Hyundai is Set to Make Noise at the World Cup!

As an Official World Cup Sponsor, Hyundai is enhancing the experience of all fans attending games in South Africa with the construction of one of the nation's newest attractions.

Per KeenonCapetown.com, Hyundai built and mounted a massive 35m blue vuvuzela (an air horn commonly seen at soccer matches) on an unfinished highway in Cape Town. The giant vuvuzela, which set a Guinness World Record for the largest air horn ever built, will go off every time a goal is scored during the World Cup!

The vuvuzela was created in support of Hyundai's 'Bring the Gees' campaign. Check out the pictures of the giant vuvuzela below!

On a related note, check out some of Hyundai's retail activation in support of the World Cup:

Giants Fans Breathe Right and Love Their Team

Are you looking to leverage new partners online?

In 2009, Breathe Right Nasal Strips partnered with five (5) NFL teams (Patriots, Giants, Dolphins, 49ers, Bears) to introduce its new Breathe Right "Extra" product to sports fans across the nation. Touting a product that has been used by professional football players since 1994, the company activated its partnerships with "Breathe Right Game Days", where 400,000 product samples were distributed to fans via a multi-faceted professional football sampling and trainer outreach program.

In 2010, Breathe Right is bringing its partnership with the New York Giants to life by featuring an interactive page on the team homepage where fans can upload a picture of their game face, where they are wearing a Breathe Right Extra nasal strip, each week. The page concept is very engaging for fans and does an effective job tying back to the sport! A very well executed piece! Check it out below: 

Would a Mascot Proposal Grab Your Attention?

The Arizona Lottery recently drove awareness for the launch of its new jackpot game, Mega Millions, by creating an unforgettable moment at an Arizona Diamondbacks game. In an effort to promote the fact that Mega Millions and Powerball are now both available to Arizonans, the Arizona Lottery staged a live proposal between two (2) of its mascots.

The Powerball officially got down on one knee and proposed to the Mega Millions ball for all in attendance to see - a moment that was a little weird, yet extremely memorable. Check out how the whole moment went down at Chase Field below:

The moment came after a memorable night at the ballpark for the two lottery mascots, which even included an appearance on the Kiss Cam. Again, a little weird... but likely impactful for driving home the message to fans that Mega Millions is now available for Arizonans to play:

Heineken Offers Hawks/Thrashers Fans an Ultimate Lounge Experience

Are you looking for new ways to leverage beverage partners? Are you looking to benchmark the finest in-venue destinations in sports?

In 2007, Heineken signed on with the Atlanta Spirit, an ownership group that owns and operates the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers, to create one of sports' ultimate in-venue destinations. The space, referred to as the Heineken Lounge, serves an ultimate lounge that has become a focal point in Philips Arena.

Heineken equipped the space with 63-inch plasma screens to entertain moderate-sized groups willing to pay a little extra for an ultimate game experience. While the Heineken Lounge is situated in the upper level of the arena, the space is a perfect setting for consumers to entertain friends and business clients at live sporting events and concerts.

Check out a video here and some pictures of the space below:

 

    

A special thanks to Brandi Burton of the Atlanta Spirit for her insights and contributions to this column.

Nirmal Uses US Open Allianceto Drive Real Estate Sales

Are you looking for unconventional ways to leverage team marks? Are you looking for examples where sports has been used to drive real estate sales?

In December 2009, Nirmal Lifestyle announced a partnership with the U.S. Open (tennis) to create a 46-story community of of themed apartments in Mumbai, India. The partnership marked the first time a real estate licensing deal had been signed in India and served as a very interesting example of how property marks can be leveraged in countries across the globe. 

The US Open Apartments are being positioned as a lifestyle that bridges the gap between superior living standards and healthy living. The community offers a unique collection of aesthetics and state-of-the-art facilities, including a superior fitness center, tennis courts, jogging and cycling track, basketball court, swimming pool, and badminton courts.

Total Sports Asia guided Nirmal Lifestyle in forming the partnership and using the US Open marks in all of its advertising and promotions for the apartment complex. The agreement goes to show how powerful US property marks are across the globe.

The results of the campaign?

• Sales exceeded all expectations and helped Nirmal become top-of-mind in the industry and amongst consumers
• The launch set a new record in sales for the company by selling 108 units in less than 3 weeks
• The US Open brand association helped provide an additional revenue appreciation of 4-5% to the project 

The unique partnership follows a deal where Singapore-based Manchester United Restaurant and Bar launched its flagship outlet at Nirmal Lifestyle Mall Mulund in Mumbai.

Jones Soda Takes Its Seahawks Partnership to New Heights at Retail

Are you looking for new ways to drive sales at retail? Are you looking for new, innovative ways to leverage team marks?

In 2009, Jones Soda did an incredible job bringing their Seattle Seahawks team partnership to life at retail. The niche soda brand created a unique line of packaging that featured Seahawks cartoon and even included a line of trading cards.

