Trophy Tour

In a marquee post-season promotion, the National Basketball Association partnered with Toyota to take an arena tour of the trophy, which fans immediately recognize, but rarely have had the chance to see up-close.

Toyota chose a new sports utility vehicle model, the Tundra, as the mobile trophy case to transport the award from arena to arena. The cross-country tour began April 1 in Phoenix. The trek will continue on its peripatetic route until it arrives at the two locales for the June 7 finals.

“If there’s a theme to what our partners are doing, it’s engaging with the fans,” says Mark Tatum, senior vice president of NBA marketing partnerships.

For Toyota, the new Tundra decorated with the NBA Finals logo is an opportunity not only to draw fans in for a close look at the trophy, but to get an up close and personal experience with the SUV itself.

“It’s a good deal because it’s getting carted around in a Tundra, and fans do get the touch and feel of a Tundra,” says Toyota spokesman Chad Harp.

In a more grassroots initiative, Toyota also will promote the truck through its Toyota Turnaround program in which it is currently refurbishing outdoor and indoor basketball courts in New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Houston and Indianapolis. The New Orleans project, rebuilding an outdoor court at one of the high schools still functioning in the stricken Gulf Coast city, was a particular priority.

“They needed extra recreation for these kids,” Harp says. “It’s going to take years to get that city back on its feet. We want to help out where we can.”

New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul and his EP3 Foundation are partners in the project, with a local NBA star participating in each city project, culminating in an NBA clinic for aspiring young ballplayers. The Tundra does a lot of the heavy hauling of building materials in each case, and along with the four courts now being refurbished, Toyota hopes to double that number by the end of May.

Toyota also ran an April national promotion for its 1,200 dealers. Any Toyota customer bringing in a vehicle needing a minimum of $59.95 worth of repair or maintenance work was automatically registered to win a trip to the NBA Finals, with 5,000 secondary prizes of $25 gift cards redeemable at NBA stores.

making the connection

Seeking to reach beyond its older core fan, the NBA’s “sweet spot” is primarily young, educated, upscale males in the 18-to 34-years old.

“When we lay out the plans for the year with our partners, we sit down and try to gauge the objectives they want to achieve,” Tatum says. “Some of these ideas we generate. Some ideas they generate.”

Some promotions are Web-based interactions specifically intended to reach the younger end of that demographic scale.

A new NBA Finals sponsor this year, AutoTrader.com is running a fantasy game promotion on www.NBA.com, inviting fans to pick a player in one game each day, recording points for each point, rebound or assist that player records. Each day, participates select a different player — not permitted to repeat any selections-with the grand-prize winner getting $25,000 toward the purchase of a new vehicle on www.AutoTrader.com.

T-Mobile will run a new series of advertising spots featuring Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkley during the finals, inviting fans to vote on www.NBA.com to select the series MVP during the deciding game of the finals. Prior to that ultimate contest, former NBA stars will make appearances at T-Mobile stores to give out premiums in 16 markets with help from street teams.

“Our fan is a trend-setter, likely to try the latest technology,” says Tatum, noting that most of the NBA Finals interactive promotions skew toward younger fans.

In a promotion distinctly aimed at the youngest end of that basketball fan spectrum, Adidas is running an Xbox Finals Sweepstakes, with the grand-prize winner getting two tickets to the finals, an Xbox 360 with custom faceplate, a copy of the Electronic Arts video game NBA Live 07, a $200 adidas.com gift certificate and $250 cash. First prizes will be awarded to 26 other players who register at www.adidasbasketball.com in the form of an Xbox with headset and a game against an Adidas athlete via Xbox Live.

McDonald’s is just wrapping up a successful promotion that it last ran in 2005 targeted to its African-American consumer base. The sweepstakes, Access The Playoffs 2007 with a Legend Experience, is aimed at a broad demographic with the option of going online or using an 800 number to register to win. Ten grand-prize winners received a three day/two night trip for two and a pair of tickets to an Eastern or Western Conference Finals contest between May 11 and June 3.

The trip includes face time with a former NBA star in one of the respective venues.

“We’re able to do this because McDonald’s has a huge alliance with the NBA,” Carol Sagers, director of U.S. marketing for McDonald’s, says.

It’s the second similar promotion McDonald’s has executed with the NBA this season, after sending 10 pairs of winning fans to the league All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.

“We brought back the NBA Finals promotion because it was a good promotion,” says Sagers. “We love consumers to associate a good time with McDonald’s.”

2007 NBA Playoff SponsorS

Adidas
AutoTrader.com
Gatorade
Haier
Lenovo
McDonald’s
Nestlé Crunch
Southwest
T-Mobile
Toyota
Wheaties

For more articles on experiential marketing, go to http://promomagazine.com/eventmarketing/