Are you looking to leverage the affinity that fans have for sports without having any ownership of rights to marks, athlete endorsers, etc.?

Fallsview Casino recently created a tremendous billboard messaging campaign that capitalizes on the affinity Canadien consumers have for the game of hockey. Without leveraging any partnership rights (marks, logos, etc.), Fallsview Casino created a hockey-related tagline that will resonate with its targeted consumer base and drive consideration.

The company's billboard campaign demonstrates the influential power that sports as a medium can offer marketers. Companies with small marketing budgets should consider benchmarking Fallsview Casino's billboard campaign as a way to leverage fan affinitywithout actually paying for rights. After all, why not capitalize on such a strong passion point?

Consider new ways that you can use a touch of sports creativity to drive your brand!

Are you looking to create a humorous viral campaign? Are you looking for new ways to leverage athletes in non-traditional sports?

Head recently released a creative viral campaign that helps bolster the profile of rising tennis star Novak Djokovic. In the clip, Djokovic becomes distracted from the action on the court when he notices an attractive woman in the crowd.

The ad, which most would find pretty strange (some might find it funny), has served as an effective way to get consumers talking about the Head brand. The ad does a nice job fixating the Head brand in a pop culture niche within the tennis community, which could serve as an effective ploy if it can grab the attention of enough young consumers drawn to the game of tennis.

The ad was created by Aimaq Rapp Stolle, the Feed Company, and 7th Chamber. Check it out below!

Is your brand looking to create a humorous viral campaign to drive fan excitement? Are you looking for new ways to drive attention to your organization's playoff run?

In an effort to drive buzz around their 2009 playoff run, the Boston Bruins recently released a classic "Bruins Hockey Rules" campaign that features the team's mascot enforcing some hockey etiquette. The Bruins teamed up with Mullen, a Massachusetts-based advertising agency, to create a playoff campaign that features both viral pieces and print ads.

The club does a tremendous job building buzz and interest for its first round series against the Montreal Canadiens with three (3) humorous clips, which have all generated 70,000+ impressions in just a matter of a few days:

Are you looking to create a messaging campaign that resonates with young adults? Are you looking to drive interest in running in a non-traditional manner?

There isn't a company out there that does a better job understanding its customers needs and interests better than Nike. The enclosed billboard serves as a perfect example of Nike creating a captivating thought-starting campaign that resonates well with consumers.

Using a creative tagline emblazoned in bold colors, Nike provided just enough information in the billboard campaign to peak one's interest in the'05 Toronto 10K running event.

Source (Photo): jonesov

Are you looking for a new way to drive attention to your organization's star athletes? Are you searching for new ways to implement a unique billboard campaign?

In 2007, Nike took its soccer branding to another level when it plastered a giant billboard of Bayern Munich's star player Franck Ribery on the side of the Catholic Church of St. Kajetan (commonly referred to as the Theatinerkirche). In the ad, Nike heralded Ribery (a new signee) as the new king of Bavaria, dressing him up in a king's garb for the campaign.

The campaign was very controversial on two (2) fronts:

• For a few days, Nike positioned the ad on the side of the church (a very unlikely place to feature a billboard campaign)
• Franck Ribery is muslim (which was controversial for some of the church's followers)

Nonetheless, it was a very interesting campaign that peaked the interest of many around the globe. It wouldn't be surprising to see Nike feature a similar ad for "King" LeBron James at the Buckingham Palace if the NBA continues its efforts into Europe and the Far East!

Check out Nike's campaign below:

Source: Flickr Photos - airmax808/ Content: Wissens-Werkstatt.net

Are you looking for creative ways to market your organization? Are you looking for new ways to promote athletes on your team for accolades?

Over the past few days, the Minnesota Timberwolves have generated some buzz with their new infomercial campaign touting Kevin Love as a candidate for the NBA's Rookie of the Year Award. The Timberwolves created a classic campaign that features Kevin Love showcasing the "Mr. Love Miracle Glass Cleaner", a product that Love says is the secret to his success around the boards.

The Timberwolves are supporting the initiative with a micro site - www.votemrlove.com - and a 4:16 YouTube viral piece (shown below)that is generating a significant amount of attention in the online space. To make an impact on the ROY voting process, the team sent the marketing campaign to the 125 media members who decide which player is the most deserving of the award (who may have missed Love's stellar play in '08-'09 due to the Timberwolves 21-54 record).

Check out the TWolves infomercial campaign below... it might spark some ideas for your organization!

Are you looking to create a viral campaign to promote an upcoming match? Are you searching for ways to drive incrementalfan interest?

The Football Federation Australia recently created and released a captivating soccer viral piece designed to peak curiousity and interest for the team's World Cup Qualifier match against Uzbekistan. The FFA took a very unusual approach in creating the piece - they actually decided to promote the opposition (Uzbekistan) instead of their own club.

To spur interest in the match, the FFA decided to create an unbranded viral piece that showed what-appeared-to-be the Uzbekistan club being subject to extreme training methods, to not only drive awareness but to also instill fear (and interest) intothe Austrailian football faithful.

Since its release, the "extreme training" viral piece has done extremely well as its garnered nearly 320,000 views online. While the viral could be determined by some as deceptive, the FFA claims that the video is purely a piece of entertainment. But while some debate over the clip's intent, thousands of others are left wondering whether the content is real... an extremely well done soccer viral piece!

Enclosed are two (2) versions of the viral piece:

The FFA's Authentic Promotional Video

The Viral Piece That Has Generated 318,000+ Impressions

Are you looking to create a messaging campaign that demonstrates the passion of female athletes? Are you looking for a creative way to promote the game of soccer?

In early February, Gatorade plastered a giant billboard of Mia Hamm on the side of a building at Fountain Place in Dallas, Texas. The billboardcampaign (part of Gatorade's new "G" messaging) does a great job portraying the passion and emotion Mia Hamm exemplified as a professional athlete. Check out the messaging campaign below:

Sources: Flickr photos from dasgogo

Are you looking to welcome a high profile athlete back to your organization? Are you looking to create a brand building billboard campaign?

The Los Angeles Dodgers organization celebrated the return of star LF Manny Ramirez during the offseason by featuring a "Manny's Back" billboard campaign along major roadways across the city. The billboards served as an effective reminder of team's commitment to winning and stimulated buzz and interest for the upcoming season.

Check out the billboards below that capture Manny Fever in LA:

Are you looking for new ways to make your sport/organization resonate with a new fan base? Are you looking to create a captivating advertising campaign that is relevant across the globe?

The Australian Football League (AFL) recently kicked off the start of Aussie football season with an epic advertising campaign entitled "League of its Own" that features 19 AFL stars competing in different stadium environments around the world (boxing rings, soccer fields, etc.). The 60-second clip concludes with Hawthorn's Buddy Frankling kicking a goal.

The spot, created by George Patterson Y&R and produced by Revolver Film, will be supported by a season-long campaign featuring online, viral, radio, outdoor, and print elements. Check it out below: