Gillette has turned to famed ESPN Personality Kenny Mayne (@Kenny_Mayne) to promote its new line of Fusion ProGlide products and help drive connects with young male sports fans. Gillette recently unveiled a series of virals entitled, "A Man & His Razor" that have already begun to create a stir in the social media marketplace.

The virals feature Mayne using and conversing about Gillette Fusion ProGlide products during his daily routine on the set at ESPN and behind-the-scenes.  The success of the campaign demonstrates that not just current/former athletes and coaches serve as effective spokesmen in the sports marketplace - select reporters and television personalities can have a strong influence with fans as well.

Check out Gillette's four (4) terrific virals starring Kenny Mayne below and plenty more from the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Challenge Ultimate Summer Job tour here.

Sports organizations looking for new ways to drive awareness around the signings up marquee draft picks and free agents should check out a recent piece the Washington Wizards featured on their team website to welcome rookie PG John Wall to the city.

The piece is extremely well done - incorporating Ted Leonsis, members of the Wizards/Mystics organization, fans in the local community, and the most recognizable local athletes (McNabb, Ovechkin, Stasburg), and celebrities in Washington D.C. Check it out here!

A special thanks to Mike Rodriguez for his insights and contributions to this column! 

Nike is celebrating Team England's 2010 World Cup run with one of the most unique outdoor billboard adverts seen to date. Nike recently unveiled a giant billboard emulating Mount Rushmore that featured the faces of four (4) of England's prominently known soccer players. The billboard, completely made of rock, is the largest billboard in the UK, measuring 75m x 16m x 2m. The massive billboard, which supports Nike's "Write the Future" campaign, is expected to be seen by an astounding six (6) million consumers.

The only issue?

Three (3) of the players featured in the billboard campaign - Wayne Rooney, James Milner, and Rio Ferdinand - made the England World Cup team. However the 4th - Theo Walcott - did not. Ironically, Walcott's face will be featured in the rock sculpture display next to the word's "Play to be Remembered", but he will actually not be playing in the World Cup at all.

Nonetheless, the billboard serves as one of the greatest outdoor spectacles in sports and will be forever remembered by many in England and across the world for years to come... Not bad for a non-Official World Cup sponsor!

Check out the billboard campaign below:

Source: EPL Talk

Are you looking for new ways to promote non-profit organizations and charitable partners? Are you looking to new ways to create an enticing call-to-action for fans?

FC Barcelona star Lionel Leo Messi recently teamed up with UNICEF, the team's jersey naming rights partner, to create a powerful viral piece designed to drive awareness and participation in support of a good cause. The 22-year old footballer recently signed a 2-year commitment with UNICEF to work on behalf of the world's most vunerable children and created the viral spot to encouage others to join him in his efforts.

The piece is powerful and extremely well done. Check it out:

Are you looking to feature action sports in non-traditional settings? Are you looking for new ways to incorporate action sports?

Nike continues to revolutionize the action sports space by refurbishing non-traditional areas into ultimate attractions for skateboard/snowboard enthusiasts. Nike recently ventured to the German countryside to create its newest action sports spectacle, "The Farm".

Once the project was complete, Nike invited some of the world's greatest action sports enthusiasts to try out all of the new toys it had to offer... Check out the viral piece below!

Are you looking to create a viral campaign that emphasizes team unity and focus? Are you looking for new ways to engage fans on one united front?

Nike recently released a powerful viral piece that demonstrates the things the Dutch National Team will need to effectively do during the 2010 World Cup to realize their full potential. The piece, entitled "Bleed as One" is very interesting because it uses some unusual imagery to demonstrate how the team will need to compete as a united front with with resolve and focus, not just their brilliant style of play.

Check out the piece below:

Are you looking for new, creative ways to promote the game of soccer? Are you looking to feature a non-traditional outdoor campaign in select markets?

Soccer properties looking for new ways to market their organization should consider benchmarking an outdoor marketing tactic Lotto used around the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The company creatively branded the side of an overpass to resemble a soccer goal that fans walked under towards one of the site locations where a World Cup match was being played.

Check it out below:

Are you looking for new ways to attract casual sports fans and non-traditional consumers to your sport? Are you looking for unique ways to promote motorsports?

Red Bull recently unveiled a really cool viral piece that features the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team testing the agility and speed of its cars in non-traditional, wintry conditions. The clip, created to celebrate the return of the Canadian Grand Prix, led Red Bull F1 driver Sebastien Buemi and his counterparts to Canada for a test run.

The unique viral piece demonstrates the out-of-the-box thing that needs to become more prevalent in the sport of NASCAR. After all, who wouldn't want to see high-speed racing on ice in the Great North?

Check out Red Bull's creative piece below:

Are you looking for new ways to leverage athlete endorsers? Are you looking for ways to drive awareness without having rights to marks?

Target, a longtime sponsor of Olympian gold medalist Shaun White, recently unveiled a terrific billboard messaging campaign in Times Square in anticipation of the 2010 Vancouver Oympics. The billboards, a creative collaboration between Target, White, and his brother Jesse, were unveiled on January 15th and are set to be changed as the Games near closer.

Target's massive billboard campaign (a combination of nine (9) individual outdoor adverts) serves as a great way to provide Shaun White with a good-luck sendoff, drive awareness for the retailer's exclusive Shaun White 4 Target clothing line, and leverage consumer affinity for the Olympic Games without having rights to marks...

Check out the campaign below:

Source: BrandFreak, FreshnessMag.com 

Are you looking for new ways to entertain your fan base? Are you looking for new ways to drive awareness for your organization's players?

The folks at the University of Washington are constantly pushing the envelope with new, creative marketing and sales tactics. The UW marketing team recently created an entertaining "Dancin' Dawgs" piece that is played on the video board when the men's basketball team develops a sizeable lead in the final minutes of play.

The clip is terrific in that it allows the athletes to demonstrate some of their personalities and it is a simple, yet very entertaining fan pleaser. Why not remind fans late in the game about how great their experience was?

Check it out below:

Source: Husky Men's Basketball Blog