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Aquafina New Balance

ESPN MLB 2K10 Carolyn Siska

JB 4653 E*media

Proposal

  There will be three tactics used to publicize and advertise the cross promotion.

  Promotions will range from inside the video game to actual MLB games.   Specific teams and players have been chosen

to bring this promotion to life in both the game and on the field.

  Three brands have been chosen that will collaborate over a period of time to communicate the essence of each brand.

  These brands are:   Aquafina

  New Balance, and

  ESPN MLB 2K10

  Aquafina is an affiliate of the PepsiCo company is a sub group of the Pepsi-Cola Brands.   Aquafina was officially launched in 1997.

  PepsiCo had partnered with MLB from 2002-2007 and was branded with the slogan, “Official soft drink of MLB.”

  In 2007, Aquafina was partnered with MLB and is now in their 3rd year as the “official bottled water of MLB.”

  Aquafina also supports a grass root program of the MLB called “Pitch, Hit, and Run”, which is a program designed to develop youths baseball skills.

Aquafina

New Balance

  New Balance is a Boston-based specialized shoe manufacturer.   Started in the early 1900’s as an arch an arch

support company and starting in the 1970’s transformed into a specialty shoe company.

  The first baseball shoe was launched in New Balance’s Spring 2006 line, but was available for purchase starting in December 2005.

  New Balance currently has two styles:   The 820 Molded, and   The 1101 Metal

  On March 31st, 2010 New Balance signed Dustin Pedroia for a multi-year endorsement contract.

ESPN MLB 2K10

  In July of 1998, ESPN digital games was developed by a company called Radical Entertainment.   There were only three sports made available:

hockey, basketball and baseball.

  2K is the publishing company of the creators at Visual Concept and was founded in 1998.   In 2004 2K teamed with ESPN and since

then there have been 8 games in the ESPN MLB 2K series.

  However, this is 2K’s 10th Anniversary of MLB 2K.

  Xbox 360 is an affiliate of Microsoft and was launched November 22, 2005.

The Teams

The Players

  The following players collaborated with ESPN MLB 2010:   Oakland A’s: #40/P Andrew Bailey

  Anaheim Angels: #8/1B Kendry Morales

  Seattle Mariners: #34/P Felix Hernandez

  Minnesota Twins: #33/1B Justin Morneau

  Detroit Tigers: #35/P Justin Verlander

  Tampa Bay Devil rays: #3/3B Evan Longoria

  New York Mets: #7/SS Jose Reyes

  They also were featured in the following video to promote the game:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=jrSdNFEm0Dk

The Players

  The following player was also used by New Balance to wear their shoe during the season and promote the brand:   Boston Red Sox: #15/2B Dustin Pedroia

  Pedroia also talks about his partnership with New Balance in the following video that can be found on New Balance’s Web site:   http://www.newbalance.com/performance/

baseball/

The Players

  The following players where chosen based on their athleticism and stats on each team:   Arizona Diamondbacks: #10/RF Justin

Upton

  Chicago Cubs: #25/1B Derek Lee

  Pittsburgh Pirates: #41/C Ryan Doumit

  Cleveland Indians: #24/CF Grady Sizemore

  Milwaukee Brewers: #28/1B Prince Fielder

  Kansas City Royals: #16/1B Billy Butler

  Chicago White Sox: #14/1B Paul Konerko

Aquafina Promotions

  During the regular season of the 15 teams chosen, there will be promotions sponsored by Aquafina to win the ESPN MLB 2K10 game.

  Vendors and concessions will sell Aquafina water bottles.   2 random water bottles will be chosen and

will be branded with an MLB sticker.

  In between the 3rd and 4th inning, an announcement will be made to check your Aquafina water bottles for a chance to win a copy of the ESPN MLB 2K10 game.

Aquafina Promotions

  The water bottles will look like this.

  Fans will check their water bottle and if it is branded with the MLB logo, they are a random winner of the ESPN MLB 2K10 game.

  This promotion creates great buzz about both products because for those few seconds, fans are only thinking about those two brand.

Aquafina Promotions

  Aquafina already supports and sponsors 14 baseball parks across the country.

  These baseball parks will continue their billboards for Aquafina.   The 15 chosen baseball players from each

team will do commercials during the year to promote Aquafina water.

New Balance Promotions

  During the regular season of the 15 teams chosen, there will also be promotions sponsored by New Balance to win the ESPN MLB 2K10 game.

