Tom Weisel, founder of merchant bank Thomas Weisel Partners and a major investor in the postal service's cycling team, said the sponsorship has helped the agency gain new business with companies such as Staples Inc.
"Because of the team, they've been getting new contracts," Weisel said.
Armstrong's team has agreements with 28 other companies, including Visa International Inc, Yahoo Inc, and Volkswagen AG.
But the American knows he doesn't get the kind of mega-sponsorships offered to stars in major US sports such as basketball, baseball and football.
"Cycling isn't golf, it isn't baseball," said Armstrong, whose endorsements are worth US$17 million a year, according to the Italian newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport. "But people recognize the effort, they recognize the story, they recognize the illness. That's nice. That's an honor."
Even though the postal service may have missed some marketing opportunities, it's still looking for new ways to take advantage of Armstrong's success.
The postal service said it may use Armstrong to promote its new three-year agreement with Lynx Express, a closely held shipping company based in Great Britain. The agency and Lynx will work together to ship mail to the US from Europe, a business that generates about US$3.5 billion a year in revenue. The companies have said they hope to win about 5 percent of that market within the next three years. Yet it may not be easy for Sonenberg and Gorski to convince the postal service's board of governors to spend more money on its sponsorship.
"We've had to justify the sponsorship's existence almost since the day we signed it," Gorski said. "You have to understand the environment at the postal service. They've been through tough times."
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