ING cops heavy fire over NYC Marathon

The cancellation of the New York City Marathon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy has turned into a branding nightmare for ING bank.  Sadly, it was mostly avoidable.

Both bank and the Bloomburg administration were heavily criticised for not only dragging their heals in canceling the race but in vociferously defending an earlier decision to hold the race.  This in light of the fact that many of the city's Burroughs were still suffering from a lack of services.  

The hue and cry was particularly rabid in Staten and Coney Islands the residents of which were still suffering from power outages days after the Hurricane.  As one resident pointed out - the generators that were brought into Central Park to power the race media tent could have substantially alleviated the burdens of people in those hurricane stricken areas.

The stand-off led to a flurry of hate speech on ING's facebook page and though the bank pledged a $500,000 donation to aid victims of the hurricane it was a case of too little too late.

It is fairly obvious to me that the delay in cancellation was a case of sponsor duress on behalf of ING.  And though the bank subsequently made a sizable donation to hurricane relief, it could have been reaping a significantly greater reward.

How could ING have handled the situation?

• The bank should have been close enough to the target consumer - and to the citizens of NYC in particular (a fiercely close knit bunch in spite of their inherent diversity) - to take the lead in canceling the marathon.  The event cancelled was, at least in my books, as valuable as the event taking place.  All the bank needed was a contingency plan.

• The event not happening was as valuable for ING as the event happening.  ING could thus have traded on the new generation of sponsorship practice which seeks to contribute to the experience either by amplifying the good or, (in this case) eliminating the bad.

• ING could have gone public with the following message or similar:  "We know the Marathon Unites the 5 Burroughs - but now we must all unite against Hurricane Sandy" - The bank could quickly have turned on a scheme whereby runners race fees were matched or multiplied into a powerful donation initiative.  The $500 000 donation - blood money under the circumstances - would have gained significantly more goodwill.

Instead, ING was looking at the NYC Marathon purely as a mechanism to build headline awareness.  It was too locked into a visibility paradigm than the opportunity the race gives the sponsor to forge deeply meaningful relationships with target consumers.

More here

Duracell helps bring power in wake of Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy really battered NYC didn't it?  A timely intervention from P&G's Duracell brand in, of all places, Battery Park really gave some inspiration into how brands can really provide value adding experiences for consumers.  

One of the big needs of consumers in the wake of a natural disaster is connectivity.  This is one of the reasons for the massive queues outside Starbucks branches the morning after the hurricane when hundreds of New Yorker stood in line not just for a caffeine jolt but for access to free Wi-Fi.

In Battery Park, a 4x4 truck outfitted with charging stations for both mobile devices (including laptops) as well as free internet access allowed people to get in touch with loved ones. The unit also gave out samples of the most-popular sizes of batteries to restock radios and flashlights.

A clever tactic to target "light" stadium goers

I really like this team's approach to enticing uncommitted stadium goers to trying out the live experience.  

In a nutshell, a limited number of season tickets for the team's 9 home games went on sale at a fraction of their normal cost enticing stay-at-home fans to give the stadium experience a try.  However, the pass becomes de-activated if the home team loses the game the fan attends.

The logic stems from a deep insight:  Fans are unlikely to take a gamble on the higher profile games (the riskier ones) but are more likely to take great interest in the "smaller" encounters.  In addition, the possibility of the ticket being forfeited drives much higher engagement not only in the pre-match experience but in the actual game itself.

It appeals to the gambler in all of us!

More information here

Chicago Cubs teams up with Groupon for ultimate fan experience

We could learn a thing or two from Mass discounter Groupon who last week featured a deal for the ultimate Chicago Cubs experience.  According to sportsbusinessdigest.com, the deal offers the fan pretty much everything except the chance of actually playing.

Specifically, the Groupon deal has the winner receiving a fully personalized Cubs uniform, a personal tour of Wrigley, hold a press conference, and press box seats. The buyer will also attend batting practice with the team, meet the players, and throw the first pitch.

Here's the rub though - the cost for this once in a lifetime offer is $30 000 though all proceeds go to charities Cubs Care and the McCormick Foundation.

According to Groupon's Darren Schwartz:

“Chicago Cubs fans are some of the most passionate in the world and we’re thrilled to offer them this opportunity in our hometown.”

The fan experience with the Cubs, is not Groupon’s first “epic” deal. They’ve previously teamed up with Delta Airlines for a trip around the world, private golf lessons with Graeme McDowell, and an vacation with 80′s boy band — New Kids on the Block.

Gatorade continues to Campaign "What's Inside"

I really like the work Gatorade has done of late.  The brand hasn't bothered with being an official Olympic sponsor but it has gotten behind a few big name stars.  Here's, starting with a particularly good treatment starring Usain Bolt, is a small sample:

This final piece is a trailer for a reality show which Gatorade has created:

BBC's Olympic Athlete Body Match

A recent blog post from the Marketing Society's web-page suggests that the Olympic Games, unlike any other televised sporting spectacle, brings about massive changes in people's mental - and at times even behavioural disposition to getting actively involved in some form of sporting activity.  Writes Crawford Hollingworth:

"From a behavioural change perspective it is fascinating to see how the Olympics raise our motivation, sparking incredible natural highs and extremes of energy and determination. And when motivation is high, behavioural change can suddenly become easier or seem more attainable and anything is possible"

The BBC are riding this wave well with an excellent web initiative which allows you to compare your physical measurements to those of a vast data base of 2012 Olympians.  It's a pitch perfect exploitation  of the olympics head-space in that it helps answer the question - "just how different am I from them?"  Check it out here or watch the video below:

Dr Dre wins prize for Olympic Ambush

There have been many examples of ambush marketing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.  

One which nearly got through the Olympic Police's radar was from British mint brand "Polo" who light-heartedly offered Tube commuters a Fresh Air Snorkel so they could circumvent the unpleasantries associated with foul air.

Arguably the best is however comes from a brand of headphones licensed to rapper and produce Dr Dre.

Dre, not an official sponsor of the International Olympic Committee or London 2012, sampled members of Team Great Britain with his cooler than cool headphones, knowing that many athletes like to listen to music during their warm up and mental preparation phase.

Beats headphones have been almost ubiquitous in the Aquatics Centre with swimmers including Michael Phelps using them to block background noise before races.  More in the Guardian here