Oh Oh Oh by The Golf Boys – Farmers Insurance go viral

As far as sponsorship goes, Golf is a pretty cluttered marketplace and one dominated by Financial Services brands and sports apparel. It is rare to see a fairly straight, corporate brand letting go a little bit and doing something fun.

So hats (or visors) off to Farmers Insurance, sponsors of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California, who have done something a little different and all in the name of charidee.

PGA Tour players Ben Crane, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, and Hunter Mahan, with just a little help from musician Con Bro Chilli, have created a music video. Yes, a music video. With a real track. On iTunes and everything.

Posted just at the start of this week, at the time of writing Oh Oh Oh by The Golf Boys had already garnered over a million views.

As Brand Channel reported earlier this week, the video is rapidly going viral, with a feature on PGATOUR.COM as well as its Facebook and Twitter pages. The video can also be seen on Ben Crane’s YouTube channel, and website.

The Sponsorship Story (via BrandChannel): “The fact that State Farm is sponsoring Ben Crane’s group and video shows the expanding relationship between the two. That relationship dates back to Crane’ victory at last year’s Farmers Insurance Open. Since then, Crane has partnered with Farmers and Farmers’ parent company, Zurich Financial Services, and he also sports the Zurich or Farmers logo on his golf cap, depending on the tournament.”

But for me, what takes this from being a ‘plum stoopid’ stunt (in the words of @One_Off_Olly) to a cute piece of marketing is the charity/viral element. The video is positioned as ‘presented by’ Farmers Insurance but what I love is that for every 100,000 views Farmers will donate $1,000 to charitable proceeds that will support both Farmers and Ben Crane charitable initiatives.

Why is this so neat? The charity element, built on the basis of viral value (each view on YouTube equates to 1c from Famers to charity) gives users a tangible role in helping the cause. And even better, its not from their own pocket, but from the ‘big bad’ corporate entity. Some will be inclined to re-watch numerous times just to stick one up at the Man – and it’s win win for Farmers because the more people that view and click, the more promotion they get as a genuine supporting partner. But most will be watching for pure comedy value because, frankly, it’s hilarious.

Enjoy.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: Movie Trailer

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. There are so many reasons why I love the look of this movie, not least:

• Super Size Me legend, Morgan Spurlock is fronting it. Guaranteed, good honest humour whilst proving a salient, sobering point along the way
• It is completely self-referential – a film proving its own point that we are over-advertised to through the medium of film and television, whilst acknowledging it wouldn’t exist without that very industry. I just love a good old paradox
• By the look of the movie posters, he actually manages to convince Californian-based pomegranate juice-makers POM Wonderful to take the $1m title sponsorship. I cannot wait to see that boardroom table discussion
• The issue of our contemporary over-dosing on product placement is placed front and centre (anyone who doubts the presence of brands in movies needs to check out Brand Channel‘s great database, Brand Cameo)
• Great title (though he will need to be forgiven for borrowing from Frank Rich’s book of the same name)

The premise is a simple one – can you make a movie using only budget acquired from sponsors and advertisers? If you’re wondering how Spurlock came up with the idea in the first place, his director’s statement in the movie’s press pack is worth a read.

(and no fewer than 12 pages of the 23-page press pack are dedicated to ‘A word from our sponsors’. So it’s a fair that bet he accomplished what he set out to…)

I think my favourite exchange in the trailer below, is from Spurlock’s conversation with politician Ralph Nader:

Spurlock: Where should I be able to go where I don’t see one bit of advertising?

[beat]

Nader: To sleep.

Not currently slated for a UK theatrical release this year, this might be one for festival screenings and a smaller-scale art-house release. But for the time being watch the trailer and enjoy:

 

In search of the greatest sports marketing moment

(c) NFL / Getty Images

It’s not often that I will post about work-related content here, but the latest debate raging over on Synergy’s blog is actually pretty thought-provoking (well, for those in the sports industry at least).

Any sports fans out there remember when Twenty20 was first ‘invented’? Or when Nike burst onto the scene helping Michael Jordan hit his jump shot? Or even, for the veteran fans amongst you, when NFL was first broadcast on our TV screens?

