Looking for a Unique Viral Campaign?

Are you looking for a unique way to drive awareness for your partnership with a fanbase? Are you looking to create an interesting viral campaign that will capture the attention of your targeted fanbase?

In 2006, Carlsberg created two (2) fantastic viral clips that demonstrate the passion of soccer fans (particularly team announcers). The company created a campaign that centers around the goal celebrations of two (2) opposing play-by-play announcers in the media booth (with subtle brand placement). The two (2) in-game opponents eventually agree one one thing... an ice cold Carlsberg beer. The ads are classic (even though they are in a foreign language) - check them out below!

Partnership Activation 2.0 - September Newsletter

The Partnership Activation 2.0 September Newsletter was released today. To receive a copy of the publication, please click HERE.

To subscribe to the newsletter distribution list, simply send an email to newsletter@partnershipactivation.net with "subscribe" in the subject line. Also, please include your full name, company affiliation, and contact information when subscribing. If you like what you see, please pass the newsletter (and/or link to this site) along to your friends and colleagues in the industry who also may be interested.

If your organization is interested in advertising on www.PartnershipActivation.net or through the Partnership Activation 2.0 newsletter, affordable opportunities are available. Please send all inquiries to advertising@partnershipactivation.net.

Thank you for all of your support!

Regards,

Brian

The Redeem Team Eats Wendy's...

With McDonalds spending hundreds of millions of dollars to serve as an Official Sponsor of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, you would have thought that the Redeem Team would eat its fast-food meals there, right?

Wrong. The clip below shows numerous members of the United States Men's Basketball team sitting down to eat Wendy's and discuss the Starbucks and Slim Jim brands... Wendy's representatives, take advantage of this viral!!!

Looking to Leverage Medical Partners?

Are you looking for unique ways to leverage medical partners in-venue?

As medical and pharmaceutical companies become bigger spenders within the sports landscape, teams will be asked to deliver additional assets and value. A simple answer for this? The stretcher.

Soccer teams and tournaments have already begun selling the stretcher as a branding piece. As the video demonstrates below (:47 mark), team/tournament representatives sold Coca-Cola on using the stretcher as a branding piece.

It is a little unclear as to why a company like Coca-Cola would want to brand the stretcher (does watching an injured person being carted off the field make consumers want to go buy a soft drink?), but it could be a serve as a valuable branding tool for a medical company/hospital who is looking to demonstrate their quality care for patients.

Sponsorships... From the Driver's Point of View

Have you ever wondered how much corporate branding is visible to drivers when they are circling the track?

The following clip provides you a view of the sponsorship world from a Formula 1 driver's perspective:

On this particular racing occasion, the following brands seem to have some nice at-track visibility:

• ING
• Bridgestone
• Vodafone
• Martini

Interested in Bringing Your Sport to the City?

Are you looking to drive more buzz and interest for your sport/organization in New York City? Are you looking for a unique idea to help you promote the game of golf?

In 2007, UBS took "city golf" to the next level with "The UBS Golf Challenge: Experience THE PLAYERS Championship at Rockefeller". UBS created an interactive exhibit at the Rockefeller Center that featured a scaled replica of THE PLAYERS Stadium Course's iconic island 17th hole.

Fans were provided the chance to hit a shot onto an island green surrounded by water ( the shot approximately 50 yards - 1/4th the distance of the actual hole at THE PLAYERS Championship). The exhibit attracted a wide variance of ongoers and participants, including businessmen, locals, and tourists. 

The USB exhibit also featured a putting area, full-swing net, golf pros on-site, and a giant LED television broadcasting the tournament for consumers to enjoy the ultimate golf experience.  Tishman Speyer partnered with Cutlip Golf Design to recreate the famous 17th hole and transform Rockefeller Plaza into a unique golf experience. The promotional exhibit required 3,500 square feet of sod, 31,000, gallons of water, 40,000 pounds of fill, and a large amount of netting.

