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!

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:

Sports organizations looking for ways to enhance their premium giveaway nights should take a moment to benchmark the Cleveland Cavaliers' recent Snuggie Night presented by KeyBank. The team took the Snuggie giveaway night to the next level by asking all fans with a ticket to arrive early to the game to partake in a Guinness World Record attempt. The offer was so enticing, tickets were rumored to be going for 10-times face value for the event.

For the first five (5) minutes of the game, 20,000+ rabid Cavaliers fans wore their Snuggie, helping the team set an official record for most fleece blankets of one (1) colors worn in one (1) place: 20,562. While fans put on their cool premium giveaways, so did Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert and the Cavs' dance team, who were given custom versions. Even the Cavaliers and Pistons players were given special, large-sized versions of the Snuggie premiums with their names and numbers monogrammed.

What are the chances of setting your own official Guiness World Record? Unfortunately, just 3% of the 60,000 applications submitted on an annual basis are approved and executed. But they can always say no...

Check out a video of the Cavs' Snuggie execution below! Well done, especially to KeyBank on their post-event execution featuring a microsite with pictures, videos, and a sweepstakes offer for fans who weren't able to attend!

A special thanks to Alex Vitanye of the Ohio University Center for Sports Administration for his insights and contributions to this column. Source: Cleveland.com

2K Sports recently announced that it is offering a $1 million prize to the first person who throws a perfect game in its new release, MLB 2K10. The skill-based challenge marked a unique way to engage fans and drive a significant amount of buzz around the release of the game on March 2nd.

The simple catch? Entrants must record the entirety of their game, either with a camera aimed at the television or recorded digitally. To ensure legitimacy of submissions, 2K Sports is working with Twin Galaxies, a worldwide sanctioning authority for video game high scores and records... And only one (1) person can win!

The chances of a perfect game happening in the Major Leagues? Just 16 perfect games have been thrown in Major League Baseball since 1901 (during a stretch of 160,000 regular season games).

The company created a special microsite to reveal the details around "The Battle for $1,000,000", which included a set of nine (9) detail instructions:

1. Get a copy of MLB 2K10 for XBox 360 or Playstation 3
2. Read the Perfect Game Official Contest Rules and Legal Rules Carefully
3. Print a Copy of The Perfect Game Checklist to Help Ensure You Don't Miss a Step
4. Set up a Recording Device to Record Your Perfect Game Attempt
5. Play Your Perfect Game Attempt in the MLB 2K10 Contest Mode in the MLB Today Section and You Must Use the Pitcher That is Set to Start the Game for That Particular Day
6. Throw a Perfect Game Without..
   1. Making any pitching substitutions
   2. Calling any coaching visits to the mound
   3. Pausing the game
   4. Delaying the game (waiting 60 seconds or more between pitches)
   5. Changing any of the control options. User must play using Total Control Pitching and Total Control Hitting (these modes are set to default when attempting the perfect game)
7. A Verification Code will Appear After Your Perfect Game - Input That on the Perfect Game Website
8. Print Two (2) Copies of the Verification Confirmation Page
9. Send Via Overnight Courier Your Recording Of Your Perfect Game on DVD Marked with Verification Code, Name, and Gamertag to 2k Sports Attn: MLB 2K10 Promotions Team 10 Hamilton Landing Novato, CA 94949

Check out the promotional trailer below:

Source: Kotaku.com

In September 2009, Cheerios began selling boxes of cereal with a dotted line around the "Cheer" on the front of Cheerios boxes that consumers could cut out and mail in to demonstrate their support. The Cheer cards were addressed to the Olympic Village with postage covered by Canada Post and were featured on different displays across the city. Check out the final product of the campaign below:

Molson Canadian featured one of the best activation footprints in all of Vancouver for the 2010 Olympic Games. The brand's "Hockey House" was a hometown fixture that turned out to be the best place for hockey fans to watch games and listen to the latest Canadian music in Vancouver. But that wasn't all the brand did to support Canada's efforts to host the Olympic Games.

