Northwestern Mutual Maximizes Presence at NCAA® Men's and Women's College Basketball Championships

MILWAUKEE, March 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwestern Mutual, an official corporate partner of the NCAA^®, today introduced new marketing efforts for the 2014 NCAA Men's and Women's Division I Basketball Tournaments, in addition to reprising a number of successful activities from last year.

New this year, the company will focus on exclusive video content promoting the benefits of planning, including the "Northwestern Mutual Presents Planning for Success" broadcast special, and "Team Confidential" a behind-the-scenes look at how a team prepares for the NCAA Championship, housed on NCAA.com and Bleacher Report. Northwestern Mutual will also serve as primary sponsor of the First Four^®, have a significant advertising presence during the tournaments' television and web broadcasts, and sponsor local events in North Texas, site of the Men's Final Four^®, and Nashville, site of the Women's Final Four^®. Both locations are host cities.

"Since we joined the NCAA as a Corporate Partner, we've found substantial opportunities around March Madness that are a great fit for our company and the communities we serve," said Conrad York, vice president of marketing. "Planning is an essential component to success, whether you are on or off the court. We help our clients plan for a secure financial future every day with our distinctive planning process."

Exclusive Online and Broadcast Content
A 30-minute program produced especially for Northwestern Mutual will focus on planning for the future in the context of college basketball. "Northwestern Mutual Presents Planning for Success" takes a look at the role that preparation, style and execution play in the success of prominent NCAA coaches, and will include exclusive and unseen content from conversations conducted by CBS Sports analysts Greg Anthony, Clark Kellogg and Bill Raftery.  Hosted by Turner's Ernie Johnson, the show will explore success at the highest level of college basketball. The program airs April 5 at 2:30 EDT on CBS.

"Team Confidential" will be a series of all-access videos which will take fans along for the ride with certain teams from the Selection Sunday announcement through practices and games. CBS Sports will produce the videos that will live on NCAA.com and the sports website Bleacher Report.

Short videos featuring coaches filmed during the season will also air in-game during the tournament on TBS, TNT, truTV and CBS. The videos are branded and feature :20-:30 seconds of coaches discussing various issues relative to preparation and planning.

Northwestern Mutual will also share exclusive content on its Facebook page during the Final Four that showcases the planning that has gone into the championship such as the creation and construction of the court floor by Connor Sports, the basketballs by Wilson and all of the preparation done by the facilities team at AT&T Stadium. Both Connor Sports and Wilson are official suppliers to the NCAA.

Tournament Advertising Presence
Northwestern Mutual will again have an advertising presence on CBS, TNT, TBS, and truTV, brokered by the media agency Spark. Significant media support will extend to web and mobile advertising on NCAA March Madness Live^™. NCAA March Madness Live provides multi-screen digital access to all 67 games of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

For the third straight year, Northwestern Mutual will serve as a presenting sponsor of the First Four games on truTV, played March 18 and 19 at University of Dayton arena in Dayton, Ohio.

Local Sponsorships
Northwestern Mutual is reprising sponsorship of a number of local events during Final Four weekend in Dallas and Nashville for the Men's and Women's Championships, respectively.

Dallas
On Final Four Friday^®, April 4, the company will serve as the presenting sponsor of the 2014 Coaches vs. Cancer Coaches Huddle, a fundraising event in Dallas attended by former and current NCAA basketball coaches. The benefit will support the American Cancer Society's pediatric program.

The Northwestern Mutual Road to the Final Four 5K will take place on Saturday, April 5 and will benefit pediatric cancer research through the American Cancer Society.

Nashville
Northwestern Mutual is also presenting sponsor for the 4Kay^® Run in Nashville around the Women's Championship. The walk is held in honor of late North Carolina State head women's basketball coach Kay Yow.  Proceeds from the 4Kay Run benefit cancer research through the Kay Yow Cancer Fund^®.

Northwestern Mutual announced a corporate partnership with the NCAA in January 2012, including exclusivity in the life insurance, wealth management and retirement planning service categories.

About Northwestern Mutual
Northwestern Mutual has helped clients achieve financial security for 157 years. As a mutual company with $1.5 trillion of life insurance protection in force, Northwestern Mutual has no shareholders. The company focuses solely and directly on its clients and seeks to deliver consistent and dependable value to them over time.

Northwestern Mutual is the marketing name for The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, Milwaukee, WI, and its subsidiaries. Northwestern Mutual and its subsidiaries offer a holistic approach to financial security solutions including: life insurance, long-term care insurance, disability income insurance, annuities, investment products, and advisory products and services. Subsidiaries include Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, LLC, broker-dealer, registered investment adviser, member FINRA and SIPC; the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, limited purpose federal savings bank; Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company; and Russell Investments.

About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 450,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.

NCAA, Final Four, First Four, March Madness, March Madness Live, Final Four Friday, Selection Sunday and NCAA Basketball are trademarks of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

SOURCE Northwestern Mutual