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Update: March 17, 2010

The Madness-of-March Marketing Ensues

It’s one of the biggest sporting events of the year — with more eligible teams than there are countries in the Olympics, more minutes played than the World Series, and more beer and chips consumed than the Super Bowl.  March Madness has become a huge marketing event for manufacturers looking to launch new products. The men’s college basketball tournament ranks behind only the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl in TV ad spending on postseason sports, according to New York-based TNS Media Intelligence.  The 63-game event consists of 64 teams, millions of fans and hours and hours of television coverage, with accompanying Facebook fan pages and Twitter feeds. For three weeks in March, the NCAA tournament gets the undivided focus of sports fans everywhere, a rarity in this day and age when there are so many diversions and competition for attention. 

 

 

With a down economy, one might expect marketers to stay on the bench. But given the opportunity to reach a huge, young, well-educated, mostly male audience (that is also slightly above average in income), product promos and advertising campaigns abound.  Four years ago, Coca Cola chose March Madness to launch My Coke Rewards, a multi-year, online driven, mega-rewards program across all Coca-Cola brands, the largest program ever launched for the Coca-Cola franchise.  This year, Infiniti, the luxury car brand, is using the tournament to launch its new M line of sports sedans after launching the G line during the Super Bowl. Infiniti is sponsoring a pre-game Tip-Off show, and Madness enthusiasts who fill out a tournament bracket online have the option of entering their picks into a contest to win a sleek, new Infiniti M sports car.

 

Kraft Foods will be conducting sampling for two of its newest products – Ritz Munchables pretzel crisps and Planters Flavor Grove almonds and cashews. In addition, Wheat Thins will get brand exposure on the trays used at concession stands. A Ritz Munchables commercial with a basketball theme will also begin airing this week. And you can add Dove to the list of companies cashing in on March Madness – since they will be promoting their new Men+Care line with an advertising buy during the tournament. Of course, where would this March Madness marketing blitz be without a kickass iPhone app introduced by CBS and AT&T. The apps will run on the 3G network so fans can get live streaming coverage as well as Westwood One radio broadcasts.

 

 

Interestingly, the Urology Institute in Springfield, Oregon has taken March Madness to a new level by reminding all men that the tournament is an excellent time to consider their, ahem, maleness. They have launched their "Snip City" campaign, figuring there couldn’t be a better time to schedule a vasectomy, and of course, miss work. The Snip City promotional copy states: “You get a recovery kit - and most importantly - a doctor's note stating you need to sit on the couch and watch basketball!” Is this March madness or brazenly brilliant marketing? You be the judge.   

Dove Men+Care Product Launch, Super Bowl Ad, Connects with “Real Men”

 

(Watch the video and see what Launch Director Patrick Richardson thinks of the Men+Care launch)

Unilever’s Dove has always geared its products toward women, but the Sunday Super Bowl ad revealed a new play call. Dove has recently launched a line for men: Men+Care, which will include three body washes, two bar soaps and a scrubber. The Dove Men+Care will be Unilever’s biggest brand launch this year.

The Dove Men+Care campaign aims to celebrate real men. According to Brand Republic, “A spokesman from Unilever said the ad follows Dove Men+Care research which found that three quarters of men over 30 feel that advertising does not represent their real lives.” Hence, the campaign stresses the life of real men and the journey they embark on to become comfortable in their own skin.

With an ad during the Super Bowl and Drew Brees as the campaign spokesperson, Dove Men+Care aims to attract and keep a core male audience. The Dove Men+Care website has a video of Brees taking a “victory shower” with the slogan “Drew Brees has another reason to sing in the shower.” The Men+Care line looks to compete against Nivea Men, L’Oréal Men Expert and Gillette.