Coca-Cola has been leveraging NCAA March Madness for 15 years and its 2017 activation, which includes TV ads, experiences and a brackets strand, is led by a product phase that links its ongoing ‘Share-a-Coke’ campaign to university hoops in a way that enables college fans show and share their pride.
While the brand’s multi-platform activation includes a TV commercial and social support, the core of its campaign is an initiative enables basketball fans across the country to visit the purchasing hub at https://buy.shareacoke.com/ and buy customised Coke (or Coke Zero or Diet Coke) bottles with team logos, nicknames, and battle cries for more than 50 colleges and universities.
(With 68 college teams participating in March Madness, that only leaves 18 universities unrepresented in this nationwide activation).
The limited-edition bottles can be purchased online until 14 April: fans can customize and order either single 8-oz glass bottles or six-packs featuring the logo, nickname or battle cry for their chosen college and through the site they are also able to share the bottle images with their Facebook friends.
Plus bottles bearing the tournament’s multiple nicknames and stages – including March Madness, The Big Dance, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and the Final Four – are also available.
The custom championship bottles are promoted digitally and socially across Coke’s various platforms – including Twitter.
Cheer on your college hoops team with custom #ShareaCoke bottles! Order + promotion details here: https://t.co/jReKqWEapN #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/Txy7iIQCLr
— The Coca-Cola Co. (@CocaColaCo) March 14, 2017
Todd Skidmore, senior manager, eCommerce, Coca-Cola North America, believes that college basketball is a natural fit for the personalisable and customisable ShareaCoke.com platform.
‘It’s all about inviting people to share a Coca-Cola with friends and family, making everyday moments even more special,” he argues.
‘With these new limited-edition team bottles, fans can now show support for their teams and their love of Coca-Cola all tournament long.’
Kasia Horner, who heads the NCAA sports marketing team at Coca-Cola, believes that the ShareaCoke.com promotion illustrates how the company continues to innovate and engage March Madness fans in fun, fresh ways.
‘March Madness is a cultural phenomenon, and the most passionate fans of March Madness are the college and university students and alumni, especially at this point in the season,’ says Homer
‘Our college and university partners are very excited to participate and see their school logo on the iconic Coca-Cola contour bottle.’
Also online, Coke and its sister sports drink brand Powerade are also sponsoring a NCAA March Madness Bracket Refresh (at https://us.coca-cola.com/bracket-refresh/): a digital method for fans to keep track of the games and keep in the bracket contest, while Coke keeps track of the fans and their predictions and incentivises engagement through prizes.
Until noon on 16 March, US hoops fans can earn a team in the promotion’s tournament bracket with each smartphone scan or online entry of a participating product code on Coke.com/bracketrefresh or Powerade.com/bracketrefresh.
This activation silo runs in stages and, at noon on 20 March (after the first- and second-round games), Coca-Cola and Powerade are releasing more entries for the teams that make it to the so-called Sweet Sixteen stage – this giving fans a chance to refresh and re-set their brackets and this have more chances to win.
‘When you scan a code, you’ll receive a seed and have the chance to win prizes as that team advances through the bracket,’ explains Horner.
‘What makes this different from other bracket promotions is that your seed may lose in the first round, but you have the chance to refresh your bracket heading into the second weekend. So, we’re giving people more opportunities to win, even after their brackets are initially busted.’
Fans can earn digital content, movie gift cards, and online retailer gift cards and be entered into the Grand Prize Sweepstakes for the chance to win $25,000 cash.
While the Grand Prize for the ‘Bracket Refresh Sweepstakes’ is a rip for two to the 2018 Final Four in San Antonio.
Coca-Cola has also teamed up with Capital One to sponsor a big-name March Madness music festival. Aerosmith, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and the Chainsmokers are all on the bill for the three-day festival that kicks off in Phoenix in conjunction with the start of Final Four weekend, March 31.
The brand is supporting these key pillars with a TV commercial called ‘Blackout’ which aims to celebrate how Coca-Cola makes watching sports even more special for fans and can bring even the biggest rival basketball fans together to watch a game.
The spot airs in 30-second and 15-second versions nationwide from 14 March.
There is further brand support on social media with a set of evolving assets – from clips to GIFs – through the various stages of the tournament.
The #MarchMadness excitement will NOT be denied. Grab a Coke and let the tourney begin. pic.twitter.com/1ajLLQuRfT
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) March 15, 2017
It’s time to. Feeling nervous? Grab a Coke and take a quick break from the #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/VdKo1QCc6V
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) March 16, 2017
While on-site at the tournament’s Final Four climax in Pheonix, Arizona, the Coca-Cola brand experience programme includes a free music concert on 1 April as part of the rights holder’s 2017 NCAA March Madness Music Festival.
This three-day, free music festival, is produced annually by (official broadcast partner) Turner Live Events.
It will feature The Chainsmokers as well as other acts and will be live-streamed at ncaa.com/musicfest.
Activative Comment:
Whether at work, rest or play, over the course of the month-long championship 10 of millions of Americans tune in to the college hoops competition
It’s the kind of passionate support that sees marketers like Coke got to town to leverage the property through official partnerships.
Coca-Cola is the official fan refreshment of the NCAA, while Powerade (which is on the sidelines of all tournament games to help athletes hydrate and power through) is the official sports drink of the NCAA.
After 15 years of backing the tournament, the Activative team feels Coca-Cola’s 2017 activation is probably the brand’s best leverage programme since its ‘It’s Not Your Fault’ campaign back in 2013 (see case study).
Links:
Coca-Cola
https://us.coca-cola.com/bracket-refresh/
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/
https://twitter.com/CocaColaCo
https://www.youtube.com/user/cocacola
https://www.facebook.com/CocaColaUnitedStates/
https://www.instagram.com/TheCocaColaCo/
NCAA