The packaging does a terrific job demonstrating how partners (with permisison) can use team marks in non-traditional ways to connect and engage with consumers with a variety of interests. For example, this type of packaging caters to sports fans (largely due to its originality), children, and consumers with an interest in comics/science fiction. Jones Soda is sold at a variety of retailers across the Northwest, including Albertson's, Safeway, Sam's Club, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, Winco, and Fred Meyer.

As more brands look for ways to integrate sports and comics (as seen recently with adidas' World Cup campaign), it will be interesting to see if there is additional media integration.

Check out some pictures of Jones Soda's unique retail initiative below:    

 

 

Here are some additional pictures of the packaging.

An Inside Look at the Gatorade G Series Mobile Locker Room

Are you looking for new ways to reach young student-athletes? Are you looking for ways to bring sports experiences to life for fans?

Gatorade recently launched a pretty impressive G Series Mobile Locker Room that will tour the nation and visit (8) handpicked high schools between March and May 2010. Here, students will be given a first-hand experience where they can test new G Series products and experience a once in a lifetime opportunity.

To drive excitement for the mobile locker room in the HS community, Gatorade is offering fans the chance to submit a photo and description of the ultimate high school locker room ritual on the Gatorade Facebook fan page for the chance to have the G Series Mobile Locker Room come to their school and win a $500 gift card. 

The G Series Mobile Locker Room is a state-of-the-art facility and fully functional locker room that features lockers of Gatorade's prime athlete endorsers. Check out some photos of the mobile display here:

  

   

Photo Source: Pro Motion, Inc. Flickr Page 

Nike Gives Marathon Fans All New Access on Race Day

Are you looking for new ways to bring your marathon events to life for consumers? Are you looking to showcase celebrities participating in your events?

In November 2009, Nike and BBDO teamed up to create a unique application that enabled people to receive real-time updates from celebrities, runners, and journalists participating in the Nike+ Human Race 10L Live from Argentina.

Nike provided five (5) select runners with iPhones that transmitted their voice recordings (during the race) into text messages that were posted on Twitter and related social networking websites. The phones were also equipped with GPS devices, allowing fans, participants, and onlookers the ability to track their exact location on the course when sending the message.

The tactic served as an effective way for Nike to bring the actions, thoughts, and emotions of its celebrity participants to life for all to enjoy. Check out how they implemented the campaign below:

Nike+ Human Race 10K LIVE from the INSIDE from BBDO argentina on Vimeo.

Molson Brings Canadian Nationalism to the Olympics

Are you looking for new ways to build nationwide excitement? Are you looking for ways to activate at global events?

Molson Canadian featured one of the best activation footprints in all of Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Games. The brand's "Hockey House" was a hometown fixture that turned out to be the best place for hockey fans to watch games and listen to the latest Canadian music in Vancouver. But that wasn't all the brand did to support Canada's efforts to host the Olympic Games.

Check out some of their creative activation tactics below:

Molson Canadian Hockey House

Molson Canadian Digital Guest Book

Molson Canadian Rally Book

Molson Canadian also cheered on Team Canada by creating a "Made from Canada Rally Book", filled with thousands of good luck messages from fans across Canada, that was presented to some notable Canadian official prior to the hockey team's match against Russia. Check it out below:

Molson Canadian 2010 Mural Project

Molson built a mosaic of individual fan photos spanning a 4,000 square foot section on the outside wall of the Kitsilano brewery in Vancouer. The brand collected photos submitted via the site http://www.molsoncanadian.ca/2010muralproject/ to build a surprise Olympic-themed image and message for all consumers visiting the city to see. Check out how they launched the project:

Molson Canadian "Made from Canada" Commercial

Molson unveiled one of the finest Olympics commercials of all-time in 2010. The brand's "Made from Canada" piece does an incredible job screaming patriotism. Check it out below:

Bring Your Team Billboards to Life!

Are you looking for new ways to engage fans throughout the week? Are you looking to drive online engagement and an incremental number of fans to your organization's Facebook Fan Page?

Rockit Wrigleyville, a new bar and grill located in the heart of Wrigleyville, recently featured a promotion that provided consumers with a chance to have their face appear on a billboard located just outside Wrigley Field. For a chance to win, consumers just had to take their picture in front of the billboard and upload it to the restaurant's official Facebook fan page.

The entrant who posted a photo on the Facebook Fan Page that generate the most "likes" by other viewers was selected as the ultimate winner of the promotion. To drive interest in the offer, Rockit Wrigleyville offered a free $25 gift certificate to each contestant. The winner, John Walters, garnered 82 "likes" for his picture submission.

The low-cost promotion served as a tremendous way for Rockit Wrigleyville to drive buzz in the marketplace (consumers would encourage their friends to check out their photos and "like" them) as well as drive traffic and new fans to the restaurant's Official Facebook Fan Page.

The promotion serves as a really simple way for sports organizations to leverage stadium landmarks and billboards in the marketplace to spur fan engagement and drive traffic online to the official team facebook page via valuable content.

Check out some of the pictures that were submitted here.

Watch a video of the campaign below: