TCU Athletics Kicks off the 2011 Season with an Inspirational Video

TCU Athletics recently unveiled one of the finest season preview videos seen in the collegiate marketplace to date. While most athletic programs create montages filled with highlights, game action, and profiles of players and coaches, TCU Athletics teamed up with Red Productions to take a much different approach.

The 2011 TCU Football video effectively portrays how the Horned Frogs fanbase are part of something that's much bigger than just a football season. The video demonstrates how TCU Football is about a spirited community of all ages that stands united through all situations.

What's great about the video is that it creates a true sense of community, showing the fanbase (wearing licensed Nike gear) consuming TCU football at home, at retail, and live in the stadium. TCU Athletics also did a great job embedding a link in the YouTube video description to drive consumers to purchase tickets.

Check it out below!

CBS Outdoor Delivers a Best-In-Class Billboard Campaign for the Twins

CBS Outdoor recently posted a tremendous video that showcases the work involved with creating a captivating outdoor billboard campaign to promote the grand opening of the Target Field in 2010. The video details all of the work involved with the installation phase of the OOH project, providing viewers with an inside look at all of the elements involved with creating a best-in-class campaign to promote the Twins new home for years to come.

Check out the video below:

Vitaminwater Salutes Ray Allen's Historic Moment in Style

Vitaminwater recently celebrated Ray Allen's historic moment setting the NBA's record for most three-point shots in a career by creating a fantastic tribute video that featured remarks from a collection of famous Bostonians, athletes, Celtics teammates, celebrities, musicians, and fans.

Vitaminwater really did a great job making the piece all about Ray (a Vitaminwater endorser), with subtle signage and product placement featured throughout. As brands continue to look for ways to be authentic and endemic in the sports space, one can expect that we will soon begin to see more congratulatory viral posts being produced, as they are inexpensive, heartfelt, and effectively cater to a variety of fan bases.

Check out Vitaminwater's memorable salute to Ray Allen below:

The video featured appearances by Dropkick Murphys, Patriots receiver Wes Welker, UCONN men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun, Ray Allen's wife and mother, actor Donnie Wahlberg, Boston mayor Thomas M. Menino, Celtics center Kendrick Perkins, several Boston media personalities, and more.

On a side note, Brand Jordan also congratulated Ray Allen on setting the NBA's all-time 3-point record with 2,561 baskets by releasing a commemorative viral that recently eclipsed 50,000+ hits on YouTube. Check it out below:

Modell's Uses Athletes in Disguise to Create a Hit Viral Series

Over the past few months, Modell's Sporting Goods has released a terrific viral series featuring professional athletes disguised as employees trying to sell their own jerseys.

The series kicked off in December when Modell's teamed up with Reebok to send Patriots RB Danny Woodhead to a retail location to push apparel. Standing 5-feet-9-inches tall, Woodhead served as the perfect athlete in disguise, as he went largely unnoticed and was even referred to as being "too little" by a shopper. The stunt, secretly captured on camera, became an instant hit with fans across the globe and generated 1MM+ views in a matter of days.

The second segment of the series featured prominent Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson posing undercover at a Modell's location in the greater Philadelphia area. Unlike Woodhead, Jackson was recognized by several shoppers but the filmed publicity stunt still managed to generate a significant amount of traction online with 108K+ views on YouTube. 

After producing two (2) viral hits, Modell's continued the series in February by sending New York Knicks rookie guard Landry Fields to a select retail location. An extremely animated Fields did a tremendous job posing as a Modell's employee named Leeroy Fields. The 6'7 forward did just about everything possible to call attention to himself (and his jersey), helping Modell's create yet another viral sensation.

Check out the three (3) classic retail stunts below: 

New England Patriots Running Back Danny Woodhead

Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receiver DeSean Jackson

New York Knicks Guard Landry Fields

Reebok Leverages Nicole Scherzinger and Digital Billboards in New Ways

Reebok recently teamed up with M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment to launch its new ZigTech trainer in the UK with a magnificent live digital billboard show. Reebok featured Nicole Scherzinger, the popular lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, on the billboard via a live stream interacting with a crowd of consumers on hand to watch the publicity stunt.

