As March Madness continues on the the necessity of these added Division I tournaments continues to be in question, we noticed two great examples of brand activation on lower level events pointed out by some quality bloggers. First Brian Gainor's Partnership Activation blog had a good piece on how a local BMW dealer used the Division II Peach Belt Conference Tournament to activate, drive traffic and create buzz in the area. With local and regional schools involved, the dealer was able to engage in a sign and drive contest, get all the in-arena activation and local press and reach a core following of potential buyers for new or used cars amongst a solid attendance of around 3-5,000. Factor in the added value of his local advertising and the connections with college students and adminsitrators and you have a well thought out small college success story for all involved. Then on a bigger scale, Eye On Sports Media pointed out the all day hoops extravaganza that the NAIA Tournament is every year in Kansas City. While it is not the full house event it once was at Kemper Arena, the full day of hoops draws a crowd that comes and goes and still gets into the thousands, has the eyeballs of thousands more who still are alumni of the schools, many of whom are in the midwest and is a good local activation in the area. The event is shown live online and as a result even secured a title sponsor, Buffalo Funds, and several secondary sponsors that get activation, access to alumni and sampling amongst other elements. Again it is not the mega event or mega spend for Division I conference tournaments or the NCAA or NIT, but it is a smart, well thought out strategic regional activation that could catch lightning in a bottle if a star or amazing play emerges and seems to make much more sense for someone looking to activate with this audience than working with a one-off lower level Division One event. Smart moves by those brands to know their market and find cost efficient ways to make some moves.
Some other good reads…The Baltimore Sun had a good piece on the Orioles Brian Roberts and the time he is having as a last minute addition to Team USA… Media Post had a great piece on the value that online advertisers are seeing with elite athletes…and Forbes.com has a good piece on how in a down economy some grassroots baseball orgs are seeing a bump in interest.