USB, a Proud Partner of THE PLAYERS Championship, initially rolled out the free-of-charge exhibit at the 2006 TPC at Sawgrass tournament. Check out the interactive exhibit at Rockefeller Plaza below:

Have You Considered Enhancing Your Venue's Restrooms?

Are you looking for new ways to entertain fans at your venue? Have you considered enhancing the bathroom experience for your fanbase?

A horse racing venue in Mexico created a unique way to entertain consumers attending and betting on races at the track. Track representatives branded each of the bathroom stalls with a different horse color/number (portraying that consumers would be racing against one another when going to the bathroom).

This simple, yet extremely creative entertainment tactic can be implemented by venues and organizations in a variety of different means:

• Horse Racing - Implement a similar tactic using the horses racing in the day's featured race
• NASCAR - NASCAR tracks could feature an extremely similar tactic using the numbers/colors of fan favorite drivers on the circuit (e.g. a #20 orange/black sign hanging over the toilet representing Tony Stewart alongside a blue/yellow #48 sign representing Jimmie Johnson, etc.)
• NBA/NFL/NHL - These organizations can create numbered stalls representing players on the home/visiting team. Believe it or not, there are Boston Celtics fans out there who would like to say that they went to the bathroom in Kevin Garnett's stall during halftime.
• MLB - Offer a "Match the toilet with the Inning" promotion, where fans have a chance to be rewarded for their bathroom experiences. Teams can brand nine toilets (#1-9) and feature a receipt machine near each toilet. During each inning the machine will give a redemption receipt to fans who use that toilet. If the home team scores the most runs during the 1st inning, fans who use toilet #1 can redeem their "redemption receipt" the next game for a discount on beer/non-alcoholic beverage at a select concessions stand.

Does this idea sound interesting but your organization/venue doesn't want to pay the costs? Bring on a paint vendor, local print/copy service, and/or bathroom/plumbing provider to serve as the presenting sponsor...

Some other guerilla bathroom renovation ideas include:

Phoenix Coyotes Fan Mirror (previously posted on PartnershipActivation.com)

HeadwearMirrors (Give Your Fans Horns - potentially relevant for the University of Texas, Minnesota Vikings, South Florida etc.) (or similar headwear for other organizations)

Toilet Entertainment (Guerilla Soccer Games)

What Happens When You Play Lebron in Horse?

PartnershipActivation.com featured an article in May on Cub Cadet's Trick Shot Challenge, a promotion that offered one (1) lucky contestant the chance to play Lebron James one-on-one in a game of horse. Consumers were asked to submit their best basketball trick shot to www.LebronsTrickShotChallenge.com.

The lucky winner turned out to be David Kalb, a warehouse worker whose amazing basketball trick shot granted him the chance to take Lebron on one-on-one... Check out what happened when the two (2) squared off in the clip below (hint, Lebron lost):

When It Comes to Licensing, Think the Unthinkable.

Do you think you have seen it all when it comes to licensed products? Are you currently brainstorming new product ideas that you can bring to market based on the recent success of your sport?

Could Michael Phelps and the USA Swimming Team bring back the Speedo? Could Misti May -Treanor and Kerri Walsh bring out a new beachwear look?

When it comes to licensing, think the unthinkable. If you think you have seen it all, think again...Unless you have seen the Durex England Supporter World Cup Condoms. Durex actually created the specific condom brands for English, German, and Brazilian soccer fnas traveling to the 2006 World Cup. With this being said, is there a whole new market that exists in the United States that has yet to be tapped?

As licensing rights become more complicated (and fragmented), expect the unexpected when it comes to vendors looking to develop and produce new licensed products. While condoms may not be appropriate for the NBA, NFL, or MLB to place their logo onto, there will come a time and a place where an entity will look to take advantage of utilizing a similar means to drive awareness/sales, etc.

Everything from USB's/flash memory to binoculars to wine are now being identified as opportunities and labeled. Take advantage of using these unique branding opportunities to drive awareness and loyalty for your brand!

