The Lightning Generate Buzz With Tampa International Airport Travelers

The Tampa Bay Lightning recently announced an unprecedented partnership with the Tampa International Airport that is designed to reward travelers, drive incremental interest in the team, and help grow the local tourism economy.

The Lightning and Tampa International Airport officials are partnering on several initiatives that will surely generate buzz amongst city residents and tourists traveling through the airport:

• Promotional Contests
  • Beginning Tuesday, November 1, one person who parks in the Tampa International Airport designated parking lots will win a free four-pack of tickets to a Lightning game at the St. Pete Times Forum (the winner will be chosen randomly each day at the exit)
  • The Lightning gave away two (2) pairs of round-trip tickets on Edelweiss Air (the airport's newest International carrier) as part of its new "Seek the Seat" promotional initiative on Twitter

• Branding Tactics
  • The Lightning wrapped a shuttle that connects the main terminal to Airside A with an eye-catching "Go Bolts" creative design
  • The voice of Lightning captain Vinny Lecavalier greets passengers on the Airside A tram as they head to and from the main terminal

Check out the Lightning's "Go Bolts" Airside A tram wrap below and consider ways that your sports organization can partner with a local airport authority and effectively market to millions of airport travelers each year!

A special thanks to Caryn Switaj for her insights and contributions to this column!

Party City and the NY Giants Team Up to Celebrate Halloween

Retail partners looking for new, creative ways to leverage their team partnerships should consider benchmarking a recent initiative implemented by Party City and the New York Giants.

Party City partnered with the Giants to feature a contest on the team's website that gave fans an opportunity to vote for which Halloween costume rookie linebacker Mark Herzlich would wear on the team's official visit to a local hospital.

Party City promoted the initiative by inviting several veterans on the Giants roster to visit a local Party City store location and pick out Halloween costumes for all of the team's rookies to wear to the event as well. The retailer did a terrific job capturing footage of the event, as the players seemed to have a great time picking out embarrasing Halloween costumes for their peers, with some even trying them on in the store.

The footage is a great publicity piece for Party City as it demonstrates to consumers firsthand that Giants players do in fact frequent their stores and has viral potential! Party City could easily repurpose the content to feature on the jumbotron during the game, on Giants.com, or via social media.

Check it out below:

MetLife Creates a Memorable Halloween Event for Giants Fans

Holidays throughout the calendar year present an opportune time for brands to leverage their corporate partnerships in ways that truly capture the interest and attention of fans. However, during planning cycles, holidays are oftentimes forgotten as brand marketers focus on activating around key game dates throughout the season - a huge miss. 

MetLife recently did a tremendous job teaming up with Van Wagner Sports and Entertainment to create a memorable Halloween experience for fans attending the Giants-Dolphins game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, November 30th. MetLife generated buzz around its gate entitlement (the MetLife Gate) by featuring a number of elements and festivities on-site, including:

• New York State's largest pumpkin (1613 pounds), equipped with MetLife Stadium branding
• Pumpkins featuring images of the 1986 Giants team (honoring the 25th anniversary of the team's Super Bowl Championship)
• MetLife branded pumpkins

A special thanks to Peter Honig for his insights and contributions to this column!

Stadium officials also hosted a Halloween costume party at one of the MetLife Stadium gates the week prior when the Jets hosted the Chargers on Sunday, October 23rd. Check it out below:

October 2011 Partnership Activation 2.0 Newsletter

Welcome to the October 2011 Partnership Activation 2.0 Newsletter! Thank you for your continued interest and support for Partnership Activation and the monthly newsletter.

Here is a link to the October 2011 Partnership Activation 2.0 Newsletter.

After reviewing the newsletter, please take a moment to share it with friends via email, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, personal blogs, and other platforms and modes of communication. Here is a shortened URL that you can use to include in tweets, etc: http://bit.ly/rmRwRk

This month's newsletter features a collection of insights, including:

