Charlotte sports marketing agency expands reach with HBCU marching band documentaries
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Posted By: S. Moore on May 16, 2023 Charlotte sports marketing entrepreneur Derek Webber has spent recent years carving out a significant niche with historically Black colleges and universities, including a battle of the bands event big enough to fill Houston’s NFL stadium every year. Along the way, Webber, who is the agency founder and CEO, and his business partners decided to start a companion documentary series telling the behind-the-scenes stories of the HBCU marching bands that have become such cultural forces that they can often overshadow the football games featuring their performances. The documentaries have been syndicated in recent years and, next month, the original film, “National Battle of the Bands: A Salute to HBCU Marching Bands,” will be featured in Miami Beach as part of the American Black Film Festival, which salutes the work of independent Black cinema. That recognition offers the latest example of Webber Marketing & Consulting’s increasing influence in HBCU sports and culture. Webber, during a recent interview with CBJ, noted that his agency has become the largest marketing and sponsorship provider in HBCU sports, mainly through the SWAC, or Southwestern Athletic Conference, a 12-school league headquartered in Birmingham. Member schools include Grambling State University, Alcorn State University, Florida A&M University and Jackson State University, where Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders was the football coach for three years before leaving to coach the University of Colorado. Webber Marketing works on sponsorships, brand marketing and media development with Walt Disney Co.’s (NYSE: DIS) ESPN for the SWAC. The agency has 33 other HBCUs that are part of the Battle of the Bands program. Multicultural marketing with companies and brands, through media strategies and other promotions — think displays and product sampling at or near major events — is another aspect of Webber Marketing’s business. Clients include PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ: PEP), JPMorgan & Chase Co. (NYSE: JPM), Home Depot Inc. (NYSE: HD),and Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ: ASO), among others. Event management is the third part of the business. Examples include HBCU neutral-site football games, owned by other organizations, and the National Battle of the Bands, which was created and is still owned by Webber Marketing. It started in 2010 as the Queen City Battle of the Bands at Memorial Stadium. In 2019, Webber Marketing relocated the event to Houston with a new name, the National Battle of the Bands, and a much larger venue: NRG Stadium, home of the NFL Texans. The Texans and the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority are partners with the event, held annually as a lead-in to the football season (Aug. 25-27 this year). Battle of the Bands has generated close to $1 million for scholarships at the participating schools. Last year’s event attracted 55,000 fans. A tie-in college fair attracted 7,000 students. Sponsors and nonprofits collaborate on education and outreach programs to students and schools as well as the broader community. In 2022, 2,200 student musicians participated as eight schools battled for the title. SOURCE Charlotte Business Journal If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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