NEW YORK—Burson-Marsteller is launching the Fan Experience, a specialty offering from the firm’s US consumer and brand marketing practice designed to help clients maximize the value of sponsorships and endorsement deals by leveraging the passions of fans to cultivate brand loyalty.

The new specialty uses insight and research to look through the eyes of fans and develop programs that create meaningful, measurable experiences. Fan Experience is built on a model the firm has been using with clients during the past year and will encompass sponsorships and endorsements in sports, arts, culture and entertainment.

“Companies need to move beyond the days of simply buying a billboard in an arena or purchasing an in-stadium promotion; their focus needs to be on turning fan affinity into brand affinity,” says Jason Teitler, managing director of the firm’s consumer and brand marketing practice.

Fan Experience has secured a working relationship with MetLife for the announcement of MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. After leading a renaming and event communications plan to cement MetLife Stadium in mind of fans, the Burson-Marsteller team was hired to develop and execute MetLife Stadium’s event programming and strategic communications through 2011.

“Burson-Marsteller’s team clearly understood our goals for the re-naming and developed a robust strategy that resulted in high-impact media events and the immediate adoption of the new name by consumers and media,” says Derek Aney, vice president, global brand public relations, at MetLife, citing coverage on ESPN, Access Hollywood and The New York Times.