• A List of the Top Paid Global Athletes in 2011
• SportShadow.com
• Adidas' New Marathon Face Cam
• Best Practices from the National Hockey League
• The Tampa Bay Lightning's New Microchip Technology
• Navigate Marketing Spotlight: The Impact of Conference Movement on College Sponsorships
• Adidas' New UEFA Ultimate Access Campaign
• Heineken Starvision
• Tottenham Hotspur's New Augmented Reality Offerings
• Iowa State's Social Billboard Campaign
• BMW Mini's London 2012 Olympics PR Stunt
• Activ8Social's #Sports Newsletter
• Creativity in the Sports Marketplace
• October 2011 Partnership Activation Rising Stars
• Mastercard's Witnessing History Social Media Campaign
• Creating Powerful Marketing Messages Using Statistics
• A Close Look at the 2011 MLB Playoffs
• 5 #SportsBiz Twitter Handles You Must Follow
• The NFL's Breast Cancer Awareness Efforts
• Manchester City FC's Family Zone Activation
• The Portland Timbers' 2012 Fan Draft
• Women and Kids Invade Istanbul Soccer
• The Tampa Bay Lightning Use Coils to Create Lightning In-Arena
• Audi Lets Fans See What Life of a Le Mans Driver Is Like
• Creatively Using Time Lapses in Sports
• The Throwable Panoramic Ball

This month I want to encourage you to consider checking out Navigate Marketing's upcoming webinar on "Measuring Sponsorship ROI" - to be held on Wednesday, November 16th at 12:00pm EST. The session will be extremely valuable and certainly is a hot topic of discussion that we can all learn more about. Please check out the details about the webinar in the October Newsletter and reach out to Chris Todd at ctodd@navigatemarketing.com for more information.

Click here to check out the October 2011 Partnership Activation 2.0 Newsletter, connect with other readers in the official Partnership Activation LinkedIn Group, and follow Brian Gainor on Twitter for additional sponsorship/marketing tactics throughout the month!

If you are interested in signing up for the newsletter, please send an email with "Subscribe" in the subject line to newsletter@partnershipactivation.com. In the body of the email, please include your name, company affiliation, and contact information when subscribing.

Adidas Supports the All Blacks with an Impressive Projection Display

Adidas recently demonstrated its support for the All Blacks during the 2011 Rugby World Cup by displaying an incredible team-themed video projection on the back of the St. James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand. The projection, which incorporated 3D mapping technology, spanned 20 meters high, creating a spectacle that fans could see from far distances away.

To pull off the impressive projection stunt, adidas allowed the team's fanbase across the world to "Stand in Black" and submit photos, videos, and inspirational messages that were incorporated into the display as a fan mosaic.

Check it out below:

NASCAR and INDYCAR Should Look to Formula 1 For Activation Best Practices

In the world of motorsports, it's extremely important that NASCAR and INDYCAR officials look to benchmark best practices from Formula 1 and other racing organizations around the world. The next few years will prove to be a critical time for both sports, which face a number of key challenges despite showing signs of growth in 2011.

While attendance, ratings, competition, and renewed interest has returned in both sports, several key challenges have emerged that will shape the sports' growth over the next few years. These challenges include demographic shifts, the evolution of the fan/stadium experience, and shifts in fan perception. Particularly, both sports will need to develop aggressive marketing campaigns targeting youth, multicultural segments (Hispanic, urban, etc.) as well as strategic social/digital media plans with a renewed focus on integrating new technologies.

As NASCAR and INDYCAR look to refine their approaches to grow their sport, both entities should look to adopt several tactics from Formula 1 tracks, race teams, and sponsors. The sport prides itself on technology, innovation, high-end experiences, activation, and amenities, and more.

Check out a few videos below that detail the Formula 1 Fan Zone experience, which includes several tactics that should soon become prevalent in racing in North America!

The F1 FanZone in Abu Dhabi (2011)

The F1 Fan Zone in Melbourne, Australia (2011)

The F1 Fan Zone in Abu Dhabi (2010)

Dairy Queen Partners with the Penguins on an Official Collectors Cup Series

Dairy Queen recently teamed up with the Pittsburgh Penguins to offer an outstanding collectors cup series featuring the names and likenesses of six (6) Pens players, including star goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.

Over a six (6) week period, fans across Pittsburgh and surrounding areas can purchase the collectors cups at select DQ locations for just $1.99 with any purchase or with a 16 oz. Blizzard Treat for just $4.99.

Dairy Queen's promotion with the Penguins signals how teams can successfully work with (relatively) non-traditional retail partners to effectively leverage marks in a manner that drives sales and reaches new segments of consumers.

The promotional effort follows an initiative that Dairy Queen and the Penguins offered in the Spring where fans could redeem a coupon for a Buy One, Get One Free Iceburgh Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard Treat (leveraging the team mascot's name and likeness). 

Check out Dairy Queen's limited edition collectors cups below:

Hublot Teams Up with Manchester United for a Unique Watch Promotion

Over the past few years, several watch companies have begun investing large sums of dollars on event partnerships, athlete endorsements, team partnerships, and more. As sports organizations look to leverage partnerships in this category in new ways, many should consider benchmarking a promotional tactic that Hublot and Manchester United partnered on in 2010.

