Sponsorship Activation Definition
Sponsorship is one of the key tools for successful marketing. Dreisbach, Woisetschlager, Backhaus, and Cornwell (2018) stipulate that sponsorship activation “goes beyond one-way basic advertising and promotion to two-way communication and even advanced forms such as complex real-time campaigns” (p.1). Enoch (2020) further breaks down sports activation into numerous elements, such as defining the objectives, getting the required rights, and executing the activation. Therefore, to make the sponsorship work, it is vital to use the right types of marketing activities.
Examples of Successful Sports Sponsorship Activation
Pizza Hut Dance Party for NFL
As an official NFL sponsor, Pizza Hut launched an augmented reality experience that allowed fans to interact and dance together with two stars of Pittsburgh Steelers (Maze, 2018). Free pizza was provided as well during the game. Smith-Shuster was selected as the ambassador of the “Doorbell Dance” campaign and the face of social media promotions. Fans posted numerous “Doorbell” dances on Instagram, tagging Pizza Hut.
Coca-Cola Line-up Campaigns
Coca-Cola used the idea from its “Share a Coke” campaign to announce new line-ups for various MLB teams (“Top 13 best sports activations,” 2018). The Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers, the Astros were some of the Major League teams that posted photos of the beverage bottles with the names of the players for the upcoming games on various social media platforms, such as Instagram and Twitter.
Sleep Numbers Beds Giveaway Campaign
Another successful sponsorship activation campaign was done by Sleep Number in 2018. The Company gave a free bed to every NFL player, and the fans had an opportunity to use a digital backdrop at the NFL Experience and create their unique fan room (Enoch, 2020). The campaign was received well on social media, and multiple fans shared the photos of their ultimate fan bedrooms.
The Best Example of Sports Activation
3M partnered with Minnesota Vikings and lit the whole U. S. Bank Stadium purple before the game against the Green Bay Packers. The 66 thousand fans participated by using a purple film on command to create the now-famous purple glow (“Top 13 best sports activations,” 2018). This economic activation employed social media on a large scale to successfully bring the desired message to the audience.
References
Dreisbach, J., Woisetschlager, D., Backhaus, C., & Cornwell, T. (2018). The role of fan benefits in shaping responses to sponsorship activation. Journal of Business Research. Web.
Enoch, BJ. (2020). What is a sponsorship activation [Blog post]. Web.
Maze, J. (2018). Pizza Hut Kicks off its NFL sponsorship. Restaurant Business. Web.
Top 13 best sports activations of 2018. Web.