The Ravens and VW Rev Up Section Branding...

Are you looking for classy, yet subtle ways to brand your stadium seating sections? Are you looking for a unique way to sell a corporate partners message to your fanbase?

The Baltimore Ravens and Volkswagen teamed up to place VW branding on the entrances to sections at M&T Bank Stadium. The branding looks classy and delivers an impactful "Drivers Wanted" message to Ravens fans as they leave the concourse area and head to their seats.  The Volkswagen message is perfect in this case because it has a subtle direct call to action.

Teams have a unique ability to align supporting partners with fan demographics based on seating sections. Meaning, a club can brand the entrances of lower level seating areas with different messaging than the upper bowls (e.g. Mercedes-Benz vs. Kia), based on the buying power/behaviors of the consumers seated in each of those sections. The brands and organizations that find unique, effective ways to do this, have a very powerful way to get their message in front of consumers each and every time they leave and return to their seats.

The Ravens also feature some other classy, distinguishable corporate signage at M&T Bank Stadium. Enclosed below are two (2) examples:

Clear, Distinguishable Visa Lines at the Concessions Stands

Prominent Signage for the Budweiser Ravens Walk

Six Tips for Reducing "Unsubscribers"

Are you looking for tips on how to reduce the number of people choosing to "Unsubscribe" from your organization's publications/promotional offers? Are you weighing the differences in consumer receptivity to periodic informational emails vs. sweepstakes offers?

In a recent MediaPost Email Insider column, Melinda Krueger (director of email marketing at OgilvyOne) provided six (6) tips to help organizations and brands reduce the number of "unsubscribes":

1. Provide value in the first place. So easy to say, so difficult to achieve, given the time and budget constraints faced by most email departments
2. Give opt-ins an option to "opt down" or receive less frequent email
3. Ask why the recipient is opting out and do something about frequent complaints
4. View your opt-out trends by campaign. At the end of the year, look at those campaigns with the highest opt-out rates and see which messages insipired the most drop-outs.
5. View your opt-out rates in relation to frequency. Did more frequent mailings have subscribers bailing out?
6. View your opt-outs by source. Did that co-reg campaign, sweepstakes, or fill-in-the-blank generate a lot of disinterested subscribers?

If all these suggestions fail, always consider building a loyalty system (which many professional organizations now offer), to induce consumers to be more receptive to periodic emails and other pieces of communication.

Looking to Drive Retail Sales?

Are you looking to create a retail promotional that will spur interest, store traffic, and sales?

Hoppy Hoffman has the answer.

Hoffman owns The Design Shoppe, a small retail shop in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Prior to the 2008 Arkansas State football season, Hoffman created a retail promotion that rewarded customers with 1% discount off their purchase for every point the Arkansas State Red Wolves won by on the Monday following each home game. Meaning, if Arkansas State won by 10 points, consumers would receive 10% off their purchase on the Monday following the team's home victory.

The result? The Red Wolves won their home opener 83-10... meaning all shoppers received a 73% discount on Arkansas State gear at Hoffman's shop the Monday after the team's opener. Since the promotion was created, business (and media buzz) has been booming for Hoffman. Following the Red Wolves' second home victory, nearly 200 people lined up for the store's doors to open at 9:30am. Arkansas State has four (4) home games remaining on the season, giving Hoffman a reason to hope for another win (although hopefully by a lesser margin). 

Consider leveraging a similar promotion with your retail partners!

Are You Looking to Add a New Partner?

Have you considered signing an "Official Sunflower Seed Snack" partner for your organization? If not, you could be leaving some real dollars/trade value on the table (especially in the baseball world).

Why? Teams can provide sunflower seed companies with performance level visibility (within the dugout/bench area, as pictured on the right with the branded blue crates) and direct access to team personnel (players, coaching staff, staff).