Luxury watchmaker Hublot teamed up with Manchester United to host a Million Dollar Challenge event in New York City that featured several players as well as manager Sir Alex Ferguson shooting soccer balls at a giant target (replicating a Hublot watch) for the chance to raise funds for UNICEF. As part of the promotion, Manchester United players were challenged with striking a giant replica watch with a shot from 51 feet away to donate $1 million to UNICEF, a philanthropic entity that ManU has supported for 10+ years.

While no player successfully accomplished the feat, Hublot still donated a significant amount of money to UNICEF and generated buzz worldwide with the event. The PR stunt demonstrates how organizations can create engaging activation/PR stunt displays for watch companies that will attract consumer interest and attention. Consider ways that your team can benchmark this tactic to bring official watch partnerships to life!

Check out Hublot's activation tactic below:

Wendy's Lets CFL Fans Compete to Kick for a Million Dollars

Over the past seven years, Wendy's has captured the interests and attention of millions of football fans throughout Canada by offering a Kick for a Million promotional platform that rewards CFL fans for eating at its chain locations.

The QSR chain leverages its status as an official partner of the Canadian Football League as well as a media partnership with TSN to feature a live halftime promotional contest that offers one lucky fan a chance to kick a 50-yard field goal for the chance to win $1 million. In addition, Wendy's grants the participant an opportunity to also attempt field goals from 20, 30, and 40 yards for the chance to also win a Samsung $25,000 Family Package, a 2011 Nissan Titan Crew Cab Pro, and $100,000 cash.

Fans can participate in the Kick to Win contest by visiting participating Wendy's locations throughout Canada to receive a game cup that offers a chance to win a variety of instant prizes, including Nissan automobiles, Samsung Galaxy tablets, Reebok merchandise, and Wendy's gift cards and food prizes. Fans who purchase Wendy's on a regular basis can also receive bonus entries for the chance to kick for $1 million.

The structure of the promotion, offering a series of lower-tier prizes, demonstrates how league partners can collaborate to amplify promotional events - both in-stadium and at retail. In total, Wendy's Kick for a Million contest generated 18 million entries - the most ever in the history of the contest. Wendy's has even attracted 11,000+ fans to "like" the promotion's official Facebook page.

Check out Wendy's Kick for a Million promotional video below:

Check out Wendy's Kick for a Million contest execution here:

A special thanks to Kelsey Philpott of GMR Marketing for his insights and contributions to this column!

Wieden + Kennedy Launch Melo's New M8 Shoe in Epic Fashion

The Jordan Brand recently teamed up with Wieden + Kennedy to launch Carmelo Anthony's new shoe in spectacular fashion along the Hudson River in New York City. The two parties collaborated to put on an M8 NYC Flight Event at Pier 54 that was highlighted by an unannounced projection show alongside a 3-story building that featuring an animated Carmelo Anthony dribbling, dunking, and walking on water.

The Jordan Brand set the stage by having Nas perform a live set for the 2,500 guests in attendance and featured a stuntman jumping out of a helicopter into the Hudson River before Carmelo Anthony's image appeared in spectacular fashion.

Wieden + Kennedy's use of projection technology demonstrates how brands can leverage iconic locations at night in new ways to launch products, conduct guerrilla marketing activity, or make a memorable splash.

Check out the amazing product launch display below and click here for more information:

Audi Leverages its Real Madrid Partnership By Giving All First-Team Players Free Cars

In professional sports, automobile providers typically leverage their official team partnerships with a slew of traditional assets that include stadium car displays, test drive programs, venue destination buildouts, branded parking lots, prominent signage, and other high-end amenities.

However in Spain, Audi recently took its official partnership of Real Madrid C.F. to another level by giving a brand new car to every player on the first-team squad. Audi marked the occasion by having the team of players compete in a recreational grand prix go car contest for press and select guests in attendance.

Following the event, several Real Madrid players including Cristiano Ronaldo shared nothing but praises for the Audi brand and its high-quality automobiles. While Audi's gift-giving practice comes at a high expense, it serves as a great way to showcase it's fleet of cars in a compelling way to millions of Real Madrid fans across the globe.

Check out Audi's unique press announcement below:

Source: Real Madrid C.F.

Bowling Green Unveils Its New Basketball Facility With a Rap Video

Bowling Green State University recently launched its new basketball facility, the Stroh Center, in a truly viral fashion. The Athletics Department turned to a sophomore student named Mikey "Rosco" Blair, a senior gospel singer named Rachel Willingham, and a company called Madhouse Productions to produce an official music video to unveil the University's new state-of-the-start facility in a truly unconventional fashion.

