The Gap sponsoring the gap. Red wine sponsoring the red zone.
One time I was at a San Francisco Giants game and I looked in the outfield and noticed The Gap had placed signs on the outfield wall. But they were placed in the gap between left and center field and right and center field. Genius. The Gap sponsors the gap. It was perfect and has always represented exactly what brands should do to create a successful promotion/partnership.
More recently, I hit pause on Hulu to go to the bathroom, and on the Pause screen was an ad for Charmin saying, “Enjoy the Go.” Even that inane tagline couldn’t stop the perfection of Charmin sponsoring the pause screen.
When promotions work seamlessly, they don’t have to work very hard.
These are just two examples of products not randomly sticking their names on stuff. There’s a connection that makes them both work. That’s the kind of connection we were looking for when our clients at Bogle Vineyards asked us to make their wines an integral part of football season. We needed something that made the pairing a natural, seamless fit. In the course of our creative exploration, we had this one idea that seemed too simple to have not been done before.
Bogle makes a fantastic Red Blend, Cab, Pinot and Merlot, so we thought, “Let’s sponsor the red zone.” We proposed a special box set of Bogle Reds for game day. When teams get inside the 20-yard line we ask fans to tweet pictures of themselves enjoying Bogle and the game. The Bogle Red Zone would instantly make Bogle part of game day.
We created an in-store campaign, digital InstaCart campaign and for social, to make The Bogle red Zone part of Fantasy Football, we created Start ‘em Sip ‘em - wine advice for Fantasy game day. Now, if you’re a fantasy nut like us at Division of Labor, you know that Start ‘em Sit ‘em advice is a staple of Fantasy. So Start ‘em Sip ‘em advises what wine to start with what appetizer and what heavy, gassy, beer-y drink to sit on game day.
The whole promotion is part of our Better With Bogle campaign which started with pizza, which is Better With Bogle, then extended to Football, also Better With Bogle and will soon take over the world and extend to everything that doesn’t involve driving, flying or operating heavy machinery. Thanks to everyone at Bogle who made this happen.
A few more promotions that tie the brand seamlessly to the idea; the Chores Light Laundry Basket for Coors light, McDonalds scented candles, ripped off two years later by Shake Shack and purchased by your truly. (Side note: burger scent is not something you want wafting from your candles.) P&G sponsoring moms during the Olympics and Taco Bell’s Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion.
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