Per UTalkMarketing.com, Reebok featured Scherzinger on hand for an open photo session and then escorted her to a private area behind the screen where she interacted with the public via two way cameras that were attached to the digital billboard. The event signaled how brands can utilize digital out-of-home billboards to leverage their athlete/celebrity endorsements in new ways in conjunction with special events, product launches, gameday events, etc.

As the technology becomes more readily adopted, team partners can leverage this to take their retail player appearances to new heights as well as special gameday events for large crowds of fans. The stunt was terrific because Reebok demonstrated how to bring a relatively static medium to life at one of the most notable shopping centers in the United Kingdom.

Check it out below:

Gillette Turns to Kenny Mayne & His Razor to Connect with Sports Fans

Gillette has turned to famed ESPN Personality Kenny Mayne (@Kenny_Mayne) to promote its new line of Fusion ProGlide products and help drive connects with young male sports fans. Gillette recently unveiled a series of virals entitled, "A Man & His Razor" that have already begun to create a stir in the social media marketplace.

The virals feature Mayne using and conversing about Gillette Fusion ProGlide products during his daily routine on the set at ESPN and behind-the-scenes.  The success of the campaign demonstrates that not just current/former athletes and coaches serve as effective spokesmen in the sports marketplace - select reporters and television personalities can have a strong influence with fans as well.

Check out Gillette's four (4) terrific virals starring Kenny Mayne below and plenty more from the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Challenge Ultimate Summer Job tour here.

The Wizards Welcome John Wall to Washington D.C.

Sports organizations looking for new ways to drive awareness around the signings up marquee draft picks and free agents should check out a recent piece the Washington Wizards featured on their team website to welcome rookie PG John Wall to the city.

The piece is extremely well done - incorporating Ted Leonsis, members of the Wizards/Mystics organization, fans in the local community, and the most recognizable local athletes (McNabb, Ovechkin, Stasburg), and celebrities in Washington D.C. Check it out here!

A special thanks to Mike Rodriguez for his insights and contributions to this column! 

Nike and Team England Give Mount Rushmore a New Look

Nike is celebrating Team England's 2010 World Cup run with one of the most unique outdoor billboard adverts seen to date. Nike recently unveiled a giant billboard emulating Mount Rushmore that featured the faces of four (4) of England's prominently known soccer players. The billboard, completely made of rock, is the largest billboard in the UK, measuring 75m x 16m x 2m. The massive billboard, which supports Nike's "Write the Future" campaign, is expected to be seen by an astounding six (6) million consumers.

The only issue?

Three (3) of the players featured in the billboard campaign - Wayne Rooney, James Milner, and Rio Ferdinand - made the England World Cup team. However the 4th - Theo Walcott - did not. Ironically, Walcott's face will be featured in the rock sculpture display next to the word's "Play to be Remembered", but he will actually not be playing in the World Cup at all.

Nonetheless, the billboard serves as one of the greatest outdoor spectacles in sports and will be forever remembered by many in England and across the world for years to come... Not bad for a non-Official World Cup sponsor!

Check out the billboard campaign below:

Source: EPL Talk

Leverage Players to Promote Non-Profits

Are you looking for new ways to promote non-profit organizations and charitable partners? Are you looking to new ways to create an enticing call-to-action for fans?

FC Barcelona star Lionel Leo Messi recently teamed up with UNICEF, the team's jersey naming rights partner, to create a powerful viral piece designed to drive awareness and participation in support of a good cause. The 22-year old footballer recently signed a 2-year commitment with UNICEF to work on behalf of the world's most vunerable children and created the viral spot to encouage others to join him in his efforts.

The piece is powerful and extremely well done. Check it out:

Nike Welcomes Action Sports Enthusiasts to "The Farm"

Are you looking to feature action sports in non-traditional settings? Are you looking for new ways to incorporate action sports?

Nike continues to revolutionize the action sports space by refurbishing non-traditional areas into ultimate attractions for skateboard/snowboard enthusiasts. Nike recently ventured to the German countryside to create its newest action sports spectacle, "The Farm".

Once the project was complete, Nike invited some of the world's greatest action sports enthusiasts to try out all of the new toys it had to offer... Check out the viral piece below!