The result? The Athletics Department's loose, creative mentality created a sensational viral video that has attracted the attention of ESPN, USA Today, NBCSports.com, and more. While the video just surpassed the 25,000 mark, it's well on its way to becoming a hot topic of discussion within all of sports.

In the video, Rosco pays homage to several of the school's major donors and philanthropists, all-time legends, and new basketball facilities. The high quality video features several viewpoints of the Stroh Center and lyrics that are simple, yet catchy.

Check out the terrific venue launch video below:

The Lightning Launch a Seat Seeker Initiative to Reward Active Twitter Followers with Tickets

The Tampa Bay Lightning recently celebrated the start of the 2011-12 season by creating a promotional platform that rewards fans for interacting with the team on Twitter. As part of the platform, entitled the Tampa Bay Lightning Seat Seeker, fans can follow the team's official Twitter handle (@TBLightning) to receive messages when free tickets are placed at secret locations throughout the Tampa Bay area.

Once the message is posted, Lightning fans are encouraged to use the hashtag #BeTheThunder to unlock clues that zero in on the location of the tickets. Once the location is revealed, the first person who finds the tickets wins them.

The Lightning launched a landing page to host the Seat Seeker initiative, which features a camera that zooms in on the location of the tickets every time a designated amount of tweets occur. The site includes a countdown unit that shows how many total tweets have been posted (240+ to date) and how many are needed to activate the next zoom.

The lucky Lightning fan who won tickets for the team's Opening Night game found them at a McDonald's location on West Kennedy Blvd., showcasing how teams can effectively benchmark and utilize the social media promotion to drive traffic and publicity to corporate partners' retail locations. 

Check it out below - a great, engaging tactic!

A special thanks to Caryn Switaj of the Tampa Bay Lightning for her insights and contributions to this column!

Adidas Builds an Interactive Wall to Showcase the History of the World Cup

Adidas recently created a splash by building a massive interactive touch screen wall that is designed to promote the upcoming World Cup tournaments in Brazil (2014) and Russia (2018). Adidas worked with a team at Interactive Labs to develop an 18-foot long interactive wall that provides users with a unique opportunity to learn about the history of the World Cup.

The touch screen wall is an absolute spectacle and is something that fans can expect to see at notable sports events, concerts, and festivals in the future. Interactive walls are terrific activation displays to feature on-site at events because they serve as impactful educational tools that offer seamless opportunities for corporate partner integration and engage multiple consumers in one setting.

Check out the display below:

A special thanks to Bertrand Leseigneur (@BloginNYC) for his insights and contributions to this column!

Iowa Athletics Turns to a Card Stunt to Promote ANF Day Celebration

The University of Iowa Athletics Department recently teamed up with the Iowa Farm Bureau to pull off a spectacular stadium card stunt display in celebration of America Needs Farmers (ANF) Day at Kinnick Stadium.

Prior to kickoff of a recent Iowa-Northwestern football game, four grandstands of Hawkeyes fans at Kinnick Stadium held up cards on cue to deliver some impactful messages to 70,000 fans inside the stadium and a national television audience on Big Ten Network.

The impressive stadium card stunt display served as an effective way to drive awareness for the America Needs Farmers movement nationwide and creatively unite a stadium full of football fans. The University of Iowa Athletics Department captured the action on several cameras, including one on a time lapse setting that provides a remarkable viewpoint of the activation.

Check out the card stunts below and consider ways that your organization can leverage similar stunts to drive awareness for brands and cause marketing efforts!

Video of the Card Stunt Display

Time Lapse of the Card Stunt Display

Additional ANF Branding and Activation on Game Day

A special thanks to Craig Decker of Virginia Sports Properties for his insights and contributions to this column!

Betfair Finds Creative Ways to Win Over Manchester United Supporters

Betfair, the world's largest betting exchange, has leveraged its designation as an official partner of Manchester United with flashes of brilliance over the past few weeks.

With the Manchester Derby set to take place in just a few days, Betfar found a creative way to capitalize on the only thing that unites Manchester United and Manchester City fans - their hatred for Carlos Tevez. Tevez, an Argentine striker who left Manchester United to join Manchester City in 2009, has become the most hated man in Manchester after refusing to come off the bench and play and will soon be on his way out of town.

Betfair celebrated Manchester's united hatred for Carlos Tevez by creating a "Trash Your Tevez Shirt" initiative that features a trash truck, branded ManU red on one side and Man City blue ont he other, driving through Manchester rewarding any fans who trash their Tevez jersey with a brand new one. Betfair's PR stunt has attracted a notable amount of worldwide attention and will likely be something that soccer fans in Manchester will remember for a lifetime.

