Last night, I checked out a basketball game between Toronto Raptors and New Orleans Pelicans. It was my first basketball game and I loved every moment of it. The atmosphere, the energy and the advertising! You couldn’t help but notice the advertising as it unleashed in your face. Some of it was clever; some of it was pretty wasteful. Here are a few brands that stood out.
BMO
BMO, lead sponsor of Toronto Raptors last night provided a sort of gamified experience. They had an app running on the big screen that displayed four cards, one of which was a BMO card. A participant from the audience was asked to pick out the BMO card after the cards were shuffled live on screen. Having that app play out on the big screen got the entire audience involved and it felt like we were all playing the game with her. The exuberant participant guessed correctly, maybe with a little help from the crowd and won a BMO debit card with a 100$ deposit. Pretty smart considering, that this experience could be the beginning of a long term relationship between this lucky winner and BMO. It could very well turn into a bank account that she might go on to use for regular transactions in the future. If she’s already banking with BMO, perhaps there will be a higher propensity for her to stay loyal and use more of their services. If nothing else, the experience will be one she will cherish and talk about with her friends.
M&M
M&M gave a year supply of its candy to the best dancer of the night. It was perfect for the brand’s quirky, fun persona and if you ever needed an incentive to dance, that was most definitely it. How else can a brand make 15,000 people dance in the most ridiculous way all at once! M&M nailed it!
Klipsch
Klipsch headphones, which makes premium sound products like headphones and speakers was branded as the official headphones of the Toronto Raptors. I hadn’t heard of this brand until last night. This brand is awesome, it appears that a fair chunk of its marketing spend goes towards live events, music and sport. That image was compelling and it told the whole story - the grit and determination on DeMar’s face and how he gets in the zone before the start of the game. It offered that little window into his life.
Grant Thornton
At first I was puzzled by the Grant Thornton banner ad and wondered why it was there. It then struck me that it was targeted at the executive suite in the stadium. Perhaps the goal was to generate unaided awareness, or maybe it was trying to promote its sports advisory practice or maybe it was just a show of support for basketball. Whichever it was, it popped out in my mind probably because in the myriad of all those food brands, I wasn’t expecting to find it there.
Check out this article by David Edelman, Partner at McKinsey: Olympic Gold: Understanding the True Value of Sports Sponsorships where he offers amazing insight into why marketers choose to advertise in the sports domain and how they can maximize their investment.
BMO
BMO, lead sponsor of Toronto Raptors last night provided a sort of gamified experience. They had an app running on the big screen that displayed four cards, one of which was a BMO card. A participant from the audience was asked to pick out the BMO card after the cards were shuffled live on screen. Having that app play out on the big screen got the entire audience involved and it felt like we were all playing the game with her. The exuberant participant guessed correctly, maybe with a little help from the crowd and won a BMO debit card with a 100$ deposit. Pretty smart considering, that this experience could be the beginning of a long term relationship between this lucky winner and BMO. It could very well turn into a bank account that she might go on to use for regular transactions in the future. If she’s already banking with BMO, perhaps there will be a higher propensity for her to stay loyal and use more of their services. If nothing else, the experience will be one she will cherish and talk about with her friends.
M&M
M&M gave a year supply of its candy to the best dancer of the night. It was perfect for the brand’s quirky, fun persona and if you ever needed an incentive to dance, that was most definitely it. How else can a brand make 15,000 people dance in the most ridiculous way all at once! M&M nailed it!
Klipsch
Klipsch headphones, which makes premium sound products like headphones and speakers was branded as the official headphones of the Toronto Raptors. I hadn’t heard of this brand until last night. This brand is awesome, it appears that a fair chunk of its marketing spend goes towards live events, music and sport. That image was compelling and it told the whole story - the grit and determination on DeMar’s face and how he gets in the zone before the start of the game. It offered that little window into his life.
Grant Thornton
At first I was puzzled by the Grant Thornton banner ad and wondered why it was there. It then struck me that it was targeted at the executive suite in the stadium. Perhaps the goal was to generate unaided awareness, or maybe it was trying to promote its sports advisory practice or maybe it was just a show of support for basketball. Whichever it was, it popped out in my mind probably because in the myriad of all those food brands, I wasn’t expecting to find it there.
Check out this article by David Edelman, Partner at McKinsey: Olympic Gold: Understanding the True Value of Sports Sponsorships where he offers amazing insight into why marketers choose to advertise in the sports domain and how they can maximize their investment.