Well, whatever you think the biggest moment was, Synergy wants to hear about it. We’ve started a bit of a debate going by naming an initial top 12 (below), but we’re a friendly, modest bunch and open to suggestions of things we’ve missed. Have a look at the below, and let us know what you think by commenting on the original blog post here.

And eventually we’ll put up a poll and get to the official #1. But only with your help. So what’s it to be? Let us know…

1. 1960 – a promising American golfer called Arnold Palmer shook hands over a representation deal with his friend and Yale law grad, Mark McCormack. This handshake was the start of IMG and birth of modern sports marketing.
2. 1968 – After the NFL and AFL merged in 1966 the first two championship games between the two winners were called, snappily, the NFL-AFL World Championship. KC Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt then came up with the term Super Bowl for the game after seeing his grandson playing with a Super Ball, (a densely elasticated ball) and a global phenomenon was born.
3. 1976 – already prevalent abroad, Kettering Town became the first British football club to have a sponsor on its shirt – the deal may only have lasted four games but it changed the rules in the UK. The forward thinking brand? Kettering Tyres.
4. 1978 – Horst Dassler and Patrick Nally created a sponsorship model for world events starting with The FIFA World Cup that other rights holders have followed ever since.
5. 1978 – Bernie Ecclestone became chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) which culminated in Ecclestone securing the right for FOCA to negotiate television contracts turning F1 into the global financial phenomenon it is today.
6. 1979 – Jack Nicklaus argues successfully for the inclusion of European (rather than just British) players in the Ryder Cup. This turned a struggling, one-sided tournament into what is today probably the most significant global event in golf.
7. 1981 – the first major PPV boxing match between Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns was screened by Viacom Cablevision, the event sold over 50% of its subscribers for the fight and a new form of sports viewing was born.
8. 1984 – Nike, a struggling sports shoe company, signed rookie Michael Jordan and created the first shoe named after a player – The Air Jordan.
9. 1985 – Michael Payne restructured the IOC Marketing Programme creating TOPs – the building block of the most lucrative sponsorship format in the world.
10. 1992 – The English First Division clubs resigned en-masse from the Football League and formed the Premier League which is now the most watched and most lucrative football league in the world with the format copied across the globe.
11. 1995 – The first ever Extreme Games (later changed to X Games) was held with the backing of ESPN – it catapulted fringe sports into the mainstream, bringing with it vast corporate investment.
12. 2003 – The ECB introduced the world to Twenty20 Cricket via the Twenty20 Cup between counties, the mould breaking game has gone on to be adopted across the globe with IPL changing the financial face of the sport.

Iron Man 2 & Audi: a feat of brand engineering

Last night, thanks to our lovely friends at Odeon, a colleague took me along to a preview screening of the upcoming blockbuster Marvel smash, Iron Man 2. We had a blast, and could gush extensively about the two hours of quality entertainment: the mind-blowing explosive special effects, the hardcore AC/DC soundtrack and the enviable eye candy factor of every principle cast member (with the possible exception of Mickey Rourke).

But instead, as ever I want to talk about the brand stars. The victor for me was Audi – that car manufacturer now ubiquitous it seems across the action movie genre. With a stand-out presence in the movie – Tony Stark’s model of choice is a shiny R8 – the car performed admirably in its various scenes and even managed to work its way into the conversation at one point. And in a non-clunky way too. Unlike Tony’s uncomfortable reference to his watch preference, a Jaeger-LeCoultre, which could have given Daniel Craig’s Casino Royale Omega reference a run for its money).

What I found particularly admirable about Audi’s placement deal can actually be found outside the film. Frequently, entertainment rights holders make commercial partnership deals in order to take care of their marketing, and film is a prime example. One live event rights holder I met with the other day explained that 80% of his event promotion is driven by his sponsors. And Audi have stepped up to the plate.

http://www.TonyStarkInnovationChallenge.com

The Tony Stark Innovation Challenge is an Audi-created global contest throwing down the gauntlet to budding engineers and entrepreneurs who have a killer idea that could change the world. Encapsulating the innovative ethos of ‘Stark Enterprises’, the contest rewards the winner with a $15k prize to make their dream idea a reality as well as an all-expenses-paid tech-lovers trip to California. Video entries are voted for by the online community and judged by Audi executives, and, to spread that promotional net even wider, a factor of success is spreading the word via entrants’ social networks. You can even download the Stark Expo Briefing Document to find out more.

