Mobilizing Brands - Benchmarking the Tour de France

With thousands of fans tailgating outside stadiums and arenas every given night, ample opportunities exist for brand marketers to drive consumer impressions and partnership affiliation awareness. As organizations and brand partners continue to analyze opportunities inside stadium parking lots, it's hard to ignore what has become a common practice at the Tour de France.

With limited marketing opportunities along the course, Tour de France sponsors invest their activation dollars into building mobile vehicles designed to entertain fans lining the course. These vehicles, traveling as a parade of sponsors, serve as effective awareness drivers for partnering brands.

Sports organizations in the United States can benchmark this practice of mobilizing sponsors by incorporating them in:

• Tailgate lot activation (on display; strolling through the tailgate lots)
• Pre-Game Team Walks (Tiger Walk, etc.; serving as a prelude to the team's arrival)
• Race Track Activation (driving along a NASCAR track prior to a race or during a caution)
• Championship Parades
• Team Festivals
• Guerrilla Marketing (Operating Co-Branded Vehicles)
• Retail Activation Displays
• On-Field Vehicles (Drive on the Warning Track or On-Field During Pre-Game; Stretchers, etc.)
• Pace Cars During Marathons / Endurance Events

Check out how sponsors are being mobilized at the Tour de France below:

View more presentations from Brian Gainor.

Velodrome Branding is Harder Than You Might Imagine

Are you looking for new signage application techniques? Are you looking to sell sponsorships for a velodrome facility?

The enclosed clip details the process it takes to paint sponsor signage onto a Velodrome. Prior to the 2009 World Cup, officials at the British Cycling called in a team of experts to apply signage at the British Velodrome, a very arduous process. Check it out!

Looking to Promote Horse Racing Sponsorships?

Are you looking for unique ways to promote upcoming events taking place at a horse track? Are you looking for new ways to drive awareness in the local marketplace?

Sports marketers looking for new ways to drive awareness for racetrack sponsorships should consider taking their show on the road. PMU, a leisure company devoted to conceiving, promoting, and marketing horse betting in France, recently promoted its status as an official partner of the Tour De France with two (2) unique mobile vehicles during a pre-race parade.

The mobile vehicles did a great job driving awareness for its services. Check out some pictures of PMU's activation below: