Manchester City and Jaguar Team Up for An Entertaining Halftime Promotion

Manchester City FC recently teamed up with Jaguar to create a pretty thrilling form of halftime entertainment for fans to enjoy that can be replicated in most other major professional sports.

The game, called Boot the Boot, tasks select fans with attempting to kick soccer balls from a distance into the trunk of a Jaguar that is parked within the corner tunnels of Etihad Stadium at the playing level (a trunk is commonly referred to as a boot in Europe). The promotion is perfectly suited for in-game entertainment because it adds a level of excitement while seamlessly integrating the Jaguar brand into the experience.

A similar promotion can be replicated in several additional sports, including:

1. Baseball - MLB/MiLB teams can task fans with throwing a baseball from 2nd base (or the outfield) into the trunk of a car (one-hopping it along the way)

2. Basketball - Teams can task fans with trying to throw a full-court pass into the trunk of a car for the chance to win free parking for a section of fans at the game

3. Tennis - Tennis officials can task fans with trying to hit 5 of 10 tennis balls into the trunk of an automobile located at courtside for the chance to win a free lease for a year

4. Football - Teams can ask fans to attempt to throw a 30-40 yard pass into the trunk of a car (located along the sidelines) for the chance to win a free lease for a year

Check out the MCFC-Jaguar "Boot the Boot" promotion below and consider new ways that your organization can integrate automobile partners in a fun, memorable way for fans!

Hublot Teams Up with Manchester United for a Unique Watch Promotion

Over the past few years, several watch companies have begun investing large sums of dollars on event partnerships, athlete endorsements, team partnerships, and more. As sports organizations look to leverage partnerships in this category in new ways, many should consider benchmarking a promotional tactic that Hublot and Manchester United partnered on in 2010.

Luxury watchmaker Hublot teamed up with Manchester United to host a Million Dollar Challenge event in New York City that featured several players as well as manager Sir Alex Ferguson shooting soccer balls at a giant target (replicating a Hublot watch) for the chance to raise funds for UNICEF. As part of the promotion, Manchester United players were challenged with striking a giant replica watch with a shot from 51 feet away to donate $1 million to UNICEF, a philanthropic entity that ManU has supported for 10+ years.

While no player successfully accomplished the feat, Hublot still donated a significant amount of money to UNICEF and generated buzz worldwide with the event. The PR stunt demonstrates how organizations can create engaging activation/PR stunt displays for watch companies that will attract consumer interest and attention. Consider ways that your team can benchmark this tactic to bring official watch partnerships to life!

Check out Hublot's activation tactic below:

Premier League Fans Compete Head to Head in Lucozade Fans Fives Tournament

Lucozade, a series of energy and sports drinks produced by GlaxoSmithKline in the UK, recently announced that it is hosting a Fans Fives Tournament that allows fans of Premier League teams to compete head to head against passionate fans of other clubs in the ultimate 5-a-side challenge on the famous pitch at Stamford Bridge.

Fans can enter to win a chance to compete in the Lucozade Fans Fives Tournament by filling out an application form on the brand's official Facebook page, describing why they are the biggest fan of their favorite EPL team. Fans selected to compete in the exclusive tournament competition will represent not only themselves, but their favorite club in a battle against the country's most passionate football fans. The competition effectively puts the passion, competitiveness, and loyalty of fans to the test in a memorable fashion.

Each Premier League club will select three (3) teams of fans based on the applications submitted online, who will then be subject to a four-week "Facebook Fan-Off" that allows fans the chance to ultimately decide who will have the opportunity to represent the club in the fan competition at Stamford Bridge.

As the longest standing Official Partner of the Barclays Premier League, Lucozade is also an official supporter of Arsenal FC, Chelsea, Liverpool FC, and The FA.  

Toronto FC and adidas Let Fans Design the 2012 Team Kit

Sports organizations looking for new ways to leverage apparel providers should closely monitor a new promotion that adidas and Toronto FC have teamed up to offer the team's fans in Ontario. The two parties are allowing the team's followers an opportunity to design the 2012 supporters kit (team uniform) for the chance to win the first official 2012 kit prototype, signed by the entire Toronto FC squad.

The promotion is very engaging because it allows fans to create their own design based on their stylistic interests yet it's offered in a relatively controlled manner on the official "Create Your Kit" microsite. Toronto FC fans living in Ontario have been very receptive to the initiative, with 4,000+ fans submitting their favorite designs in less than 48 hours since the site's launch on October 26th (the promotion runs through November 22nd).

Take a moment to check out the site's design and page elements below:

Barclays Lets EPL Fans Take Home The Trophy...

Are you looking for a new way to showcase your team/leagues' trophy hardware? Are you looking to create a national promotion that appeals to sports fans everywhere?

