There are few experiential sporting events in the United States that compare to “America’s Game,” the annual football meeting between Army and Navy, and there are few brands that use a platform better than the way USAA does with all the events leading up to and around the game.
Perhaps for a good part of the casual fans for sports, Army-Navy is a part-time tune in vs. must see engagement , although this year’s ratings were continuing to be solid (5.0 rating and 8.05 million viewers on CBS). However if you are a member, even an extended member of a military family, a fan of traditional rivalries, a football fan looking for a game to watch in early December on a Saturday, an admirer of the work that the Academies do, or someone interested in history, a citizen of Philadelphia, Army-Navy is more than a football game, it’s a must engagement, and no one does the engagement better than USAA (The United Services Automobile Association a Texas-based Fortune 500 diversified financial services group of companies offering banking, investing, and insurance to people and families who serve, or served, in the United States military. And that audience is over 12.4 million members.
Now if you have watched almost any sporting event in America for the past decade or so, you can’t miss the story of USAA. Other than big pharma and Geico, their ads are everywhere. We often wondered how or why the need for advertising on such a grand scale, when their competitors can appeal to any consumer and their offerings are tailored to those in, or with relatives close to, military service. In reality, that number of potential engaged partners is massive, and their experiential events dovetail really well around Army-Navy and all that Philadelphia can offer. By owning so many aspects of the game, they speak to their current and potential consumers in a way few brands can; they are passionate, engaged and loyal, and Army-Navy is the rallying point.
Even more impressive than the space that USAA owns in the advertising and broadcast space around the game is how they engage media. On Friday, they set up a Radio Row of stations from around the country at the Philadelphia Convention Center which may be second only to the legendary Radio Row at Super Bowl (although the College Football Championship and the Final Four are also comparable, but they are title games, not a one off rivalry). 
Stations from major markets like New York and Dallas as well as national affiliates like ESPN Radio and CBS Sports all show up to talk rivalry, history and the college experience in sports. USAA supports the participants with many requisite commercial buys, but the buys are not just commercials; there is great time put in to make sure the content for the stations that come is worthy of the time, from former NFL greats to Heisman Trophy winners like Roger Staubach. The storytelling could always be done remotely, sure. But to have hosts from Seattle to Nashville on site to engage, creates not just a great deal of good will but also an experiential factor for the hosts which really brings value add.
Then there is the game day itself. Few times, especially in frigid conditions, will fans walk through the gates as long as three and a half hours before kickoff. That happens for thousands for Army- Navy, and USAA creates, with other partners, a fan experience that is both hands on and virtual, to keep those at the game engaged for hours around all the on field pageantry. The fan fest is INSIDE the gates, not outside, which is the norm in many places, so the idle hands and minds, especially the younger more active consumers, will have lots to do and try once their parents make it through security and into the stadium area.
The game itself is one large activation for USAA, from vignettes to new military member swear ins. While other sponsors like Nabisco and Chevrolet find their way into the narrative, the overwhelming and effective storytelling done by USAA, which rarely makes a proactive push to tell their own story through the media, is both subtle and very effective. They know how to message to their consumer and build pride and equity to current members and those on the cusp, all tailored around the largest rivalry game in America. Is it all about a massive rating? No. it is about wall to all engagement for key stakeholders, and because of all they do USAA scored big time around Army-Navy, perhaps more than any other one brand in any other one sporting event in America.
It is an event to behold, and an activation to admire.
