Yes, There's Crying in Figure Skating

On the heels of Buffalo Wild Wings’ partnership with the NCAA comes another sponsorship that represents a great fit for the investing brand.

Yesterday it was announced that Proctor & Gamble’s tissues brand, Puffs, has agreed to terms with United States Figure Skating on a “high six-figure deal” to sponsor the sport’s famous (infamous?) “Kiss-and-cry zone.”

For those unfamiliar with the sport (whoever those people are), the area is where the skaters nervously lie in wait for the judges’ scores. It is often home to raw outpourings of emotion, be it agony after a fall on the sport’s biggest stage or pure ecstasy after the performance of a lifetime.  

For those who only watch figure skating sparingly, the memorable reactions in the “Kiss-and-cry zone” are often the highlight of the entire program. As a result, it is also one of the U.S. Figure Skating Association’s most prized ownable assets. Since the area receives an estimated 10 minutes of television exposure each hour of the broadcast, the organization has been reluctant to package the asset as added value in any of its existing deals with Prudential, Smuckers, and Hilton.

Instead, the U.S. Figure Skating Association was in favor of selling the area to an appropriate partner as the centerpiece of a new sponsorship deal. Puffs, a tissue brand, felt the opportunity was a perfect fit for their product.

Laura Dressman, Communications Manager for Puffs, explained why the brand jumped at the opportunity to sponsor the “Kiss-and-cry zone” at all U.S. Figure Skating events through 2014, “We realize that’s an emotional place for the skaters, and Puffs is all about helping people put their best face forward, so we realized it was a natural fit.”

Puffs will receive title sponsorship of the area, which will be rebranded “Puffs Kiss and Cry,” and there will be branded tissues available to all of the athletes. There will also be sampling opportunities, signage, as well as a media buy in all of the sport’s broadcasts. Puffs also plans on building a replica “Kiss and Cry” booth in the concourses of all major U.S. Figure Skating Championships so that fans can experience the same emotion felt by the skaters themselves.