Golfweek

By SCOTT HAMILTON
Senior Writer

Lots of birdies at this week’s PGA Tour stop – the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C. – could produce dividends for the title sponsor’s select customers.

Adding a new wrinkle to its sponsorship, Wachovia, the nation’s fourth-largest bank, has debuted its “Save Like A Champion” initiative. It will reward customers enrolled in the bank’s Way2Save savings program with an interest rate in June, July and August equal to the tournament’s winning score in relation to par. In the past five years at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, that number has ranged from 10 to 13 under.

In the savings program, Wachovia transfers $1 from the customer’s checking account into savings whenever the customer makes a debit card transaction. Customers also can earn a 5 percent interest rate in the savings account during the first year.

According to the Tour, the “Save Like a Champion” program marks the first sponsorship initiative to tie a product or service to a tournament’s winning score.

Wachovia had focused on building equity in the Wachovia Championship before introducing a retail program, according to Francie Gottsegen, Wachovia’s manager of sponsorships and alliances.

Until now, Wachovia’s marketing included inititiaves such as LED signage in Times Square in New York City that scrolled real-time scores. The bank also displayed messages on ATM screens and televisions in financial centers touting the event.

Wachovia has sponsored the Wachovia Championship, scheduled for May 1-4 at Quail Hollow Club, since its inception in 2003. It signed an extension in 2006 that runs through 2010, but discussions are underway to add an additional four years.

Though Wachovia has partnerships with a number of NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams, its premier sports sponsorship lies with the golf tournament. The event serves as the lead-in for the Players championship, and its first-class treatment of players as well as their wives and caddies has produced top-notch fields.

According to bank officials, however, Wachovia is “not actively seeking involvement with other golf tournaments.”

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Scott Hamilton is a Golfweek senior writer. To reach him e-mail shamilton@golfweek.com.
Posted: 4/28/2008

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