Multi-Partner Promotion
April 6, 2009
Just as the Olympics are all about teamwork and pride, AT&T had to employ those same principles in activating its 2008 Olympic sponsorship of Team USA.
Working with The Marketing Arm, AT&T crafted a music promotion dubbed “Team USA Soundtrack” that melded the contributions of top music artists with the marketing objectives of NBC, the Olympic athletes and, of course, its own brand. The focus of the promotion was a series of music videos and downloads that were meant to appeal to AT&T’s 18 to 24-year-old core audience, which was less than half the average viewing age of the Olympics.
AT&T worked with NBC to arrange the world premiere of the music video “The Champion in Me” by 3 Doors Down during an episode of America’s Got Talent and coordinated an appearance by Sheryl Crow on The Today Show on the Friday prior to the Games. Then, on each night during the two-week Games, NBC aired primetime in-broadcast features comprising video highlights of Team USA set to brand new music tracks from artists including Chris Brown, Goo Goo Dolls, Sheryl Crow and Taylor Swift.
Additional PR came in the form of media coverage, with the partners providing exclusive behind-the-scenes content of the artists and athletes. Consumers aided in the viral effort by uploading music videos to YouTube and chatting about the promotion in blogs and on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. A $1 million donation to team USA was made by AT&T thanks to consumer downloads of the Team USA Soundtrack.
AT&T’s music promotion energized the brand’s Olympic sponsorship and capped off a successful multilayered partnership. The promotion received more than 60 million PR impressions from the media coverage and was the most-recalled sponsor feature during the Olympic broadcast, per Nielsen IAG. Go team!
The Olympic athletes weren’t the only summer heroes of 2008: Dreamworks’ animated comedy Kung Fu Panda followed the travails of lovable Po the Panda as he attempts to become a kung fu master. Though an apropos vehicle for the Summer Games (the story was set in ancient China), the film would rely on the efforts of multiple partners to maximize its marketing muscle.
McDonald’s, for example, created a global Happy Meal campaign that featured an animated 30-second spot highlighting eight kung fu action toys. Custom product packaging, in-restaurant video clips and online character-based games were also included in the effort. Kellogg, meanwhile, leveraged the film with more than 85 million promotional offers featured on packages of cereals, cookies, crackers, snacks and frozen
foods.
There was more: Bank of America ran Kung Fu Panda in 1,200 retail locations and offered tickets to the Los Angeles premiere as part of its WorldPoint redemptions. American Airlines featured the character’s voice, Jack Black, on it cover. Other promotional partners included HP, Energizer, Kid Cuisine, Hubba Bubba and Trix Yogurt.
The efforts contributed to a $60 million opening weekend for Kung Fu Panda on its way to a record-breaking $620 million in box office receipts worldwide.
Twist, dunk, lick—just do it fast! Welcome to the Oreo Double Stuf Racing league, an entertaining new marketing vehicle—posing as a sport—from Nabisco. Looking to foster a new brand experience for Double Stuf, Nabisco enlisted football’s Manning brothers (Peyton and Eli) and tennis’ Williams sisters (Venus and Serena) in creating DSRL.
Cheeky TV spots pitted the two sets of siblings against each other in “lick racing” competition. A DSRL Web site (dsrl.com) and a sweepstakes offering tickets to a “lick-off” with the Mannings in New Orleans rounded out the promo, which boosted sales of Double Stuf 7.6 percent and 6.9 percent at the height of the promo.