As the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame readies the 30th anniversary of its annual Induction Ceremony, to be held April 18 at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium, the organization will also host another milestone this year — its first corporate sponsor. Klipsch Audio, an Indianapolis-based headphone and loudspeaker manufacturer, has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the RRHOF Induction Ceremony for the next three years, as well as naming rights for the Klipsch Audio Stage at the Rock Hall Museum in downtown Cleveland, in which Klipsch product will be integrated throughout.
“Klipsch is really well-aligned with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and all that we represent,” Steve Dabo, director of sponsorships for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, said in a statement. “Every day, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame celebrates the pinnacle of achievement and tells the stories of the music that shaped our lives. That commitment to a high standard of musical excellence is at the heart of both of our brands and gives us an incredible foundation on which to build.”
Adds Matt Sommers, Klipsch’s vp of marketing, “We’re gonna make the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame sound better with the first major audio overhaul they’ve had since the facility was built 20 years ago.” In addition to sponsoring the Induction Ceremony and the Museum, Klipsch will host branded sweepstakes for flyaways to the April 18 event, as well as the voting pages at partner sites RollingStone.com, USAToday.com and Fuse.com.
The Rock Hall, repped by Creative Artists Agency, has been welcoming new sponsorship opportunities since 2012, working with companies like United Airlines, Medical Mutual, Sirius XM and Gibson Guitars as Museum sponsors in recent years. Corporate sponsorship contributed just under $1 million to the foundation’s revenue in 2013, according to its most recent financial report. Klipsch’s deal was brokered by Brand Synergy Group, a branding agency operated by music publishing and management firm Primary Wave. Klipsch’s sponsorship will not be integrated into HBO’s forthcoming telecast of the Rock Hall Induction Ceremony, however, since HBO is a commercial-free network.
Klipsch has been increasing its sponsorship activity in recent years to amp up its brand awareness against competitors like Harman International, which last year sponsored the debut of Live Nation’s JBL Live at Pier 97 in New York and has committed more than $30 million in marketing dollars to partnerships with Coachella, AEG Live, the Grammys, New York Yankees and artists like Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Quincy Jones and Tiesto.
Klipsch has been working closely with Live Nation in recent years for sponsorship of regional venues like Irvine’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, West Palm Beach, Florida’s Cruzan Amphitheatre and Noblesville, Indiana’s recently branded Klipsch Music Center. In 2013, Klipsch also partnered with Kings of Leon for a sponsorship of the band’s 2013-14 arena tour. “Klipsch operates in four main audio verticals, and each one has a different competitor with a different landscape,” Sommers says. “The Rock Hall allows us to flex all those muscles in one place, and show off all our products in one location.”