• by Karl Greenberg , March 15, 2007

Ford Motor has signed a multi-year, integrated partnership with the Dallas Cowboys that gives Ford "official vehicle" status with the Cowboys and puts the Ford name and products front and center in the new Cowboys stadium.

Starting in 2009, when the stadium is completed, Ford will have interactive exhibits for attendees and signage visible to television audiences. As part of the deal, Ford also gets unprecedented access and sponsorship of the new Cowboys' training camp in San Antonio this year.

The deal, extending Ford's 15-year sponsorship of the Dallas Cowboys NFL football team through 2018, centers on a new stadium that will have a retractable roof and a seating capacity for 80,000 during games and 100,000 for other events. The Cowboys training camp in San Antonio, relocated from southern California this year, will be renamed the "Built Ford Tough" training camp. Texas Ford dealers will be able to offer fans promotions, dangling meet-and-greets with players and coaches, and access to the camp.

The automaker and the Cowboys will launch a joint corporate goodwill effort that awards Texas high school athletes with a Built Ford Tough Dallas Cowboy High School Football Player of the Week Award.

At the stadium, Ford's presence will be visible in seating areas, concourses and parking. There will also be a Built Ford Tough end zone fan experience, branded seating and a touchdown celebration.

David Mondragon, Ford Southwest marketing general manager, says the program, developed regionally but supported by Ford's Dearborn, Mich., headquarters, goes well beyond Texas. "The footprint of the relationship is much broader ... the Cowboys are the number-one-watched sports franchise in the country," he says. "Ford's plan is to complement the Cowboy's vision by adding value."

He says Ford interactive displays will tout Ford product attributes with athleticism. For instance, a torque push experience for the F-150 lets fans test their strength on a device that measures torque. A "Built Ford Tough" end zone display will include branded seats, a huge Ford grill, and a Ford-branded touchdown celebration.

"Our goal is to drive business at a retail level through impressions made at the stadium," says Mondragon, who adds a Ford-run exit survey revealed that 27% of game attendees own a Ford, versus 16% of the general market in Texas; that 47% of game attendees say their opinion of Ford was improved because of Ford's relationship with Cowboys, and 36% says Ford's association with the Cowboys boosted their own purchase consideration.

Ford will use the association to tout all its vehicles but the focus will be on F-150, constituting 50% of Ford's sales in Texas, says Mondragon. Texas also constitutes the largest pickup truck market in the U.S. Ford will also sponsor regional Cowboy TV and radio.

Ford also sponsors the Houston Livestock show, the famed King Ranch, of which Ford has a version of the F-150 pickup, and the Star of Texas Fair and Rodeo, among others. Ford reported that F-150 sales in Texas were up 8% last month with sales of the Super Duty--40% of Ford F-150 volume in Texas--up 28%.