A very flash website brings this all to life, with an interactive garage area that blends the fictional ‘engineering’ behind Iron Man’s gold-titanium alloy suit with the reality of Audi engineering mechanics. Not only must the dwell time be significant (I am not a typical Iron Man fan, nor an aspiring Audi owner and yet I spent a good 6 or 7 minutes exploring the functionality), but the intended integration of Iron Man’s characteristics with that of Audi vehicle is pretty seamless. While ‘Repulsor’ technology and the ‘Mark VI A.I. system’ might not actually exist, Audi would be keen to think the pop-physics components Iron Man’s elements could, broadly speaking be applied to their own production values:

‘built on a legacy of innovation… developing the world’s most advanced materials… it is clean, powerful, and despite the best efforts of the competition it cannot be replicated.’

Brand and property values fundamentally intertwined, and in so doing, blurring the line of reality? Job done.

Jack Wills Freshers’ Tour, sponsored by… Jack Wills

Just yesterday at Synergy towers, there was some collective musing going on around how the face of sponsorship could change in the next few decades. And that got me thinking about that ever-elusive demographic – the 16-24 year olds – to see how they might be running businesses and consuming media in 25 years’ time.

One area of interest is how immune (or not) youth of today have become to brand presence in their everyday lives. Do they reject it (oft-quoted myth)? Do they embrace it (when it suits them)? Do they challenge it to give them added value before giving it their valuable attention (‘what’s in it for me’)? Or do they ignore it altogether?

Or, have they come to expect it as par for the course of being entertained? I wondered if the ‘such and such, brought to you by…’ had become such a ubiquitous tag to music concerts / sporting fixtures / televised events, that people in 10 or 20 years might actually notice an absence of brand more than its presence. After all, I was hearing this mandatory credit line before I could even read, from the loveable muppets of Sesame Street (‘Sesame Street was brought to you by the number 8 and letters D and M…’ etc.)

But one interesting application of the sponsorship concept was brought to me today by Britain’s favourite University Outfitter, Jack Wills.

Having just returned from a summer of fun in New England, the brand’s bright young marketing things are about to embark on another grand tour of the UK’s trendiest universities. JW will be at a Freshers’ Week near you in the next few weeks, combining their fabulously British fashion with cutting edge, fresh new music – via the brand’s evolving unofficial music label, JWUnsigned.

But what caught my eye in the creative flyer for the Tour, was the sponsorship line. Bearing in mind that this is a Jack-Wills event, delivered as a music tour produced by a Jack Wills sub-brand, it is ‘sponsored by’ – wait for it – a Jack Wills denim range. This year’s JWUnsigned Freshers Tour is brought to you by No.350-4-842 – the brand’s denim clothing line.

This I feel points to some interesting signs about the presence that sponsorship has in the lives of youth culture today. Sponsorship in its basic sense – brand-pays-rights-holder – cannot apply here given that both the sponsor and property are from the same stable. So one assumes that JW is using the Tour platform to leverage awareness of its 350-4-842 denim as almost a stand-alone brand, instantly recognizable in and of itself but crucially as part of the Jack Wills family.

But I sense that there must be an implicit acceptance here by the Tour’s marketeers that their target consumers are so expectant of a live event being sponsored, it has become a necessary element of the Tour name. ‘Sponsored by…’ acts in this case as a ready-made stamp of officialdom: all big music events are sponsored so the JWUnsigned Tour needs to be too, in order to gain stature and acceptance within the youth marketplace. 

St. Andrew’s, Leeds, Edinburgh, London, Bristol, Nottingham, Guildford and Brighton all appear to be on the list of host cities for the Tour events, and I’m intrigued to see what these will look like. How will JW use the opportunity to engage with their fans? Will they be actively spreading the word of their ‘Worn in but not Worn Out’ denim range to a captive audience of indie music fans? Will the bands be wearing the jeans during all their sets? Or is that ‘sponsored by…’ tag ultimately just that – a tagline?

