Bud Light Throws the Ultimate BCS Bash for College Football Fans

Bud Light is treating college fans attending the 2011 BCS National Championship to an ultimate fiesta in Scottsdale, Arizona this weekend. Bud Light partnered with 18 entities to create the ultimate BCS Bash for Auburn, Oregon, and other college football fans and alumni to enjoy.

Bud Light leased out a 3-acre space at the Scottsdale Waterfront to host team pep rallies, plenty of food and drinks, live music, and live ESPN broadcasts the week of January 3-9. Bud Light partnered with several top-notch partners to host the event, including Safeway, Nike, The Pat Tillman Foundation, P.F. Changs, Delta, Johnsonville, Dos Gringos, Jani King, and The Phoenician Resort.

Bud Light teamed up with SportsOne Inc., based in Portland, OR to execute the event. SportsOne served as the event manager and sponsorship sales agency after winning an RFP solicited by the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau to produce the event. SportsOne served as the backbone of the festivities - developing the concept, selling the title naming rights to Bud Light, and managing the entire execution.

Check out a few videos that provide an in-depth look at the Ford Fiesta below:

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! 

Activation of the Day - Hershey's

When LSU hosted the University of Florida back in October, plenty of the nation's leading brands were on-hand to engage with college football fans prior to one of the season's most anticipated games. One of those sponsors was Hershey's, which featured a prominent display just outside Death Valley.

Check out some pictures of their activation below (courtesy of Sean O'Hara of the Ohio University Center for Sports Administration):