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Founded in St. Louis, Rawlings has been a supplier of sporting goods to the “big leagues” and the “little leagues” since 1887.  It’s a brand name that immediately comes to mind when one thinks of equipment and apparel for baseball, basketball and football.

Armed with endorsement deals with some of the top stars of these sports, one might think Rawlings’ consumer products sell themselves.  In fact, though, keeping a brand relevant and getting share of the piggy bank in a youth-driven market poses special challenges for a mature brand like Rawlings.

At the AMA-St. Louis luncheon on Oct. 21, Rawlings Brand Marketing Director Kurt Hunzeker will explain how his team keeps the Rawlings brand energized and growing.  And how changing the internal stakeholders’ perceptions of an established brand is critical to success.

 
About the speaker:
 
Kurt Hunzeker joined Jarden Team Sports in March 2010 as its brand marketing director.  In addition to the iconic Rawlings’ brand, Hunzeker also oversees the brand marketing initiatives for Worth (fastpitch and slowpitch softball), deBeer (women’s lacrosse and field hockey) and Gait (men’s lacrosse).

Since his arrival, Hunzeker launched Rawlings’ first-ever Facebook consumer engagement platform on Opening Day, and within five months, established Rawlings as the #1 baseball-centric sporting goods brand on the social media site, overtaking brands with pages that had been up for more than two years.

In addition to Rawlings’ baseball-centric activities, Hunzeker spearheads the recently-released Rawlings Football brand campaign, including the branding and promotion of the new Rawlings Neuro Responsive Gear (NRG) football helmet product launch.  The comprehensive integrated marketing campaign to support Rawlings’ unique position in the football industry launches this November.

Prior to joining Jarden, Hunzeker worked for The Active Network, leading its business development efforts to secure clients such as Churchill Downs, Kashi, MillerCoors and Proctor & Gamble.  He previously launched the sales and marketing operations for upstart promotional collectible company, KiDS ScoreCard, managed event marketing campaigns for the likes of Cingular Wireless, the NBA and Nike while at Relay Worldwide, and in 2002, authored Sports Advertising Process, an interactive workbook for sports executives from all backgrounds to gain further insight on the sports-specific advertising process from the first step of identifying business goals to analyzing the campaign at season’s end.