And most interesting of all – will the legions of JW-loving Freshers either notice or, perhaps more importantly, care?

Murray HEADs into the quarters… with a new racket

After his epic victory on Centre Court on Monday evening, Andy Murray seems to have given mixed reviews on the now infamous Centre Court roof. While during the match, the humidity clearly affected play, Murray has since expressed his enjoyment of the crowd atmosphere gained by effectively playing indoors.

Less positive for his racket sponsor, HEAD, was that half way through a game in the crucial fifth and final set his strings broke, forcing him to play out the rest of the point effectively using a hand-held trampoline. Granted, the conditions may have induced a weakening of the strings beyond Murray’s usual expectations of his racket’s life-span, but even so – hardly an ideal impression to give tennis fans during play.

With that in mind, the Daily Mirror’s back page today made me chuckle:

I guess a back page headline must be some consolation for a broken racket.

Lions rugby ads – the good, the bad and the worst

As we’ve recently been on the topic of brands capitalising on big sporting headlines, I thought it apt to take a look at two Lions rugby-themed ads which caught my eye this week. And for rather different reasons.

HSBC, main sponsor of the British & Irish Lions team have thrown a shed-load of their marketing budget at above the line activation of the sponsorship this summer – and rightly so as their main sporting sponsorship property deserves. Amongst a huge range of creatives, sits the ad below, which I just love. It’s simple, brand-warming and conveys their grassroots-rugby-support message brilliantly:

(Although I should say at this juncture that I am definitely less of a fan of their Sky Sports indents that wrap all the Lions coverage – though opinion seems widely divided on this one).

Of course, as with all major sporting properties, illegitimate brands will always try to hi-jack the topical news agenda with strategic placement of their own ads at key moments. Cue male hair-dye company Just For Men jumping on the back of the Lions’ campaign with the below. Total comedy.

Ralph Lauren & the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour: the perfect match

© Getty Images Entertainment: (L-R) Vera Zvonareva, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Anne Keothavong and Elena Dementieva

At the delectable Kensington Roof Gardens last night, tennis beauties mixed with the tailored glamour and chiselled jaws of Ralph Lauren’s most handsome ambassadors. To kick-off the pinnacle of the British tennis season at SW19 next week, Ralph Lauren came together with the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in a perfectly conceived partnership to host the annual WTA’s pre-Wimbledon party in London.

Earlier that day, WTA girls got an ultimate Ralph makeover thanks to the racks of the designer’s luxe collections. Venus Williams wore a pre-Fall Black Label platinum satin tuxedo silk dress, while Serena Williams donned a Spring 09 Ralph Lauren Collection gold sequin pants with white top. Vera Zvonareva chose a platinum satin silk dress from pre-Fall, while Elena Dementieva showcased an owl neck dress from the Black Label. Brit star Anne Keothavong meanwhile took a liking to gold lace embroidered number from the Spring 09 collection.

All attended the party at Kensington Roof Gardens along with venue host and owner Sir Richard Branson (with Holly and Sam in tow), a selection of the London Social Set, a sprinkling of TV and music faces and of course players, coaches and their associated entourages. 

Guests were treated to an impressive array of summer barbeque goodies accompanied by seared tuna, poached salmon and bean salad, followed by strawberries & cream and mini chocolate tarts. All washed down with a specially Wimbledon-themed cocktail menu (cute). Then we danced it all off on the dancefloor ’til the wee small hours.

Safe to say, from the fabulous blazers and striking pinstripes modelled by all the staff and Tour hosts across the evening, I think I know what’s now top of the birthday list next month.

Great job Ralph – when’s the next one?

Why we heart Jack Wills even more than before

I blog, Tweet and share on Facebook most of the cool stuff I come across on a daily basis. According to Rupert Murdoch, this makes me a ‘digital native’, but whatever label you want to apply, today it totally paid off.

