DICK’S Sporting Goods (DICK’S) has launched its largest brand campaign to date, named “Sports Change Lives,” to celebrate the principles on which the company was founded.
“Since DICK’S was founded 75 years ago, we have believed sports have the power to change lives. Whether it’s the friendships made in youth soccer, a coach who became a mentor, or a morning run that puts everything into perspective, the impacts of these experiences are what this campaign is all about,” says Ed Plummer, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at DICK’S Sporting Goods. “Our 75-year anniversary is a great opportunity to focus even more of our efforts on the communities and youth sports programs where we can make a lasting impact.”
The major components of the new campaign are:
- A new marketing campaign that highlights–through a new 90-second brand anthem–the positive impact sports participation has on individuals’ character, friendships, physical and mental health, academic achievement, and more broadly, the ability of sports to bring together and inspire communities and the next generation of athletes. There will also be a second expression of the campaign featuring nine sport-specific 15-second spots. The marketing and media elements of the “Sports Change Lives” campaign were developed by Arts & Letters Creative Co.
- Becoming the official sporting goods retail partner of the NCAA and all 90 of its Men’s and Women’s Championships. The partnership will include exclusive category sponsorship right sights to select fan events during the Men’s and Women’s Final Four Games, access to exclusive NCAA championship event licensed merchandise and media investments during the Men’s and Women’s March Madness tournaments, courtside signage, exclusive content production using historical footage, and access to multiple college championships.
- A new program, “75 for 75 Sports Matter,” will provide 75 grants from The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation of $75,000 each to select youth sports programs around the country that are changing lives through sport on and off the field. It is estimated the program will distribute more than $5.6 million in 2023.
- A renewed $1.5 million partnership between The DICK’S Foundation and Good Sports to provide 20 of the most under-resourced communities across the country with $75,000 worth of youth sports equipment in 2023, while another new $1.5 million partnership between the foundation and Local Initiatives Support Corporation to launch the Game On-Community Places to Play Initiative, which will help to create or renovate up to 20 multi-use youth sports spaces in underserved communities.
Since 2014, when the company started tracking its giving, DICK’ and The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation have committed more than $170 million to support young athletes. The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation has set a goal to help give two million children the chance to play by 2024.
