Capture Unique Viral Content While on Team Roadtrips

Borussia Dortmund, a notable German soccer club in the Bundesliga league, recently made headlines when it released a sensational viral that features the team performing stunts while traveling on the team bus. The clip features a player kicking a soccer ball out of the front door of the team bus only to have it bounce off the wall of an overpass and into the hands of the team goalie, who is standing in the doorway in the back of the bus.

The viral, which involves some creativity and computer trickery (likely), demonstrates how sports organizations can look to generate unique content on the road and during other unlikely situations.

Check out the interesting clip below:

Red Bull Gives Fans a New Look at Game Entertainment

Are you looking for new ways to enhance your pre-game entertainment? Are you looking for ways to help game entertainment live online?

The New York Red Bulls recently gave fans a unique view of their brand new $200MM stadium facility by outfitting a team of skydivers known as the Red Bull Air Force with cameras that provided a unique viewpoint of their descent into the venue. The jump, filmed from different angles in the air and on the ground, kicked off the Red Bulls' 2010 MLS season in style.

Look for this to become a viral hit in the next few days! 

Nike Creates Viral to Go Red and Save Lives

What happens when you create an epic campaign that combines the world's best footballers with Kobe Bryant and Maria Sharapova? It's Nike's hope that it will help save lives.

Nike recently launched a really cool viral piece in support of its Nike Soccer Red Campaign to fight HIV/Aids in Africa. Check it out below and be sure to stop by their official Red microsite to learn more about some of the cool initiatives taking place (Nikesoccer.com/red):

Nike is On Target with its Latest Soccer Viral

Nike recently teamed up with Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres to create a cool new viral piece. The clip, entitled "Master Accuracy" demonstrates the skills that players can develop while wearing the new Nike Total 90 III soccer cleats.

The advert features Torres challenging Rooney to shoot balls through laser-based targets. Check it out below:

Join the EA Sports Blindfolded Keepie Uppie Challenge...

Are you looking to create a captivating viral campaign that will attract the attention of consumers from across the globe? Are you looking for new ways to leverage athlete endorsers?

Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam teamed up with EA Sports to create a sticky 'keepie uppie challenge' viral marketing campaign designed to promote the company's new game title FIFA10. The creative campaign features the world's greatest soccer players testing their juggling skills while blindfolded. The humorous campaign was designed to entertain and provides an influencial call-to-action for fans to submit videos of their own juggling talents on the promotional microsite.

Check out W+K's creative Blindfolded Keepie Uppie Challenge below, which launched today (12/14/09):  

U.S. Soccer Tests the Skills of an NFL Kicker

Are you looking for new ways to promote the athleticsm of your organization's athletes? Are you looking to cross-promote with another sports organization in your local marketplace?

In July 2009, Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers made an appearance at the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team's practice as they prepared for a CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals match at Lincoln Financial Field. Akers' appearance made for some quality footage for U.S. Soccer to feature in the viral space.

Members of the U.S. Soccer team battled it out with Akers in a variety of kicking contests, using both footballs and soccer balls. The video below demonstrates how skillful soccer players and NFL kickers actually are, and serves as a great benchmark for:

• Soccer organizations looking to align with other sports organizations in the local marketplace to promote their sport
• College athletic departments looking to showcase a collection of their student-athletes
• Professional organizations looking to showcase the skills of specialty players (kickers, punters, etc.)
• Brands looking to promote multiple athlete endorsers

Check it out below:

Nike Connects with Consumers Through Passion...

Are you looking to connect with consumers by focusing on the passion that fans and athletes have for the game? Are you looking for new viral ideas?

Over the past week, Nike has released two (2) tremendous ad campaigns that do a tremendous job promoting the passion that both fans and athletes share for their favorite sports. It is amazing to see Nike continuously create ads that blow consumers away (and subtly ingrain their brand along the way).

Nike - "Force Fate"

In support of its Nike training hockey apparel (particularly Team Canada hockey apparel), Nike created a captivating piece that features Canadien hockey players and supporters making their claim that their success is earned, not bred. The piece has the feel of Gatorade's recent "G" campaign and does an excellent job playing off the passion Canadiens have for the game of hockey. Not to mention, plenty of terrific subtle branding plays... Check it out below:

Nike - "Fast is Never Enough"

Nike recently released "Fast is Never Enough" a captivating soccer piece that profiles the 20-year old English sensation Theo Walcott. The viral, in support of Nike's football partnership with Arsenal FC and its global football apparel, is a heart-thumping advert designed to get soccer fans around the globe excited for another year of the English Premier League. The piece does an excellent job mixing game highlights and slow motion tricks with the sound of an adrenaline-filled pep talk. Check it out below:

Kit Kat Releases New Soccer/Basketball Viral...

Are you looking for new ideas to create a captivating viral piece? Are you looking for ways to integrate sports to speak to a general audience?

