At the start of October, US food giant General Mills expanded its existing ‘Tailgate Nation’ marketing platform with the launch of a virtual, interactive ‘Homegate‘ experience.
Built around its college football partnerships at the start of the new season and created in partnership with Michigan-based retailer Meijer and e-commerce firm Obsess, the experience that was open through the first two weeks of October. The web portal features football-themed recipes, videos and gameday quizzes, as well as the chance to purchase General Mills brands like Totinos, Old El Paso and Honey Nut Cheerios.
The online ‘Homegate’ experience puts online visitors into a simulated house where they can explore a kitchen and backyard decked out for game day complete with multiple interactive touchpoints and by clicking on these – most of which are General Mills products – users opens pop-up windows where users can choose to place the real-life version of the item in their cart for checkout.
There are also computer screens and other tech and communication devices scattered around the online space which link to content themed around General Mills products and how they connect to football.
For example, one located in the kitchen displays a YouTube video of a Betty Crocker recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
Plus, consumers who purchase four participating General Mills products can also submit their receipt to receive a $50 discount code to Fanatics.com.
The umbrella ‘Tailgate Nation’ initiative continues to run across multiple platforms from social media and on-campus to in-store at Meijer outlets in college-linked locations.
Let tailgate season begin! We all have that one friend… tag them below #tailgatenation pic.twitter.com/UDPeF4WMGs
— We Are Tailgate Nation (@Tailgate_Team) September 15, 2021
Additionally, General Mills is running a physical tailgate outside ‘The Big House’: the University of Michigan’s football stadium.
Michigan is one of several US universities with which General Mills has an official partnership: some of the others include University of Arkansas, Ohio State University, University of Iowa, University of Texas, University of Alabama and University of Florida.
Comment:
Typical of current hybrid sports activation strategies where marketers seek to reach segmented consumers groups with different levels of comfort navigating the COVID-19 crisis, this initiative sees General Mills and partners Meijer and Obsess seek to serve football fans excited about the return of football and who may be seeking to host smaller gatherings at home rather than attend in person at packed stadiums as the pandemic continues.
The ‘Homegate’ also recognises that many consumers that some segments – such as Gen Zs and Millennials – are more comfortable conducting their shopping and brand interactions in virtual spaces.
It is part of a general move by General Mills to ramp up its sports marketing linked focus on e-commerce.
We feel that the blend of physical and digital components and the blended national and local approach shows General Mills is smartly adjusting its experiential strategy to recognize changing fan habits during the pandemic.
Another example of a contemporary hybrid strategy where sports marketers activate through more upbeat initiatives which seek to engage both fans going back to stadium, those more comfortable with small local watch parties and gatherings and those who are still watching from home within their households is NFL sponsor Pepsi’s ongoing ‘Made For Football Watching’ platform which launched last year and now caters to those going to games and those enjoying football from the comfort of their couch.
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