Capital One Leverages Final Four Tickets to Drive Facebook Fanbase

Capital One is currently running a sweepstakes on its official Facebook page that offers all consumers who "like" their Facebook page a chance to win an Ultimate NCAA prize package, which includes two (2) NCAA men's Final Four tickets, travel and lodging for two (2) people, and a video camera to document your experience.

The Facebook campaign, featuring a valuable NCAA prize pack, demonstrates how valuable brands perceive their social media channels to be. In recent weeks, we have seen a number of sports organizations offering everything from free tickets to unique experiences to fans in an effort to drive their Facebook and Twitter following.

As an Official Corporate Champion of the NCAA, Capital One promoted the offer via a mass email blast to its current customers and several other marketing channels. Capital One is also supporting its NCAA partnership with "The Big Assist" sweepstakes, which allows all consumers who visit a Capital One Bank branch across Louisiana a chance to win tickets to the Final Four and designate a charity or non-profit organization for a $10,000 cash donation from Capital One.

Capital One Offers Fans a Chance to Rule LSU's Death Valley

Capital One leveraged its designation as the Official Bank of LSU Athletics by offering fans the chance to "Rule Death Valley" for a day. The promotion, launched in August, allowed fans a chance to win an ultimate LSU Football experience that included reserved VIP parking, premium club seats, pre-game sideline access, and a chance to partake in the pe-game coin toss.

The VIP experience also included a behind-the-scenes tour of the Cox Sports Production Facilities, meet-n-greets with Athletics Director Joe Alleva, the "Voice of the Tigers" Jim Hawthorne, the LSU cheerleaders and the mascot, a Les Miles autographed football, and official LSU merchandise. The parties marketed the promotion as a way to "Stand on the Field, Watch from the Club, and Hang in the Booth".

Fans could enter for a chance to win simply by visiting any one of Capital One Bank's 176 Louisiana branches. The promotion allowed Capital One an opportunity to collect consmer data, drive traffic to brand locations throughout Louisiana, and drive awareness and buzz around the start of the 2010 LSU football season. LSU Athletics and Capital One were able utilize the promotion to generate a tremendous amount of sales leads with a unique prize package that in reality had a pretty low cost of prizing elements involved.

Check out some marketing elements supporting the promotion below:

A special thanks to Chris Kosmala of LSU Athletics for his insights and contributions to this column. Congratulations on implementing such a successful promotion!