Enhance Stadium Concourse Signage with QR Code Giveaways

Corporate partners looking for new ways to engage fans on gameday should consider featuring QR code displays within the stadium concourse that deliver unique, interactive content. Brands leverage QR codes on back-lit displays to distribute free music downloads, gameday programs, virtual premium giveaways (wallpapers, animated characters, 3D characters), free mobile subscriptions, video vignettes, books/magazines, interactive games, and highlight reels to fans.

Firstbank, Colorado's largest locally owned bank, recently engaged travelers at Denver International Airport with three (3) engaging billboard displays featuring QR codes that offered free books, Sudoko, and crossword puzzles. Each of the billboards featured specific messaging that explained to travelers how to access the free content.

Program Details:

• Firstbank estimated that it would give away 7,000 books, Sudoko games, and crossword puzzles over a 5-month span
• The process of downloading a book to a smartphone via QR reader took less than 30 seconds
• Firstbank offered twelve (12) classic books, three (3) crossword puzzles, and Sudoko for travelers
• Consumers could download via mobile phone or online at efirstbank.com/books

Teams could look to replicate this concept within their stadium venues (on behalf of corporate partners) or as a unique messaging campaign in the marketplace. For example, teams could leverage their partnerships with airline partners to feature signage inside airports offering free team content (highlight reels, gameday programs, special offers) to travelers as they wait for their flights. This could also be replicated with auto partners (in waiting rooms), grocery store partners, electronics partners, etc.

Check out Firstbank's terrific airport marketing campaign below:

 

The Future of Stadium Signage - For Auto Partners

Honda recently teamed up with GT Media, JC Decaux, and Puca to develop an innovative outdoor messaging campaign designed to engage young, male consumers and demonstrate the innovative attributes of its automobiles.

To generate buzz around the launch of the new Civic R Series in Ireland, Honda displayed a large, interactive billboard in the trendy streets of Dublin that allowed consumers to actually start the car (featured on the billboard) by texting "START" to a designated shortcode (51500). Upon doing so, the call-to-action signalled the lights on the car to light up and smoke to exit from the car's exhaust pipes on the billboard.

Consumers that engaged with the billboard received a bounce back link to a Honda mobile brochure, providing additional details about the car, and also had an opportunity to receive a free ringtone of the car's engine roar if they engaged with the billboard via Bluetooth technology. The four-week campaign ran during June 2010.

Honda's innovative billboard technology serves as a great benchmark for sports organizations looking for new ways to take their signage to the next level, notably in baseball. While a billboard with interactive elements could not be run in-stadium during play, there is plenty of down time during games (between innings, pre-game, post-game, pitching changes, etc.) when brands could engage with fans via SMS technology without having to feature personnel on-site to operate the signage.

Look for a number of sports organizations to begin experimenting with SMS technology to take their stadium signage and brand activation to the next level!

Source: Puca

The Indiana Pacers Get Fuzzy With Their Vodka Partner

In November, the Indiana Pacers announced a special partnership with Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka, a vodka label created by golf legend Fuzzy Zoeller who is well known as a great Hoosier golfer, citizen, and businessman.

The Pacers celebrated the partnership on Saturday, November 20th by hosting a special promotional night where Zoeller served as the honorary captain of the game and held an exclusive meet-and-greet with the first 200 Pacers fans who purchased a special $95 ticket package to the game that included a Krieg DeVault Club Level Ticket, an autographed Fuzzy hat, one (1) drink voucher, and access to the chef's table.

Zoeller opted to align his vodka label brand with the Pacers organization in an effort to drive awareness and avidity amongst Pacers fans in the state of Indiana. As part of the partnership, the Pacers and Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka will feature two (2) bars in the concourse, Fuzzy's Garage and Fuzzy's 19th Holes (as shown below), and will feature custom courtside LED and a variety of other branding and hospitality elements at games. 

Check out a few photos of their terrific concourse buildouts and activation elements below: 

 

 

 

Nationwide Teams Up with the Bengals to Let Fans Growl

Nationwide Insurance, the Exclusive Insurance Provider of the Cincinnati Bengals, is leveraging its team partnership with an innovative promotion designed to engage the Bengals fanbase. The initiative, entitled the "World's Greatest Growl in the World", allows fans to perform a :30 karaoke version of the Bengals touchdown song for the chance to be featured on the Bengals website and an ultimate Grand Prize of $25,000.

Each week, fans who submit videos can win co-branded items, tickets, and autographed merchandise for participating and the ten (10) best entries will be featured on Bengals.com/Nationwide. Fans can then log in and vote daily for their favorite performance among the entries submitted (thus, both performers and voters become active leads for Nationwide). Fans who submit their favorite clips even have the ability to share them with family and friends via email.

Nationwide's "The World's Greatest Growl in the World" promotion has been extremely well received by Bengals fans thus far. Fans loved performing :30 karaoke versions at the Bengals home opener and traffic to the website has been very active in the early weeks of the promotion. Nationwide will also be leveraging its partnership with the Bengals by offering free ferry rides to Bengals games for all fans on a co-branded ferry (another great idea!).

The Bengals feature a collection of fan videos on Bengals.com/Nationwide. There are some classic performances that are worth checking out!