When Kraft corporate ended their sponsorship with the NCAA , the DiGiorno brand management team was looking for a sports marketing platform. Correctly or not, they assumed at first that the NCAA would be beyond their reach. By creating a benefit plan and pricing strategy for an NCAA platform, 361° Experiential showed how DiGiorno could make a big impact through its NCAA relationship.
Based on the plan, DiGiorno became one of five NCAA Corporate Partners. We leveraged the frozen pizza brand’s NCAA sponsorship by activating a large-scale program at the 2006 Men’s Basketball Final Four Tournament in Indianapolis.
We then developed an activation plan for the Indy event to leverage additional opportunities within DiGiorno’s NCAA sponsorship agreement—many of which would have otherwise gone unrealized.
- Establish a relevant link between DiGiorno and the NCAA Men’s Basketball enthusiast
- Engage Final Four attendees with the DiGiorno product and maximize sampling opportunities
- Create a memorable and exciting weekend for top Kraft customers through hospitality
361° Experiential advised DiGiorno to continue building equity they had already established with college basketball icon Dick Vitale and renewed Vitale’s multi-year contract for the brand. DiGiorno continued to leverage Dick Vitale and launched the Full Court Pass promotion executed on DiGiorno packaging with life size Dick Vitale cutouts in retail stores nationally. DiGiorno’s logo and famous tagline—“It’s not delivery, it’s DiGiorno”—appeared on the NCAA tournament bracket posted on cbssportsline.com, which millions of people download for their March Madness office pools.
Plus, 361° produced and managed all activities for DiGiorno’s onsite presence during the Final Four tournament:
- a large, highly visible, fully branded 50x50 booth within Hoop City—the official NCAA tournament Fan Festival
- the “DiGiorno House” look and feel to build upon “It’s Not Delivery, It’s DiGiorno” message
- hired, trained and managed 30 brand ambassadors to work within the DiGiorno booth
- engaged consumers with DiGiorno by sampling a variety of pizzas in the booth
- connected the DiGiorno brand with the popularity of basketball by creating a shooting contest in which five winners a day received free pizza for a year
- a daily half-hour “DiGiorno Bungee Basketball” contest at Hoop City’s Center Court
- created buzz throughout Hoop City and was highlighted with ongoing PA announcements and a live DJ
- created and managed entertainment events for 50 top Kraft/DiGiorno customers throughout the four days
- developed one-of-a-kind events, including speaking engagements and meet-and-greets, with high profile college basketball icons such as Dick Vitale and Rick Pitino
- coordinated and managed private functions at the NCAA Hall of Champions, Indiana State Museum and Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The experience for consumers was, in the words of one Kraft customer, “the best ever.” And the results reflected the brand team’s success:
- consumers sampled 53,520 DiGiorno slices over the four days
- sampled 2,676 DiGiorno pizzas
- entertained 45,000 visitors to Hoop City
- exceeded goals on CBSsportsline.com by delivering 14.1 million page views
- more than quadrupled NCAA.com goals by delivering 11.6 million page views
- Sports: DiGiorno
- Mobile: DiGiorno