As a long-term fan of the Jack Wills brand, my support of the British fashion label has, over the years, transcended both online and offline platforms – along with a lot of my closest friends. We shop with Jack, we party with Jack, and when we do, we tell people about it.

Take the annual Varsity Polo tournament at Windsor (JW’s sole, perfectly conceived sponsorship property): we’ll not only attend the event, but with a desire to soak up every last drop of JW goodness that can be squeezed from the day, we’ll also make sure we hit the renowned pre- and post- parties. Each of these supporting social events is a prime opportunities for JW product sampling, mobile shop units and giveaways – all wrapped up in a perfectly ‘fabulously British’ parcel of fun that completely encapsulates the brand’s personality.

But it doesn’t end there. Like us, each attendee (usually residing firmly within the 16-24 age bracket and thus 100% digitally native) will tweet, blog, share links, upload photos and update statuses continuously in the run up to and aftermath of each fully branded event – therefore spreading the word to their like-minded friends and colleagues, all of whom sit slap bang in the middle of the JW target demographic. They in turn will add Jack as a friend on Facebook, become a fan of the JW page and follow their every update on Twitter… and so it goes on.

However, little did I know until yesterday just how savvy the JW marketing team could be. Evidently all too aware of their mini ready-made army of (free) brand advocates online, they have decided to recognise and reward those who share the JW love.

Having over 2,000 followers on Twitter, they follow themselves only 21 (to date) – including, as of yesterday, me. This in itself (for an avid brand fan) is pretty cool in the Twitter-verse as it’s a stamp of approval from a brand you love – especially if you’re one of few. But, hey presto, at 8am this morning a special delivery package arrived at my door… a surprise thank you gift from the JW team no less. Complete with a handwritten note (-’Just to say thanks for being a fan! Keep the word up… Love Jack x’-), I had been sent a whole collection of JW goodies for doing no more than shouting about the things I love.

What is so clever about this smart move from them, is that not only I am now pretty much a fan for life (or at least, the foreseeable future), but they know that I will make sure everyone knows about it. For them, a minimal outlay has cemented the loyalty of one particularly vociferous fan, knowing that I would return the favour ten-fold in brand advocacy for them.

Naturally I did: by 9am I had updated my Facebook status and Twitter feed accordingly. By 10am I had three messages from other JW fans asking how I managed to get presents from Jack. And now I’ve posted this blog post as well. Offline, I’ve also told pretty much everyone I know.

For Jack Wills, engaging with their audience using the platforms that will give them the biggest share of voice is absolutely key. But what did surprise me is how they strive to show their fans how much they are valued - turning their online advocacy into currency for tangible, offline rewards. Cute, surprising recognition for those who love them best will, in the long run, grow their business exponentially.

No Jack, thank YOU.

Britain’s Next Top Model: Lisa’s New Model Army

Girls, how much are we loving the ad creative for cycle 5 of Britain’s Next Top Model?

The TV trailers are a little more boot camp style (click here for a preview), with the final shot in the depths of the forest drawn from a very British battle scene. But the 1940′s wartime honeys in the print ads (as above) are just fabulous.

Led by the glam Lisa Snowdon (well, OK she’s no Tyra Banks but she’s probably the best we have to fit the bill), the girls will be landing back on our screens on Living, Mondays at 9pm – once cycle 11 of America’s Next Top Model (BNTMs superior and original cousin) finishes in a couple of weeks.

Virgin Media’s cool little Living site for the show, features the huge digital creative campaign (the brainchild of London digital creative agency Holler) and a whole host of interactive goodies for fans of the show. Check it out now to see preview videos of all the aspiring models.

And the show’s marketing is truly award-winning. At the Hollis Sponsorship Awards just last week, I saw Vauxhall Tigra‘s sponsorship of the show (now in its the third year) gain the accolade of Best Brand Sponsorship (rather remarkably in the under £750,000 sector). Vauxhall activates on the back of it with some inspired runway catwalk events searching for The Face of Tigra 2009, in association with LIVING, and a Vauxhall Style website.

Anyway, I digress… I just love the posters. Plain and simple. Let’s hope the British cycle 5 can live up to its American cousin. If the promotional campaign is anything to go by, I’m damn excited.