Are you looking for unique ways to leverage collegiate personalities in your commercial messaging? Are you looking for new ways to incorporate humor in an effort to drive product sales?

With March Madness right around the corner, NIKEiD recently released a tremendous clip (Duke NIKEiD Madness) leveraging Coach K in a non-traditional, humorous setting. The clip, designed to drive awareness and sales of NIKEiD's customized Duke footwear and apparel, features Coach K in his office having a candid discussion with the Duke Blue Devil Mascot about what gear the team will be sporting in the tournament.

The humorous ad is guaranteed to drive some chatter during the tournament. Check it out below:

Is your expansion franchise looking for new ways to build equity in the local marketplace? Are you looking for new ways to incorporate traditional elements in your messaging campaigns?

The Seattle Sounders Football Club, MLS' newest franchise, collaborated with Adidas to create a Scarf Seattle, a uniquebranding campaign that capitalizes on the tradition of fans bringing/wearing scarves to soccer games. To drive significant eyeballs for the campaign, the Sounderspositioned agigantic scarf billboard on an overpass to capture the attention of drivers passing by (as shown below). The Sounders are doing their part todecorate the city of Seattle with scarves in every way possible.

The teamis supportingits scarf branding campaign by distributing inaugural season scarfs to its season ticket holders.

Is your brand looking to capitalize on classic moments in sports? Are you looking for unique ways to ingrain your brand in one of the finest moments of sports history?

VitaminWater recently released a terrific commercial advertisement for the 2009 NCAA College Basketball Tournament. The clip centers around Christian Laettner's life after basketball and how his game-winning last second shot over Kentucky in the 1992 East regional final game changed it forever.

VitaminWater doesa great job subtly integrating their product into the feature and even manages to squeeze in a cameo appearance from basketball legend Rick Pitino.

The commercial highlights VitaminWater's 2009 NCAA promotional campaign "Revive to Survive", which offers fans a chance to win a trip to the Final Four by logging into NCAA.com/revive and uploading a game winning moment or recreating a moment from NCAA history.

Check out the clip below:

Are you looking for unique ways to incorporate brand and team messaging in a captivating billboard campaign?

Gatorade recently featured a tremendous billboard campaign in Los Angeles that highlighted the brand's partnership with the Los Angeles Lakers. The billboard does a great job demonstrating how Gatorade's mantra aligns with the Lakers and the passion of the game.

Are you looking to closely align your brand with a popular sports organization? Even if it comes at the cost of potentially stirring the loyalty of rival fans?

Maker's Mark recently posted a billboard in Columbus, Ohio that directly mocks the University of Michigan football team. The company, with headquarters in Loretta, Kentucky, currently features a billboard with a hand giving a toast, complemented by a tagline that reads "Here's to Football. Especially Michigan's".

Does the billboard cross the line? Probably yes. The billboard is an extremely risky move that could potentially alienate the entire University of Michigan fan base. But it does tap into the passion of the rivalry between the two Big Ten foes...a facet that brands often times strive to do.

Check out the billboard below. A special thanks to Nick Walstra for capturingthe image and Ben Koo of Watercooler Sports for passing it along.

Are you looking for new ways to integrate the products of supporting partners into video board features? Are you looking for ways to incorporate corporate partners in memorable, fan-friendly initiatives?

The Boston Celtics have teamed up with Welch's Peanut Butter Jelly to create a classic feature that is shown on the video board during the team's home games. The clip features Welchy (Welch's Peanut Butter Jelly mascot) performing a variety of dance moves in what appears to be the Celtics locker room. The simple, yet engaging piece serves as a very effective way to drive fan excitement and awareness of Welch's affiliation with the Celtics organization. Check out the clip below:

A special thanks to Josh Hafer of the Columbus Blue Jacketsfor coming across this interactive in-game feature and passing it along.

Are you looking to draw significant attention to your brand? Are you looking for new billboard techniques?

Liverpool FC recently did a terrific job turning a construction site into a mega billboard for their organization. The EPL club teamed up with Adidas to create a unique billboard that demonstrates that the Liverpool FC is more than just a team... it is a family crest.

Check out the billboard below:

Are you looking to create a unique viral piece that captures the lifestyles of athletes of the field? Are you looking to provide fans an alternative look at the lifestyle of athletes?

Nike recently released a tremendous viral piece thatfeatures Taylor Momsen, a star actress on the show Gossip Girl, using Nike products to escape the paparazzi. The clip shows Momsen sporting Nike gear (a sports bra andshoes)as she performs acrobatic stunts in an attempt to run from a bombarding group of paparazzi outsideherlocal gym. Check out the piece below:

It would be tremendous to see a company like Nike create a similar piece that captures an athlete facing the paparazzi craze after winning the Super Bowl or another historic event. Nike could create some very interesting piecesshowingLadainian Tomlinson outrun the paparazzi with his 4.42-40speed or Troy Polamalu posing as a member of the paparazzi and stalking down an opposing quarterback off the field.

Consider new ways that you can position your brands/sponsored athletes in the limelight with creative viral pieces!