As the title sponsor of the English Premier League, Barclays has effectively positioned itself as one of the largest stakeholders in soccer around the globe. The major global financial services provider will only strengthen its positioning with its newest promotion, "Barclays Home Win". 

Barclays' Home Win promotion will enable twenty (20) fans around the globe to win the chance to take the Barclays Premier League trophy home for a day. All consumers have to do for a chance to win the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is log on to http://www.barclayshomewin.com and submit their name, country, telephone, email, and favorite EPL club. The offer serves as a way for Barclays to celebrate the extension of its league title sponsorship until 2013.

All winners will be provided the opportunity to have the Barclays EPL Trophy in a controlled environment (e.g. school, work, or home) between 10am-4pm on a designated weekday. Two (2) security personnel will accompany the trophy and will control any touching of the trophy (in other words, you can have it, but you can't do anything you want with it). Consumers can submit as many entries as they would like until the promotion expires December 11th.

Check it out below:

Sounders FC Entertain Fans with Soccer Ball Race...

Are you looking for ways to engage fans during halftime or stoppages of play? Are you looking for new ways to provide entertainment value for fans?

The Sounders FC organization currently features an interactive soccer ball race segment during halftime of its matches at Qwest Field. The promotion is a fan favorite as it tests the speed and skills of three (3) contestants wearing giant soccer ball costumes. Check out the team's execution of the promotion during a recent home contest against the Columbus Crew:

Sounders FC representatives could make the promotion more engaging for fans by assigning a different section to each of the contestants, creating a performance driven incentive (for the chance to win X prize). Check back for related promotions offered by the Sounders FC organization!

The FFA Promotes Upcoming Match with Unique Soccer Viral...

Are you looking to create a viral campaign to promote an upcoming match? Are you searching for ways to drive incremental fan interest? 

The Football Federation Australia recently created and released a captivating soccer viral piece designed to peak curiousity and interest for the team's World Cup Qualifier match against Uzbekistan. The FFA took a very unusual approach in creating the piece - they actually decided to promote the opposition (Uzbekistan) instead of their own club.

To spur interest in the match, the FFA decided to create an unbranded viral piece that showed what-appeared-to-be the Uzbekistan club being subject to extreme training methods, to not only drive awareness but to also instill fear (and interest) into the Austrailian football faithful.

Since its release, the "extreme training" viral piece has done extremely well as its garnered nearly 320,000 views online. While the viral could be determined by some as deceptive, the FFA claims that the video is purely a piece of entertainment. But while some debate over the clip's intent, thousands of others are left wondering whether the content is real... an extremely well done soccer viral piece!

Enclosed are two (2) versions of the viral piece:

The FFA's Authentic Promotional Video

The Viral Piece That Has Generated 318,000+ Impressions

Barclays Scores New Fans With Its Ticket Office Promotion...

Are you looking for new ways to leverage a financial partner? Are you looking to create a nationwide promotion that can be scaled down to the regional/local levels?

Barclays created a terrific promotional concept in support of its Title Sponsorship of the English Premier League. To activate its official title status, Barclays created the "Barclays Ticket Office", a promotion which rewards a pair of Barclays Premier League match tickets every 90 minutes, every day, for the duration of the 2008-09 EPL season.

The Barclays Ticket Office payoff equates to 16 pairs per day, 120 per week, 480 per month, and approximately 4,320 pairs distributed through the duration of the nine (9) month promotional campaign from August 16, 2009 to May 24, 2009. 

Consumers are allowed to enter to win as many times as they would like throughout the season (with no charges being applied outside of standard texting rates), but are only eligible to win once during a 24-hour period.

To participate in the promotion for the chance to win a free pair of EPL tickets (travel and accomodations not included), consumers must obtain a 10-digit code by:

• Using a Barclays ATM in the UK, Channel Islands, or Isle of Man and requesting a receipt. Consumers can use the 10-digit code on the back of the receipt to enter to win
• Logging on to the Official Barclays Ticket Office promotional page and spinning five virtual soccer balls to receive a 10-digit code
• Participating in a variety of other Barclays' promotional contests

Once consumers have their 10-digit code in-hand, they can enter to win by:

• Texting the code followed by the initials of their favorite Barclays Premier League Club to 68887
• Enter the 10-digit code, input the initials of their favorite team, and enter their email address on the Official Barclays Ticket Office promotional page

As Barclays selects winners every 90 minutes, it notifies them via a text/online message and confirms the match details and the ticket distribution procedures (winners receive their tickets no less than seven (7) days before the date of the game). Consumers who win during the months of April and May receive tickets valid for entry to matches played during the 2009-10 season.

Barclays is driving viral awareness for the promotion by featuring four (4) tools on the promotional page that enable consumers to share the details with friends via Facebook, StumbleUpon, Delicious, and Technorati.