Nike Shines with "Show Your Five" Campaign...

Are you looking to promote a grassroots soccer tournament? Are you looking for a unique way to relate professional sports to the games played by everyday children on the streets?

In February, Nike released a tremendousonline campaign designed to peak consumer interest in their "Show Your Five" soccer tournament being hostedacross Europe. The tournament, marking Nike's largest brand push in Europe in the past decade, features teams of the best footballers in Europe competing against one another in a 5v5 match.

Nike's Show Your Five tournament website features an array of interactive features for soccer enthusiasts to enjoy, including:

• Mash Up Your Game - A feature that lets consumers create their own highlight videos
• Show Your Music - A feature that lets consumers check out the official bands of the tournament
• The New Zoom CT - Shows product attributes of the brand's new footwear
• A variety of videos stemming
• Event / Venue details

To drive buzz for the tournament, Nike featured Wayne Rooney and Joe Cole competing alongside skilled amateur footballers in an urban-style match. Check out the clip below:

Venus Plays Tennis in Traffic to Drive Buzz for Sony Ericsson Open...

Are you looking to stimulate buzz in the local marketplace for an upcoming event? Are you looking to create a new guerrilla marketing campaign leveraging athletes?

Representatives at the Sony Ericsson Open recently called on Venus Williams and Andy Murrary to stop traffic and play a game of tennis atop cars in Miami to promote their 2009 tournament. The guerrilla marketing stunt served as a great way to drive awareness and buzz for the tournament amidst the clutter of events taking place on any given weekend in Miami.

Williams and Murray played an impromptu game of car-roof tennis on Ocean Drive in Miami, drawing a crowd of onlookers and media personnel (making it a hit in the viral world).

Check out a clip of the action below:

The Rockets Elevate Their Concourse Branding...

Are you looking to give your stadium concourse a new look and feel? Are you looking to drive awareness for a new branding initiative amongst fans attending games at your venue?

The Houston Rockets organization has done a tremendous job branding the concourse level at the Toyota Center. The concourse looks fresh, conveys team basketball, and leverages the team's biggest asset in a unique way. Check out some pictures below that detail the team's creative branding tactics:

Mercedes-Benz Makes Racing a State of Mind...

Are you looking to create a humorous advertising campaign that leverages athlete endorsers? Are you looking to portray the personalities of rising stars in your league/organization?

Mercedes-Benz did a tremendous job playing up the personalities of Formula 1 starsLewis Hamilton (representing England) and Fernando Alonso (representing Spain) in its 2007 viral hit, "Racing is a State of Mind". The humorous clip, portraying how Hamilton and Alonso'slives on and off the track are driven by their competitive nature, generated over 1 million impressions in the online space.

Organizations and leagues inthe United States with duos/trios of rising stars should consider creating similar humorous campaigns to help position them in a positive light in theminds of consumers:

• NHL (Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin)
• NBA (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade
• NFL (Matt Ryan, Matt Cassel)
• MLB (David Price, Joba Chamberlain)
• NASCAR (Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin)
• Tennis (Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic)
• PGA (Camilo Villegas, Anthony Kim)

The Indianapolis Colts Help a Hoosier...

Is your organization looking to make a difference in your local community? Are you looking to align your organization with an important cause?

The Indianapolis Colts have recently become a leader in the sports cause marketing scene with their organization's "Help a Hoosier - Spark Random Acts of Kindness" initiative. The team has made it their personal mission to help others living in the state of Indiana through random acts of kindness, goodwill, and monetary support.

To drive support for the campaign, the Indianapolis Colts released a captivating viral campaign (shown below)and are hosting a Help a Hoosier Canned Food Drive on March 20th at Monument Circle from 11am-1pm. On their team website, the Colts feature a list of suggested simple acts of kindness that people can consider doing to help friends, strangers, and family living in the state of Indiana:

• Have a clothing drive at work donate to a homeless shelter, pay for a kid to play in a sports league, visit a nursing home, donate your child's toys to charity, buy lunch for an intern, share your umbrella, volunteer at a local elementary school, take a homeless person out for lunch, write a supportive letter for a friend, etc.

Take a moment to watch the Colts' captivating viral campaign for the Help a Hoosier initiative and pass it along to five (5) friends. The video features a collection of Colts team employees asking YOU to join them in the movement:

A special thanks to Bryan Kryder for his contributions and insights to this column.

Are Your Broadcasts Entertaining?

Are you looking toenhance the quality of your television and radio broadcasts? Are you looking to incorporate new forms of entertainment into your broadcasts?

