There were plenty of big names and celebrities along the media line and in the VIP seats for the Mayweather vs McGregor mega fight: sports stars LeBron James, Alex Rodriguez and James Harden, mixed with Hollywood royalty Jamie Foxx and Bruce Willis, as well as musicians Diddy, Nas and Jennifer Lopez and sitting in the VIP seats beside them was none other than the Jack Links’ Jerky brand mascot ‘Sasquatch’.
Ringside area loaded with celebs like LeBron and the guy who is drawing the biggest crowd is the Jack Links' Sasquatch. #MayMac
— Brian Campbell (@BCampbellCBS) August 27, 2017
One of the more notable live, in-arena stunts was by Jack Links’ Jerky: essentially a reworked repeat of the famous branded ring entrance stunt tactic employed to great success by Burger King during Mayweather’s last big bout against Manny Pacquiao in 2015 (see case study).
Jack Link’s Jerky adopted a similar tactic with an in-arena appearance by its famous Sasquatch animal mascot.
Not only did the Sasquatch make a high profile ringside appearance, he also appeared on the pre-fight celebrity red carpet and media interview, as well as getting good live on-camera time as the mascot watched the fight in the arena from a highly visible ringside seat.
Fight fans come in all shapes and sizes #MayweatherVsMcGregor pic.twitter.com/E5bLd99Lx6
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) August 27, 2017
The live fight appearance was linked to a parallel social campaign across the brand’s digital platforms positioning the mascot as the biggest ‘alpha beast’ of them all.
This digital activation strand included a pre-fight teaser phase,
Float like a butterfly, sting like a beast. #MayweatherMcGregor #Moneyfight #Protein pic.twitter.com/CPCCJ6qbq2
— Jack Link's Jerky (@JackLinks) August 25, 2017
followed by an offer-led, social code phase pitching the product as a perfect fight snack.
#McGregorChallenge is. Alphas need their #protein. 25% off Pounders. Code: POUNDERKNOCKOUT. https://t.co/5k1PlQD470 #MayweatherMcGregor pic.twitter.com/acid82GqHZ
— Jack Link's Jerky (@JackLinks) August 26, 2017
That's a wrap. Did you spot the alpha beast? #MayMac pic.twitter.com/7sabW7Vqz9
— Jack Link's Jerky (@JackLinks) August 27, 2017
Comment:
This led to a 372% spike in digital/social content engagement around Jack Link’s in the 24 hours after the fight.
A solid return, but not as impressive as Burger King’s 1,343% social spike around the 2015 fight.
Jack Link’s, which is a privately held company that generated total sales of $1.2bn last year, is building an impressive heritage of sports sponsorship.
Other properties in its partnership portfolio over recent years include tie-ins with the MLB’s Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins, the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings, GoPro’s Mountain Games, Jack Link’s Major League Fishing, the World Series of Poker.
Link Snacks Inc uses event partnerships and sports sponsorship to ‘build visibility, sample product and support its “Feed Your Wild Side” positioning’ amidst its core 18 to 49-year-old men.
In general, the so called #MoneyFight between undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather and mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor – held in Las Vegas on 26 August – offered brands a chance to leverage a global entertainment event blending stars, styles and sports codes which drew plenty of media and PR coverage, plus huge pay-per-view TV and social media audiences.
But the controversial characters, outcome uncertainty and the one-off nature of the event ensured activation and sponsorship was dominated by just this kind of marketing: challenger and rebel brands, controversial campaigns, short-term tactical initiatives and stunts.
Links:
Jack Links’
https://www.facebook.com/jacklinksbeefjerky
https://www.instagram.com/jacklinksjerky/