Check out some of their creative activation tactics below:

Molson Canadian Hockey House

Molson Canadian Digital Guest Book

Molson Canadian Rally Book

Molson Canadian also cheered on Team Canada by creating a "Made from Canada Rally Book", filled with thousands of good luck messages from fans across Canada, that was presented to some notable Canadian official prior to the hockey team's match against Russia. Check it out below:

Molson Canadian 2010 Mural Project

Molson built a mosaic of individual fan photos spanning a 4,000 square foot section on the outside wall of the Kitsilano brewery in Vancouer. The brand collected photos submitted via the site http://www.molsoncanadian.ca/2010muralproject/ to build a surprise Olympic-themed image and message for all consumers visiting the city to see. Check out how they launched the project:

Molson Canadian "Made from Canada" Commercial

Molson unveiled one of the finest Olympics commercials of all-time in 2010. The brand's "Made from Canada" piece does an incredible job screaming patriotism. Check it out below:

The Los Angeles Dodgers recently teamed up with Channel 1 Media to create a terrific customized online campaign to engage fans prior to the start of the 2010 MLB season. The two parties created a really cool campaign that enables fans to create their own billboard... in a matter of seconds. The initiative, designed to drive fan interest and ticket sales, is a turnkey piece that can be implemented by teams from all leagues.

The campaign is really simple, yet very interactive and fun for consumers. The best part is the fact that it ties directly back to the Dodgers' terrific "This Is My Town" billboard messaging campaign from 2009 and truly lets fans be a part of the action. Channel 1 Media and the Dodgers also did a great job building in social media functionality to help the campaign go viral (see the Facebook, Twitter, and email functionality on the last picture below).

Check it out at http://channel1media.com/dodgers/2010/

As soccer fans gear up for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, BP Castrol Japan is drawing a significant amount of buzz after creating a kicking machine that can kick a soccer ball 200+ kilometers per hour. BP Castrol Japan is leveraging the machine by offering a "Win a Trip to Challenge Ronaldo" promotion where fans from select countries can enter online for a chance to battle Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world's most powerful shooters, in a head-to-head soccer kick competition.

Castrol signed a six-year agreement in June of 2008 to be an Official FIFA World Cup Sponsor after successfully deriving value out of the Castrol Index, an innovation it created in support of the UEFA Euro 2008 tournament. 

Watch the kicking machine in action below:

Take a moment to check out the new February 2010 Partnership Activation 2.0 monthly newsletter. If you like what you see, please pass it along to three (3) friends at work.

This month's newsletter features a collection of insights, including:

• Sidewalk Challenges
• Insights Into Using Augmented Reality
• 27th Annual IEG Sponsorship Conference
• 7 Tips for Bringing Your In-Venue Signage to Life for Consumers
• Details on the UK Sports Network
• The February 2010 Recipients of the Partnership Activation Rising Stars Program
• Sports Social Media Watch - Molson Canadian
• Activation Tactics from the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and 2010 NBA All-Star Game
• 2010 Australian Open
• Ways to Leverage an ESPN Partnership
• Creative Activation Tactics

If you are interested in signing up for the newsletter, please send an email with "Subscribe" in the subject line to newsletter@partnershipactivation.com. In the body of the email, please include your name, company affiliation, and contact information when subscribing.

Check out the February 2010 Issue now... and don't forget to pass it along to some friends!

Rockit Wrigleyville, a new bar and grill located in the heart of Wrigleyville, recently featured a promotion that provided consumers with a chance to have their face appear on a billboard located just outside Wrigley Field. For a chance to win, consumers just had to take their picture in front of the billboard and upload it to the restaurant's official Facebook fan page.

The entrant who posted a photo on the Facebook Fan Page that generate the most "likes" by other viewers was selected as the ultimate winner of the promotion. To drive interest in the offer, Rockit Wrigleyville offered a free $25 gift certificate to each contestant. The winner, John Walters, garnered 82 "likes" for his picture submission.

The low-cost promotion served as a tremendous way for Rockit Wrigleyville to drive buzz in the marketplace (consumers would encourage their friends to check out their photos and "like" them) as well as drive traffic and new fans to the restaurant's Official Facebook Fan Page.

The promotion serves as a really simple way for sports organizations to leverage stadium landmarks and billboards in the marketplace to spur fan engagement and drive traffic online to the official team facebook page via valuable content.

Check out some of the pictures that were submitted here.

Watch a video of the campaign below: