Ambush Marketing, College Basketball, College football, Fox Sports.com, NBA teams, NHL

Gaming With The Pols…Obama Gets There First

As he was first to attract attention to the casual sports fan by playing hoops, Senator Barack Obama has now gone another step to reach the younger casual fan, by integrating ads into online video games, as reported today on gamespot.com and in the Sports Business Daily. As the tight election continues to try and cultivate the undecided or the apathetic votes (witness Sarah Palen’s hockey puck drop last week in Philly) the Obama campaign always looks first to the young and hip and the water cooler talk, areas which sometimes went unaddressed in previous elections.  This will probably be the first step in much-talked about web 2.0 marketing as it involves sports and gaming going forward…the  ablility to imbed online images in games  for download immediately, thus reaching a non traditional audience or growing an existing audience that used to take weeks and months to activate with.  Now whether it will engage the gamer or annoy him or her remains to be seen as there is always pushback when the mainstream comes calling.  One thing is clear though…the move, like the Senator’s ability to play hoops, generates buzz and makes him a little more relevant in a different demo.  Great placement in a space where equal time doesn’t apply yet. 

Some other good reads…the Orlando Sentinel has a more extensive piece on athletes influencing voters…the Rocky Mountain News has a good profile of Mountain West Comish Craig Thompson…Mike Kahn on foxsports.com has a good look at the rebirth of the Portland Trailblazers…and the Sporting News has a good piece on the continued rebuilding of the Blackhawks brand…