To complement performance level placement/direct personnel access, organizations can also offer sunflower seed companies banner placement throughout the concourse (near concessions), on-site product sampling, rights to marks for package labeling, and access to a sponsor support system that facilitates cross promotions with other team sponsors (e.g. if your organization has a grocery store/c-store/wholesale retail partner).

The leading sunflower seed companies are:

• DAVID Sunflower Seeds (founded in 1926, DAVID Sunflower Seeds are now a part of the Nestle Corporation and are headquartered in Fresno, CA) (www.davidseeds.com)
• GIANT Sunflower Seeds (www.giantseeds.com)
• Spitz Sunflower Seeds (www.spitzseeds.com)
• Deerfield Farms Sunflower Seeds

Score Five Goals, Score Free Tacos...

Are you looking for new ways to reward fans based on team performance?

Since 2003, the Nashville Predators and Taco Bell have teamed up to execute an extremely popular "free taco giveaway" promotion. Every time the Predators score five (5) goals while playing at home, all fans in attendance receive one (1) free taco. Since the promotion's inception, it has become routine for Predators fans to chant "We Want Tac-os" every time the team is on the verge of scoring its fifth goal.

Energized by the enormous fan receptivity for the promotion, the Predators added a unique musical twist, as demonstrated in the video clip below:

Are You Looking to Honor a Team Representative?

Are you looking for some measures to honor an owner or team representative?

The Columbus Blue Jackets are implementing some classy measurers  to honor the organization's late founder and majority owner, John H. McConnell during the 2008 season. The team is integrating a logo bearing the initials "JHM" that will be worn by the team players and used in a variety of in-game elements.

The JHM logo featured behind each creaseMembers of the Columbus Blue Jackets will wear a patch bearing the JHM logo on the front right shoulder of their home (blue) and away (white) jerseys throughout the season. The team will also feature the JHM logo on the ice behind each goal and on a pair of dasherboards at Nationwide Arena. 

To drive home messaging among the team's fan base, the Blue Jackets will distibute a commemorative "JHM" cap to all fans in attendance for the team's home opener against the Nashville Predators on October 17th, 2008. The team also established the John H. McConnell Scholarship Fund to give all Blue Jackets fans the opportunity to honor the late owner and give back to the community. The money raised will be used to award an annual scholarship to Central Ohio high school students who personify Mcconnell's character and leadership.  

Please check back for more updates on ways that the Blue Jackets will honor their late owner.

A special thanks to Josh Hafer of the Columbus Blue Jackets for his contributions to this column. For more information, please contact Josh at Jhafer@BlueJackets.com.

Looking to Keep Up With the Sports Business Industry?

Are you looking for a new online sports business resource? Are you looking to keep up with the industry's most recent news and opinions? then check out www.sportsbizfeed.com.

Sports Biz Feed is an online resource that provides the latest sports business headlines from a variety of websites and blogs. By aggregating the best and most influential sports business blogs online, Sports Biz Feed can save you time scouring the Web for the latest sports business news. Sports Biz Feed features ten (10) recent stories from each of the eighteen (18) leading blogs. Sports business professionals can quickly scan the headlines and proceed to click through to read the stories that they are interested in... A Great Resource!

If any sports business professionals are interested in promoting their products to the site's readership base (likely educated, wealthy persons working in the sports business/marketing industry), Jason Peck is offering one (1) 300x250 banner ad. Feel free to contact Jason, one of the most innovative minds in sports media, for more information at jolpid@gmail.com.

Take Caution with Promotional Stunts...

Week 1 of the college football season marks the first time that many collegiate athletic departments around the nation get to experiment with new promotional contests and stunts... While most stunts go according to plan, others do not. Check out two (2) stunts that went bad during the first week of the 2008 college football season:

The University of Cincinnati Bearcat Gets Caught in the Wires (While attempting to parachute into Nippert Stadium prior to the game before the team's season opener, the Cincinnati Bearcats mascot got caught in the wiring behind the uprights and fell 40 feet to the ground) 

Parachuters for the University of North Carolina Crash the Wrong Party (Two skydivers who were supposed to land in UNC's Kenan Stadium accidentally flew into Duke's Wallace Wade stadium nine (9) miles away, crashing the field during the team's pre-game festivities)

Drive Your Product Into Consumers' Minds...