The Florida Panthers play-by-play announcer Randy Moller has recently drawn a significant amount of positive attention with his goal calls. Moller has found a way to creatively integrate pop culture references into his goal calls - featuring everything from famous movie quotes to music references. Moller's goal calls of the game add unpredictability and a sense of fresh excitement to the Florida Panthers' broadcasts.

Moller is building on the excitement drawn from his signature calls by enabling fans to submit suggestions to the Dan LeBatard Show. Each show Moller selects his favorite submittal and uses it live on air (adding a new element of fan engagement to the Panthers' broadcasts).

Check out Randy Moller's entertaining goal calls below and consider new ways that you can generate similar excitement for your team's broadcasts!

Adidas Launches Its Products in BIG Ways

Are you looking for a new way to introduce your product to the marketplace? Are you looking for a unique way to drive media attention around your product launch?

Adidas does a tremendous job building awareness and excitement for its footwear and apparel, especially in the soccer space. In 2007, Adidas took the launch of the Predator PowerSwerve soccer shoe to another level by adding an element of surprise to its celebration in Paris.

Take a minute to check out Adidas'"surprise tactic"in the video enclosed below:

Consider Rewarding Your Finest Arena Performers with VIP Experiences...

Are you looking for new ways to build fan excitement during games throughout the season? Are you looking for new ways to reward fans?

Consider creating a "Peak Performers" promotion, where your organization selects one (1) fan each game who demonstrates the best dance moves/performance during a featured song on the video board. The promotion would serve as a great way for organizations to build fan excitement at every game, despite the team's performance on the court. Such promotions could also serve as a great way to incorporate new/existing corporate partners in a continuous in-game feature and generate interest from music labels looking to promote new albums, songs, etc.

At the end of the season, your organization can reward the group of the selected Peak Performers with an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of the mascot and dance team's quarters and a chance to collectively perform on court during halftime.

For example, many musicans that act as co-owners (Jay-Z, Usher, Nelly, Jon Bon Jovi, etc.) of professional organizations could willingly create an ultimate promotion that rewards a group of Peak Performers with a exclusive postseason meet-n-greet opportunity and a chance to perform at halftime toone of the musician's favorite songs.

Wouldn't Jon Bon Jovi like to reward a fan like this at Philadelphia Soul games who also has a passion for both music and sports?

Apple Catches the Eye of ESPN.Com Readers with Banner Ads...

Are you looking to enhance the effectiveness of your banner ads? Are you looking for new ways to extend media content across multiple channels?

Over the past few months, Apple has featured one of the most innovative and effective banner ad campaigns in the online sports space to date (a campaign prominently featured on ESPN.com). Apple teamed up with TBWA / Media Arts lab to create an interactive banner ad that demonstrates the game play features and fixtures of the iPod Touch.

As consumers view the homepage screen of ESPN.com, the latest Apple iPod Touch banner ad actually manipulates the menu screen, jostling around content featured on the screen (an element which adds to the interactivity of the iPod Touch game play featured in the ad). The banner ad serves as an extremely effective awareness driver that does a great job entertaining the common user while demonstrating the benefits and features of the iPod Touch device.

Check out Apple's innovative banner ad campaign in action and consider new ways that you can bring your brand to life for consumers in the online space!

A special thanks to Sean Phifer of the Ohio University Sports Administration Program for his insights and contributions to this column.

Use Promotional Incentives to Drive Team Social Media Buzz...

Are you looking for new ways to generate positive publicity for your organization in the social networking space? Are you looking for new ways to "own" the dialogue about your organziation in the social media space?

Sports organizations should consider benchmarking the tactics involved with Ford's recent Fiesta Movement promotion. In an effort to build excitement and drive viral buzz for Ford's new automobile, the Fiesta, the automobile manufacturer recently sent out a recruitment call for 100 agents to receive the car a few months early and chronicle their experiences through their social networks (e.g. blogs, Facebook, Myspace, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, etc.).

To support the promotion, Ford set up a website - www.fiestamovement.com - where it is asking consumers to submit a 2-5 minute video detailing why they should be chosen for the promotion. Just three (3) days after Ford announced the offer, over 1,500 people already had signed up to win.

How can sports organizations capitalize on implementing a similar concept?

In an effort to drive buzz in the social networking space, teams can create a promotional offer that awards 3-5 lucky consumers the chance to win free season tickets (a pair of two seats) if they agree to chronicle their life as a season ticket holder and document their experiences using social media tools. To drive value out of the promotional concept, teams can consider opening up the offer just to its core Twitter/Facebook/online social network followers, who already devote a significant amount of time discussing the organization and can have a large influence over their followers.

