I think it's safe to say the 2014 March Madness season has been anything but expected. Upsets range from Mercer defeating Duke, Dayton taking down Syracuse, Kansas losing to Stanford, and one of the biggest upsets yet, undefeated Wichita State being sent home by Kentucky. And stemming from these upsets came many upset bracket competitors. However, aside from these upsets, for some businesses branding has been a success through this annual basketball tournament, and for most of these brands at the root of their marketing lies some kind of social media interaction. For example, Steiner Sports has been using the hashtag #steninerbracket to select a winner for their prize, the opportunity to meet and talk with basketball coach Bob Knight. Buffalo Wild Wings is calling itself "The Official Hangout for March Madness." The food chain is offering several prizes including a trip to the 2015 tournament and thousands of dollars in gift cards. To win these prizes you can do things like check into their locations and tweet about their challenge. Kwinn Media is offering chances to win $200 prize packets which you can be entered to win by retweeting their bracket link. Many other companies are offering prizes through Facebook comments and tweeting as well.
This is a great way for businesses to market themselves and increase customer's awareness about their products. By offering incentives like these, people are more likely to research the product and adjust their purchasing patterns toward these companies. When people are retweeting and sharing companies products on Facebook, that also reaches people who may be unfamiliar with the business and increases their knowledge about the company. Annual events in which thousands of people are invested in are key opportunities for businesses to connect with people, and these companies were smart to take advantage of such opportunities.
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