Are you looking for new ways to drive awareness of your product in-venue? Are you looking for ways to leverage your baseball partnerships?

The Hiroshima Toyo Carp, a professional baseball team in Japan's Central League, have found a very unique way to promote Cup Noodles at their baseball games. The team outfitted a small truck with a huge Cup Noodles on the bed. During innings throughout the game, the truck drives around the baseball field, encouraging fans to head to the concessions stands to purchase their very own Cup Noodles. The "mobile" promotional vehicle provides Cup Noodles a great way to escape from all of the signage and corporate activation in-venue.

A similar mobile promotional vehicle would be a relevant for numerous companies to promote their brands in-venue:

• Soft Drinks / Energy Drinks / Juices (e.g. the Seventh Inning Stretch Sponsored by Sprite, with the vehicle rounding the field showing a large Sprite can on the back and a half-off all Sprite purchases during the seventh inning)
• Cell Phones (New Models)
• Tools / Lawn Care Products
• QSR Menu Items
• Alcoholic Beverage Companies
• Companies Selling Household Amenities

Use The Foul Pole to Hook University Partners...

Has your organization considered bringing on a local University as a corporate partner? Are you looking for new ways to drive awareness for your University in-venue?

The Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League recently brought Millersville University on as a sponsor of the team's two (2) foul poles. The branding piece has turned out to be an excellent way for Millersville University to promote their commitment to the local community.

However, teams (and Universities alike) can take this branding piece to the next level by utilizing it as a means to engage fans. Before each home baseball game, teams (and Universities alike) can select one (1) fan as the fan of the game (e.g. Millersville University Fan of the Game - preferably someone who is wearing a shirt to the game that promotes the University).

The team can feature the select fan on the video board prior to the game, and if the home team hits a home run off either of the branded foul poles, the select fan can win free tuition (or books, cafeteria card, parking, team merchandise, season tickets for a year, VIP experience, AD for a Day, etc.) for a semester or a year. This simple promotional tactic is an offer that will easily resonate with your fanbase and will enable University partners to have a greater impact in-venue.  

Millersville University's partnership with the Barnstormers has proven to be an effective way to connect with residents in the local community. In 2006, Millersville conducted a food drive to benefit the Water Street Rescue Mission and the University leveraged the Barnstormers mascot in their annual Homecoming Parade.

How Genuine Are Your Fans?

Are you looking for a unique way to promote your organization's MillerCoors partnership in-venue? Are you looking for a new way to promote Miller 64, the new 64-calorie version of Miller Genuine Draft Lite?

The Milwaukee Brewers are currently running a unique initiative called "The Search for Genuine", which rewards 50+ Milwaukeeanswith a year's supply of Miller Genuine Draft and the chance to throw out the first pitch at a home game during the summer of 2008.

"Genuine" fans will be selected through a variety of means:

• Consumers at Brewers home games will be selected at random and featured on the video board
• MGD street teams will search local sports bars through September and reward select consumers that are 21+
• Consumers can submit stories of their friends who live to a "genuine standard" at www.ReachforGenuine.com

Each of the 50+ "Genuine Fans" will receive two (2) free tickets to the Brewers game versus the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 24th, where they will have the chance to be chosen as Milwaukee's "Genuine Person of 2008" and throw out the first pitch.

The Brewers activate the promotion by offering an in-venue video board feature called "The Search for Genuine". In essence, the team zeroes in on one (1) fan in the crowd that defines a "genuine fan" (e.g. a fan drinking Miller Genuine Draft). This simple, yet creative video board is an excellent way to promote this Miller Genuine Draft initiative in-venue.