Dairy Queen and The Gophers Team Up to Drive Store Traffic...

Are you looking to leverage a team partnership to drive retail traffic? Are you looking to drive buzz in your local community around a strong QSR partnership program? Are you looking to leverage a corporate partner to help promote the grand opening of your new venue?

If the answer is "Yes" to any of the these three (3) questions, take a look at an impressive program that Dairy Queen and the University of Minnesota Athletic Department collaborated to develop. In November of 2007, Dairy Queen signed on as an official partner of Gopher Athletics, investing $2.5MM in support of the UofM's new TCF Bank Stadium. The primary component of the partnership is the "DQ Stadium Club", a new clubroom at TCF Bank Stadium that will provide Dairy Queen with prominent in-venue exposure.

To complement the DQ Stadium Club, the University of Minnesota and Dairy Queen developed the "Ultimate Homecoming" tour, a statewide initiative that will visit all 87 counties in the state of Minnesota. The UofM will leverage their partnership with Dairy Queen by hosting each county event at a local Dairy Queen establishment in each of the state's 87 counties. The program will in turn drive strong community buzz and a continuous flow of incremental traffic to Dairy Queen establishments around the state over the next fifteen (15) months (leading up until the 2009 season opener at TCF Bank Stadium).

The Golden Gophers recently featured head football coach Tim Brewster, the Gopher Wagon, Goldy (the mascot), and the marching band at a Dairy Queen in St. Paul to kick off the tour and are encouraging Gopher fans to come out and enjoy a treat "with the Gophers". Head men's basketball coach Tubby Smith, among others, will also make appearances throughout the year. This is such a great in-state initiative because it drives DIRECT traffic to Dairy Queen locations and effectively intertwines the Dairy Queen brand with the University of Minnesota Athletic Department. 

Dairy Queen also activates its UofM partnership with scoreboard signage, ribbon board signage, a suite, and a variety of other benefits. The Edina, MN based chain with 5,600 locations nationwide also sponsors the Dairy Queen Baseball Classic for Gopher baseball, distributes free game ticket vouchers at participating DQ restaurants, and serves as an active supporter of the University's Carlson School of Management.

While on the topic of Dairy Queen, be sure to sign up for their new Blizzard Fan Club for loyalty rewards and a free Blizzard treat when you sign up!

New Site Feature - Job Board

Are you looking for a new career opportunity? Do you have friends/colleagues in the industry looking for a new position? Is your organization seeking any qualified persons for an available position?

Today I created a new Partnership Activation Job Board to assist site users with their career development and hirings. Carolyne Savini, a good friend at Turnkey Sports, reached out with a Project Director position that Turnkey is looking to fill in Haddonfield, New Jersey. If you are interested, please check out the Job Board for information on ways to apply/submit your resume.

I will continue to post any job postings that I come across, so please be sure to check back regularly!

Japanese Baseball... New Signage Inventory?

Check out the short Japanese baseball clip below... The video details two (2) pieces of signage inventory that I have yet to see offered in Major League Baseball:

• Cisco has "on-the-field" branding behind home plate (I cannot tell if this is a graphic or actual branding in the turf)
• An alcoholic beverage company has paid to feature their actual product image (beer can) next to the meter that measures pitch speed

Two very interesting tactics! Please let me know if you have seen similar practices implemented elsewhere...

A Look Back at Some Great Integration...

I came across a few Burger King NFL commercials from a few years back that I wanted to share... These commercials serve as a benchmark for brand integration. The two (2) Burger King commercials spawned a handful of imitations and rebuttals that I have also included...

Check out the videos below and brainstorm ways that you can implement similar tactics into your video imagery!

And Here Are the Mock Clips...

Dunkin' Cashes In with Eagles Sandwiches...

Last Month, Jim Andrews of IEG wrote a great "Assertions" column that detailed Dunkin' Donuts strategy to maximize its partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles. I wanted to share a few key points from the writeup, as I thought there were some strong takeaways for properties and QSR/Casual dining partners...

Chief Objective of Dunkin' Donuts' Partnership with the Philadelphia Eagles:

• To set itself apart from a price war on breakfast items being waged by competitors, McDonalds and Wawa

Strategic Approach

• Dunkin' Donuts developed a program that leveraged its deal as the official coffee, donut, and breakfast sandwich of the Philadelphia Eagles through every conceivable marketing channel
• Dunkin' marketed a menu item as the official breakfast sandwich of the Eagles without ever referring to what was actually in the sandwich and many customers ordered "an Eagles sandwich" without ever asking what it contained
• Results: The breakfast sandwich sales grew 10% because of the Eagles tie-in and without the discounting resorted to by the competition. On a side note, Dunkin' also sold an Eagles commemorative cup for $2.50 that drove $300K in profits.

Source: IEG Sponsorship Report - Assertions (5.19.2008)