Kit Kat recently released an unbelievable viral piece in the United Arab Emirates that demonstrates kids on the playground practicing some amazing soccer tricks with basketballs. The clip leaves the viewer trying to depict which playground skills are real and which ones are fake. The Kit Kat viral is a "must-see" piece for those looking for unique content in the soccer and basketball space. Check it out below:

After watching the clip, did you find yourself amazed by some of the tricks featured in the piece? Yet, did you also find yourself scratching your head about how the clip ties back to the Kit Kat brand?

Unless the goal of the viral campaign is to drive awareness and traffic back to the official Kit Kat Chunky Boys website, it is difficult to see a direct correlation with the Kit Kat brand (or Nestle for that matter). Hopefully Nestle's brand representatives will make a tie-back more clear in their future viral campaigns!

adidas Unveils Amazing Soccer Viral Pieces Worldwide...

Are you looking for new ways to generate interest in your sports organization or brand? Are you looking to create a captivating viral campaign?

Over the past few months, adidas has unveiled some amazing soccer viral pieces designed to generate interest amongst consumers across the globe (specifically targeted at Japanese and Western European consumers). The company currently features the videos on their adidas.tv platform, a site that serves as a one-stop destination for unique adidas content.

Check out all of the inspiring viral pieces below - a very captivating campaign!

Source: http://www.footballshirtculture.com

adidas Demonstrates Benefits with Pred-a-Rater

Are you looking to demonstrate to consumers how they can benefit from using your product? Are you looking for ways to leverage soccer personalities?

In March, adidas released a series of soccer viral pieces that feature the world's premier soccer players testing out the company's prized Predator footwear. In each of the clips, adidas demonstrates the benefits derived from wearing Predator soccer boots by measuring the shooting power and precision of the world's finest players using a Pred-a-Rater machine.  

The Pred-a-Rater machine is said to use a mathematical analysis to accurately track a shot's velocity and trajectory on its 11-meter distance from the penalty distance to the goal. Whether the Pred-a-Rater is an accurate measuring tool or not, the clips effectively demonstrate benefits believed to be derived from wearing the Predator footwear (and showcase the personalities of the world's finest soccer stars). Check out two clips from the Pred-a-Rater campaign below:

The Aussies Keep Producing Soccer Viral Hits...

Are you looking to create captivating viral campaigns to promote an upcoming match? Are you looking to offer original, entertaining content to fans?

Over the past few months, the Football Federation Australia (FFA) has generated a tremendous amount of online buzz with the creation of some fictional soccer viral pieces that tout their upcoming opponents. The FFA's first viral feature profiled what-appeared-to-be the Uzbekistan soccer club being subject to extreme training methods to get consumers across Australia interested in the match.

The FFA recently released a second soccer viral piece - this time showcasing what-appears-to-be the amazing skills of a Bahrainian goalkeeper. The piece does a tremendous job showcasing how product placement can be woven into viral marketing (it is with hope that the FFA had worked out an agreement with Land Rover to prominently feature one of its vehicles in the ad). Check out the clip below:

Ticketek, Australia and New Zealand's largest sports and entertainment ticketing company, recently capitalized on the soccer viral craze in Australia by creating a viral feature of their own. Ticketek created a piece that showcases the Japan soccer team displaying heroic skills in Japanese television show format. The piece was created by Ticketek in an effort to drive ticket sales for the upcoming June 17th World Cup Qualifier match between Japan and Australia. The feature is another great example of a soccer viral piece - check it out below:

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

Chivas USA Sells Tickets With Interactive Online Campaign...

Are you looking for a unique way to drive ticket sales? Are you looking to create an engaging online marketing tactic?

Naveed Siddiqui of Pinnacle Athletes recently passed on a tremendous interactive campaign that Chivas USA recently implemented to drive ticket sales. Chivas collaborated with Siddiqui's group at Pinnacle Athletes to create the "Chivas Keys to the Game", an engaging online campaign that mirrors the online viral campaign created by the University of Gonzaga athletics department. Chivas created incremental value out of the campaign by tying in one of its official partners, Frazee Paint.

To partake in the interactive viral piece, users are first asked to provide their name and telephone number (which is essential for the engagement part of the piece but might deter some people from choosing to participate).

Once the user information is submitted, viewers are shown a captivating clip of "keys to the game" which touches on everything from the team's performance to the fans to the ChivaGirls. The clip thenleads into a feature where the crew of announcers personally give users a call on their cell phone to pitch them a ticket package - it is definitely worth the time to watch and experience!

From a branding standpoint, the clip serves as a nice brand awareness play for Frazee Paint (although it doesn't do much from a sales driving/product attribute education standpoint). But overall, the feature is terrific and is one of the most captivating campaigns created in the MLS space to date.

For more information on the campaign , please reach out to Alex Gallegos, Director of Marketing for Chivas USA at AGallegos@cdchivasusa.com.

Check back for more creative campaigns!