The dividends Bon Secours will earn for its participation in efforts to secure the Redskins training camp for Richmond will continue to pay for years to come.
As much as it's an exchange of property, the deal also represents an important marketing investment, acknowledges Charlotte Perkins, a Bon Secours vice president of marketing. "I'm not going to deny that," she says, expressing enthusiasm about the potential to promote health initiatives among men and low-income children — two high-need groups that can be hard to reach.
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The draft contract includes co-branding of any advertising the Redskins do in the region, as well as partnerships on various health initiatives. It may well include much more before it is signed.
Perkins says the value of the marketing and advertising portion of the deal remains unclear, but here's a ballpark analogy:
In the mid-1990s, Richmond's own Siddall Inc. took on the old stalwart "Virginia Is for Lovers" campaign in an effort to attract tourists from the Southeast.
The result: "Virginia Is for Lovers" sponsored a NASCAR Busch-series car that ran for about two years, says John Siddall, chairman and founder of Siddall Inc.
"What does NASCAR have to do with tourism?" Siddall asks. "The same thing football has to do with men's health."
State data later showed that for every $1 Virginia spent, it made $12.
