viewership, Under Armour had the 10th highest number of "occurrences" on network television in the first quarter of 2007.

"Occurrences" are the number of times a product or company logo appears on television, not including commercials. Under Armour also provides uniforms and other apparel for the NBC drama "Friday Night Lights."

Under Armour had 115 "occurrences," behind giants like Coca- Cola, which had the highest number -- 2,488; Nike, which had 347; and Hewlett Packard, which had 159.