  Before the game, 2 random seats will be chosen and will have a laminate footprint placed under their chair.

  In between the 6th and 7th, an announcement will be made to check under your seat for a chance to win a copy of the ESPN MLB 2K10 game.

New Balance Promotions

  The footprints will look like this.

  Fans will check under their seats and if there is a New Balance footprint, , they are a random winner of the ESPN MLB 2K10 game.

  This promotion creates the same great buzz as the Aquafina promotion.

New Balance Promotions

  New Balance already has a multi-year contract with Dustin Pedroia from the Boston Red Sox.

  There is a proposal to also sponsor the same baseball players that Aquafina is sponsoring.   With a double sponsorship for these select

players, it will better help to cross promote both brands.

  Players will appear in commercials wearing their New Balance baseball cleats and drinking their Aquafina water.

ESPN MLB 2K10 Promotions

  ESPN MLB 2K10 will in-turn create promotions for both Aquafina and New Balance.

  The chosen 15 baseball players will only be shown on the game drinking Aquafina, and Aquafina water jugs will be observable in the dugouts on the game.

  Billboards in the chosen 15 nationwide baseball parks on the game will be fitted with Aquafina and New Balance billboards.

  The billboards will look like the following screenshot of the game:

Product Placement

ESPN MLB 2K10 Promotions

  ESPN MLB 2K10 will also continue the New Balance promotion in place; however, it will be tailored to the game.

  The chosen 15 players will only be wearing New Balance baseball cleats in the game.

  The player will be able to associate the New Balance brand with the players in the game and also on the field.

  Players will look like the following photo wearing their New Balance baseball cleats:

Product Placement

Cross Promotion

  The last cross promotion will involve all products collectively.

  In both the game and on the field, there will be brand sponsored innings.

  In the game, the 4th inning will be sponsored by Aquafina and the 7th inning will sponsored by New Balance.

  On the field, there will only be one sponsored inning a game. The brands will be on a three home game rotation:   Aquafina: 4th inning

  New Balance: 7th inning

  ESPN MLB 2K10: 9th inning

Time Frame

  A season of regular season baseball runs from April until September.

  Playoffs typically begin the first week of October.

  There are 162 games during the regular season – 81 at home and 81 on the road.   That means in total there will be 324 total

ESPN MLB 2K games given away at one ball park during a season.

  There will be 4,860 games collectively from the 15 ball parks given away a season.

  There are 181 games possible during a baseball season.   This includes full series played in both the

playoffs and also the World Series.

Media Distribution

  The average seating capacity of all MLB baseball parks is 44,234.   Assuming that each stadium fills about 70%

a game, that is 30,963 people who could be viewing the billboards and taking part in the promotions a game at one stadium.   464,445 people for all 15 stadiums

  That means there 37,620,045 people during regular season home games who will view the billboards and take part in the promotions.

Media Distribution

  An average game for a baseball player is 8 innings.   Assuming that they also bat every other

inning, that brings the total up to about 12 appearances a game.

  That is 180 appearances for all 15 players a game.

  Also assuming they play about 160 games during regular season – that is about 12,960 appearances combined for all 15 players.

  The chosen players will generate high impressions for both Aquafina and New Balance during a season by promoting their brands only on the field.

Potential Problems

  One potential problem would be with the players on the field.   There is always a chance during a season that

a player can be injured and placed on the disabled list for a certain time period, and in unfortunate instances – the entire season.

  Another potential problem would be with the promotions during the games.   Possible that the random winners don’t come

to claim their copy of the game, or the place where the laminate feet are located – the ticket holders never show up to the game.

Summary

  Overall, there is great growth potential for all three brands.

  The consistency of the players in both the game and on the field will create authenticity for the brands in the mind of the consumer.

  The impressions on the field allow for great exposure to all of the brands.

  The promotions allow the brands to easy access their target market and promote their product effectively.

  Baseball is America’s past-time, and it seems as if it will stay that way for many years to come.

References

  http://www.newbalance.com/public-relations/library/2005/new-balance-launches-innovative-footwear-for-spring-2006/

  https://secure.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100401&content_id=9043374&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

  http://2ksports.com/games/mlb2k10

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrSdNFEm0Dk

  http://www.newbalance.com/public-relations/library/2010/new-balance-announces-partnership-with-all-star-second-baseman-dustin-pedroia/

  http://2ksports.com/info/about

  http://www.xb360info.com/xbox/news/113