Looking at this promotional offer from a dollars and sense perspective, teams are potentially giving up $6K-$15K in season tickets (hard costs) for the chance to derive some true value in the social networking space. This is especially true if teams can use the promotional offer to align themselves with key influencers in the social networking space.

Soccer Stars Bowl for Kicks...

Is your soccer organization looking to host a unique promotional event?

In 2007. Adidas created a terrific viral clip featuring Messi and Xavi, two (2) international soccer stars, facing off in a head-to-head competition at a bowling alley. Adidas challenged the two athletes to compete to see whose football shoes would perform better under pressure - the Predator or F50.

Adidas added a unique twist to the "bowling competition" by having each of the players kick soccer balls down the bowling alley (as opposed to bowling). Check out the clip below:

Soccer clubs across the globe shpuld consider hosting charitable events to drive awareness/dollars raised by offering a similar twist. Many soccer fans around the nation would pay a hefty sum for the chance to bowl/kick against their favorite soccer stars in a head-to-head competition for charity. Hosting such an event could be a great way to drive some nice PR buzz (headlines, online viral, etc.) prior to one of your team's jewel events during the season.

Nike Commemorates Beijing Games with Elaborate Display...

Are you looking to create an impressive display to showcase an athlete or a high-profile event?

To commemorate China hosting the 2008 Olympic Games and the contributions that Chinese sprinter Liu Xiang has made to his country, Nike erected a massive display outside the Solana Mall in Beijing. The display is made of thousands of pieces of wood. Check out some pictures of the display below:

Axe Goes Guerrilla on Women's Running Event...

Are you looking for new, unqiue guerrilla marketing strategies?

Axe devised a creative guerrilla marketing campaign to capitalize on the largest European women's running event. The event, which took place in Aarhus, Denmark, featured 6,000 female participants competing against one another along a road course filled with thousands of ongoers.

After the race began, Axe turned the event into a publicity stunt byhaving a man in anAxe shirt jump over a fence 100 meters in front of the starting line. The man quickly sprayed himself downwith Axe cologne and began to lead the pack of female runners along the route, creatingan impressionfor the thousands of ongoers watching the race that thousands of women were chasing him after using Axe's product. A very creative campaign developed by Axe!

Check out a picture of the guerrilla campaign in action:

Source: Invisible Red - 12/9/2008

Utah Fans Do The...Gator Chomp?

Are you looking to capitalize on new merchandise revenue streams?

Sports organizations should consider ways to capitalize on potential new revenue streams after acquiring a popular free agent or a coaching legend. Players like Kevin Garnett, who built a lasting legacy playing the majority of their career in one city (e.g. Minneapolis), have the ability to generate new sales revenues in new markets for their current organizations (e.g.Boston Celtics).

The NBA Restaurant, adjacent to the Target Center (home of the Timberwolves) in downtown Minneapolis, sells six (6) racks of Celtics No. 5 jerseys, Garnett wristbands, Celtics carry sacks, green women's tank tops with "Celtics" written in crystals, and a larger collection of Celtics t-shirts than Timberwolves merchandise. The result? The store sells more Kevin Garnett Celtics jerseys than the Timberwolves jerseys they sell. Al Jefferson and Kevin Love jerseys move off the shelves, but not as fast as the store's Garnett gear.

The implications for sports marketers? Capitalize on merchandise sales of new acquisitions/coaches in their former markets. Strong loyalties lie and in some cases, they always will (depending on the circumstances)...

Case in Point? Prior to the Sugar Bowl, fans of the Utah Utes united to do a signature Urban Meyer Chomp... Hopefully the Gators are selling some Urban Meyer gear in Salt Lake City, or else they are leaving some merchandise revenue streams on the table...

Source: The Boston Globe- Hero is Welcome (11.21.2008)

Find Ways to Capitalize on No. 44...

Are you looking to take advantage of a growing trend in the sports marketplace? Are you looking to capitalize on a new premium giveaway?

If you haven't heard, there isn't a jersey hotter in sports than No. 44... While there aren't many players who sport this number, it could easily become a top seller in sales for in the next few weeks...

Why? With Barack Obama set to become the United States' 44th President, No. 44 merchandise has been selling everywhere and is especially popular amongst the young African-American male demographic.

The Harlem Globetrotters are taking advantage of the No. 44 craze by having all of their players wear a No. 44 jersey on their backs on January 20th to honor President-elect Barack Obama on his inauguration day in Washington, D.C. Kurt Schneider, CEO of the Harlem Globetrotters, recently noted that the inauguration marks a landmark moment in the nation's cultural history and the Globetrotters felt compelled to honor the historic occasion in a small way.