Wix.com 'Biggest Yankees Fan' Consumer-Created Contest Activates New NY Baseball Partnership

As excitement builds around the end of the Major League Baseball Season, a new Wix.com campaign aims to crown the biggest New York Yankees fan of all.

As the Yankees strive for a post-season wild-card spot in the finely balanced American League playoff race, the team’s newest commercial partner has launched a contest to champion the team’s top fan.

The Israeli-based DIY website company’s contest invites Yankees supporters to submit videos demonstrating their devotion to the team.

Participation is incentivised not just with the lure of the winning supporters being presented with a trophy live during a Yankees game, but that fan will also get a unique opportunity to meet the Yankees players and to take the field for pre-game batting practice.

The #BiggestYankeesFan winner will also have his or her own ‘No.1 Yankees Fan Website’ created by Wix.com in tandem with the winner at the TheBiggestYankeeFan.com domain

The activation is promoted through a video, launched in late August, celebrating many of the team’s memorable moments throughout the ball club’s long history and also features tributes to some of its greatest players such as Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.

The film challenges fans by asking ‘What Legacy Will You Leave? #BiggestYankeesFan Think you deserve the title?’

The competition also ran across the sponsor and the club’s social sites.

NOW on FB LIVE: Official #BiggestYankeesFan is heading onto the field w/ @NYYankeesWorld players! Watch it happen:https://t.co/T2WP0pkeN8

— Wix.com (@Wix) September 13, 2016

The entry mechanic is fairly straightforward – fans are simply encouraged to follow the following three steps:
1.Create a fan video showing you’re the one.
2.Upload it to http://l.wix.com/BiggestYankeesfan
3.Include the #BiggestYankeesFan hashtag

Hundreds of fans submitted videos at http://www.wix.com/biggestyankeesfan/contest and several got enthusiastically creative in their support: Sam Corbin’s joke-fuelled spot included 50 Yankees puns, while Carly Walsh baked Yankees-themed pies as tributes to club legends and Willy Appleman covered his kitchen in the famous Yankees pinstripes.

As part of the new Yankees partnership, Wix will also be the team’s official website design sponsor and partner for 2016.

‘So many people are engaged with the franchise, and it was wonderful for us to collaborate with such a huge brand like the Yankees. They have a great history and so many fans,’ said Omer Shai, Wix.com’s CMO.

‘I was really happy with the engagement we got, and the videos that the fans created were great. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for fans, and it gives our brand visibility as well.’

‘We are very excited to begin our relationship with Wix as the Official Website Design Partner,’ said Michael J Tusiani, New York Yankees Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales & Sponsorships.

‘Wix is offering our fans, worldwide, an innovative way to exhibit passion for the team through its unique website design and mobile platforms. We also look forward to working with Wix to strengthen its already established global brand.’

Comment

With 18,226 YouTube view of the promotional spot, impressive social statistics for the hashtag and hundreds of entry consumer-created video uploads, early metrics look positive on this campaign.

Tactically, it certainly makes sense for a new sponsor to explore and showcase the history and legends of a new property – to demonstrate it understands the background and culture of the partnership.

This campaign comes hot-on the heel of the mid August announcement that the Israeli DIY online outfit unveiled its New York Yankees partnership.

The baseball alliance is the second major sports sponsorship in Wix.com’s portfolio following its partnership with the Premier League club Manchester City earlier in the year: which it activated with a campaign that offered fans club-led rewards for social engagement (see case study).

‘Cooperation with a well-known baseball team like the New York Yankees is part of our strategy to leverage the enormous power that sport has in presenting our brand to the public at large,’ adds Wix CMO Omer Shai.

Wix also ran commercials during Superbowl 50 in a spot alliance with Kung Fu Panda.

Links

Wix.com #BiggestYankeesFan Website:

http://www.wix.com/biggestyankeesfan/…

Wix.com Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/wix/videos/1…

Wix.com YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Wix

Wix.com Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Wix

New York Yankees Web:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/

New York Yankees Twitter: