It hasn’t developed the cult following of “The Rick” or “Stump The Schwab” but ESPN backed into a great sponsored online activation as a fan this weekend selected his 25th consecutive correct sporting result through their “Streak For The Cash” online contest. The winner Samuel Louis-Charles, earned a One Million Dollar payout with more to come. Now as with most ESPN-branded entertainment, the perks that can result from the Disney/ABC family, and the ways Mr. Louis-Charles can gain exposure run everywhere from promotions with sponsor Progressive Insurance to the trip to Orlando…who knows if his story os good enough and the contest continues maybe a walk-on in “Extreme Makeover” or a trip to the Bowl game of his choice could be in the offing. ESPN did a great job of video updates with the contest, keeping all informed of the leaders as they rose and fell in the multi-month contest, with other drop-ins during broadcasts. Now with their garbarge handler the first big winner, will be interesting to see how far the activation trail can go, especially with a compelling story.
Some other good reads…kudos to Octagon's First call blog on landing a USA Today pop after doing a great piece on the world's most effective celebrity…Santa Claus…great play by the group and a really justified pitch for the guy in the red suit…with the baseball winter meetings going on in Las Vegas, the New York Times has a good profile of agent Scott Boras…Brandweek has a great piece on the best guerilla executions of 2008…and Ad Age has an interesting piece on the sponsors who are leaving NASCAR…
