Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 1, 1994 TAG: 9404290104
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Chances are they won't be pointing with pride at the Cool Max cycling apparel, helmets and bicycle tires made from the fiber they spin. Rather the workers, members of the Martinsville Nylon Employees Council, likely will be working the crowds, handing out brochures to spectators about gripes with their employer.
While DuPont enjoys the spotlight of international publicity as the title sponsor of the 1,060-mile race, the event gets mixed reviews from inside its plants, where promotional messages flash on closed-circuit television in the cafeterias.
DuPont, despite ranking among the world's major chemicals, fibers and petroleum companies, is dealing with harsh new economic realities. Although the corporation's worldwide sales have remained fairly steady - $37.09 billion last year - net income has dropped by 77 percent over the past five years, to $566 million in 1993. Employment is off by 22 percent in the same period and the downsizing clearly is not complete.
In Martinsville, one of three U.S. plants where DuPont makes nylon yarns, the company has announced plans to trim the work force to 660 by this fall, from nearly 1,300 last September.
"The way I see it, they could be spending the money more wisely, modernizing and trying to be more competitive," said Clinton Jennings, president of the Martinsville nylon workers union.
"We feel DuPont has lacked responsibility in the environmental area and had its image tarnished and they're using this as a gimmick to get people's attention away from the real issues,'' said Dean Goad of Martinsville, president of the International Brotherhood of DuPont Workers, a union that represents about 10 percent of DuPont's 114,000 employees..
Jennings said the company's environmental record is the main topic of the brochures union workers expect to distribute when Tour DuPont races through Blacksburg on May 10.
Indeed, one of the points of DuPont's $2 million a year sponsorship of the bicycle race, is that it conveys a positive message about the company to consumers who are young, upwardly mobile and concerned about health, fitness and the environment, said Jerry Summers, the manager of corporate events at DuPont headquarters in Wilmington, Del.
For that investment, Summers estimates DuPont gets $50 million worth of visibility each year and the chance to build familiarity with about 40 products linked to cycling that DuPont makes or contributes raw materials.
"I've had a couple of calls from employees who question how we can sponsor this race when the company is downsizing," Summers said. But he counters that only 10 jobs would be saved if the Tour DuPont budget were channeled back into company operations.
DuPont has contracted to sponsor the race through 1997. It became the title sponsor in 1991, since New York developer Donald Trump relinquished it after two years. DuPont's contract is with Medalist Sports Inc. of Richmond, the outfit that actually produces the annual event.
What does a corporation really get from such sponsorships?
Nothing really measurable, according to Virginia Tech marketing professor M. Joseph Sirgy.
"Corporate sponsorship usually does not have a strong impact on consumers or other constituents such as shareholders or employees," he said. Rather, they tend to confirm attitudes and images that exist for other reasons.
For anyone with positive attitudes already toward DuPont, the bike race is likely simply to enhance those feelings. For those with negative attitudes, Tour DuPont will simply make them more angry, he said.
And as for sales of DuPont products, Sirgy said, an event such as Tour DuPont at best creates brand acceptance. "When the consumer feels a need to buy a product, the brand may be considered among others. That's the first step to a sale."
For Jennings, however, the race is linked to an event last December, when the Martinsville plant managers decided the company could no longer sponsor a Christmas party for employees' children and suggested the union pick up the cost.
"I don't think we should be proud of a bicycle race when we can't give a bag of candy to kids," he said.
by CNB