Masked as a survey from the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche, the online questionnaire some fans received this week is really Qwest’s effort to see if its sports marketing deals are paying off.
The surveys start with several questions about the teams but moves into eight questions about Qwest, such as “When Qwest sponsors events and sports that you follow, how likely are you to consider trying their product or service?”
Qwest is one of five founding partners of the Pepsi Center, home to the Nuggets and Avs.
The Denver-based company is conducting such surveys in several markets where it has sports naming rights or sponsorship deals, including Seattle, where it has the naming rights to Qwest Field, home to pro football’s Seattle Seahawks.
“It gives us an opportunity to look at how we’ve messaged, how effective it’s been and what things we would change,” said Rich Karlis, director of sponsorships and events for Qwest.
Karlis said the company’s deal with the Pepsi Center, which opened in 1997, has a few years remaining. He wouldn’t say whether Qwest would be interested in making a run at the naming rights to the arena when they expire in 10 years.
Qwest has a number of local sponsorship deals but doesn’t have a naming-rights agreement to a major sports venue in Colorado.
“There’s no question that they would benefit from a naming-rights sponsorship in terms of brand exposure, in terms of reinforcing the impact of their name in this marketplace,” said Don Hinchey, vice president of communications for the Bonham Group, a local sports marketing firm. “It underlines the fact that this is a major market, and more or less, this is their home territory.”
The company cut its ties with The International, the now-defunct golf tournament, in 2004 after its five-year sponsorship deal ended.
This is the second year Qwest has conducted the fan surveys. Karlis wouldn’t disclose results of last year’s survey.
Staff writer Andy Vuong can be reached at 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com.