Check it out below:

In late September, Betfair teamed up with several of Manchester United's star players to create a "Stars and Strikes" campaign that allowed fans to bet (for fun) on which player they thought would win in a game of football bowling. As part of the challenge, Betfair gave Ashley Young, Dimitar Berbatov, Patrice Evra, and a few others 40 seconds to try to knock down ten pins using lightweight footballs.

Check out the campaign below, which has attracted 345,000+ views:

Here's a behind-the-scenes look of how the "Stars and Strikes" campaign was made:

Stanford Athletics Engages Their Student-Athletes with a "19 Hours" Project

Stanford Athletics recentlyannounced a terrific new online initiative entitled the "19 Hours" Project, tasking all 35 of the school's athletics programs with producing a high-quality video that symbolizes their team/sport. Student-athletes on each of the teams are given 19 hours to work with a video producer from the Cardinal Channel to script, shoot, and edit a short film.

The initiative is outstanding because it provides new, fresh video content for Stanford Athletics' website that comes directly from a student-athlete's perspective. It's also content that they will actively share with their friends on campus, family members, classmates, and more. The project also allows teams to unite and really have an opportunity to express their creativity, personality, and passion in a friendly competition against their student-athlete peers.

Check out the first edition of the "19 Hours" Project below featuring the Stanford Field Hockey Team and be sure to check back on the Stanford Athletics' website for more great videos to come!

The Ravens Team Up with Jos. A. Bank to Host A Purple Fridays Promotion

The Baltimore Ravens recently announced a non-traditional partnership with Jos. A. Bank, a high-end men's clothing retailer. As part of the partnership, ten (10) Jos. A. Bank store locations in the Baltimore, MD and York, PA DMA will run a "Purple Fridays"promotion, encouraging fans to wear purple to work on Fridays throughout the 2011 season. Each of the stores will dedicated a special section within their stores to sportshirts, ties, sweaters, and dress shirts in shades of purple.

It will be interesting to see if more professional sports organizations look to form partnerships with similar high-end retailers, as it generates buzz and awareness in non-traditional retail outlets and enables teams to target a higher-income fanbase.

Jos. A. Bank will support also its partnership with the Ravens through direct mail, radio, television, and online advertising and it would be intriguing to see if they also consider running a sweeps that offers free suite tickets to a game.

The Falcons Team Up with the Georgia Lottery and Waffle House on a New Instant Win Game

The Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Lottery are taking their instant win lottery game to new heights through a partnership with the Waffle House. The collaborating parties recently announced the launch of the $5 "In the House" instant win game, which allows fans a chance to win $250,000 and many other great prizes. Through the partnership with Waffle House, all non-winning tickets can also be redeemed for a free waffle and a second-chance drawing for a chance to win a $200,000 dream home makeover.

The Falcons, Waffle House, and the Georgia Lottery have collaborated on several initiatives to help drive awareness for the "In the House" game, including a plethora of branding and activation at the Falcons first few games of the season.

Check out some ways that the Falcons, Waffle House, and the Georgia Lottery are bringing the initiative to life for fans on gameday below: 

Activation at Falcons Landing

Halftime "In the House" Performance Featuring a Prominent Branding Stunt at Mid-Field

Falcons Cheerleader Video Messages

Endesa Leverages Title Partnership with a Game at Its Corporate Headquarters

It's become very interesting to see how brands across the globe are leveraging their title partnerships in new, innovative ways.

In Spain, an International utility company named Endesa recently signed on as a title partner of a premier Spanish Pro Basketball League. To celebrate the partnership, Endesa built a basketball court inside their corporate headquarters and organized a game featuring some of the league's star players, cheerleaders, music, and live entertainment. Over 1,000 people enjoyed the live basketball game, which was played in the mail hall of Endesa's company headquarters in Spain.

Players were also invited to tour Endesa's facilities and have an opportunity to meet with 57 accredited media companies that were on hand for the event. Endesa's unique celebration served as a unique way to generate buzz around it's title partnership of the Spanish Pro Basketball League, which will be called "Liga Endesa", and demonstrate that it's fully engrained and committed to the sport.

A special thanks to Jean-Paul Forsans for bringing this terrific initiative to my attention. Please take a moment to join his "Brands and Sports" group on LinkedIn, which is dedicated to sharing best practices and innovative ideas in the world of sports!

Check out a video of the action below as well: