Mexican beer brand Tecate activated its rights as the ‘Presenting’ and ‘Exclusive Beer Sponsor’ of the Mayweather vs Pacquiao Fight with a celebrity-fronted, socially-led, opinion-based initiative called #MyBoldOpinions.
This activation blended expert opinion, celebrity commentary with fan feelings and passions with physical and digital experiences, branded merchandise, a ticket giveaway and an awareness campaign.
Tecate, which only signed the deal around a month before the bout, bought an extensive rights package that included prominent logo space in the centre of the ring, around the matt and throughout the MGM Grand’s arena, sponsoring the ‘ring girls’, as well as other fight-related events and experiences.
These rights were complemented by a major amplification campaign, My Bold Opinions, centered in and around Las Vegas itself.
The marketing push, which ran from 6 April to 3 May, aimed to ‘solicit’ and ‘celebrate’ passionate boxing fans’ opinions online via the hashtag “MyBoldOpinions.
In the weeks leading up to the bout, Tecate asked fight fans (aged 21 and older) to share #MyBoldOpinions on who they think will win.
A bold fight calls for bold opinions. What's yours? Use #MyBoldOpinion pic.twitter.com/rAocw7lHXV
— Tecate (@tecate) April 22, 2015
Which bold fighter will taste triumph? Give us your opinion. #MayPac #MyBoldOpinion pic.twitter.com/AFLB5yH5h4
— Tecate (@tecate) May 2, 2015
The Saatchi & Saatchi campaign then chose the boldest fan opinions and most passionate consumer posts for discussion on film by boxing legends: such as actor Sylvester Stallone and HBO sports commentator Larry Merchant.
Watch the last round of @TheSlyStallone vs. Merchant. Two bold opinions on the fight. Now share yours #MyBoldOpinion
https://t.co/gqi2DHTrS3
— Tecate (@tecate) April 28, 2015
These expert opinions were rolled out on a round-by-round basis.
The choice of celebrity was partly driven by the fact that in recent month’s Stallone has been fronting the brand’s current mainstream advertising campaign.
In parallel to the opinion sharing and spreading activation strand, Tecate also ran sponsored viewing parties at around 200 bars and restaurants, plus a targeted ticket promotion to the fight itself as well as for Pay-Per-View home packages.
The brand’s competition also gave players and contributors the chance to win a range of Pacquiao-signed memorabilia.
Plus, a participatory retail strand saw selected retail locations feature Pacquiao-branded punching bags to offer fans a chance to test their own ‘Punch Power’ with Pacquiao’s and share the experience on social channels.
Other leverage programme strands included mail-in-rebates (each Tecate purchase giving consumers discounts on the pay-per-view fight fee), plus a sweepstakes.
‘There are two certainties about the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight: it will shatter records and everyone will have an opinion about who will win,’ commented Tecate brand director Gustavo Guerra.
‘We want to hear from the boldest boxing fans around the world about who they think will win on 2 May.’
‘Tecate strategically collaborated globally on a unified basis to secure the anchor sponsorship for one of the biggest sporting events in history,’ said Top Rank president Todd duBoef (who co-promoted the fight alongside Mayweather Promotions).
‘Tecate’s sponsorship of Mayweather-Pacquiao not only highlights its dominance on the boxing landscape but its commitment to supporting the vitality of the sport.’
The brand also continued to activate around the fight on its social networks during and after the bout.
Bold character can never be beaten. #BornBold #MyBoldOpinion #PeoplesChamp pic.twitter.com/PbgMcMHUe5
— Tecate (@tecate) May 4, 2015
We were proud to be a part of the big fight. Who do you think tasted triumph?#MyBoldOpinion #MayPac #TecateGirls pic.twitter.com/9aczUFBTqs
— Tecate (@tecate) May 3, 2015
Comment
It has been widely reported that Tecate, which began sponsoring boxing back in 2007, outbid rival Corona for the Mayweather-Pacquiao sponsorship package.
Indeed, the media has suggested that the Heineken-owned brand paid a staggering $5.6m for the rights (edging out Corona’s $5.2m offer).
This was clearly a tough bidding battle between two Mexican beer imports – one that was won only when Tecate committed to a record amount for a boxing match.
What was the fight’s eventual audience?
Did it reach 4 million homes on pay-per-view and generate a viewing audience of 33 million in total?
If so, that is larger than several other marquee sporting events in the USA – including the final game of the 2014 MLB World Series (23.5 million), as well as the last game off the 2014 NBA Finals (18 million) and even the 2014 FIFA World Cup final (17.3 million).
About the same cost as the annual title sponsorship for an NBA arena,
The majority of Tecate’s on-the-ground activation – which ranged from outdoor advertising and retail programs – were focused on the five US states in which Tecate generates the majority of its sales: California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
The Tecate activation follows hot on the heels of the beer brands big new ad campaign for Tecate Light.
This campaign, which was also developed by agency Saatchi & Saatchi and which targets 21 million bi-cultural US/Mexican consumers, is called ‘Born Bold’.
While neither boxer is Mexican, Tecate aimed to stay neutral despite Pacquiao strong following amongst Mexican and bi-cultural demographics.
This fight, the first bout between the two boxing titans, certainly managed to capture public interest beyond the core boxing fan.
Estimates for PPV homes that will tune in are between 3.6-4MM (HBO-Showtime), exceeding the previous record from the 2007 Mayweather-De La Hoya bout with 2.5M (Forbes.com; February 20, 2015).
Interestingly, the two fights (Mayweather and Pacquiao) between them have generated moiré than 90% of all of boxing’s PPV sales over the last decade.
The fight is expected to deliver 33M viewers, which is the largest sporting event audience ever for a non-Super Bowl telecast (HBO-Showtime).
The fight is reported to have generated $13.5m from a total of five official sponsors: including Tecate, Smart Communications, the Mexican Tourist Board, Paramount Pictures/Skydance Productions (promoting ‘Terminator Genisys’ and ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’ and The Weinstein Company (promoting ‘Southpaw’).
This obliterates Boxing’s previous single fight total sponsor revenue record of $4m .
Some of the other marketing highlights around the fight included the official ‘Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquaio’ advert: a 30-second commercial from the collective marketing team that spearheaded the big fight’s pay-per-view options.
This spot, which rolled out slightly less than one month before the fight, filmed both fighters in a Los Angeles studio and highlights the anticipation and the great magnitude of this once-in-a-lifetime event.
It was a creative collaboration between Mayweather Promotions, Top Rank, Showtime and HBO Pay-Per-View and served a the lynchpin to what was aa fairly aggressive, multi-media marketing campaign,
Links
Tecate YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/mxtecate
Tecate Twitter:
Tecate Website:
Heineken Website
www.EnjoyHeinekenResponsibly.com.
Manny Pacquaio
Floyd Mayweather Website:
Saatchi & Saatchi Website:
