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Buick turns to mobile ads to drive basketball fan engagement

General Motors? Buick automotive brand is targeting college basketball fans by running mobile ads on CBS and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. mobile Web sites and within the NCAA March Madness On Demand application.

Through the NCAA relationship, Buick and its ad agency partners ? Digitas, Leo Burnett and Starcom ? have worked with the client to create the Buick Human Highlight Reel at NCAA.com/Buick. With a high percentage of people in the United States checking sports scores on their mobile phones, the automaker wants to be where consumers? eyeballs are.

?Buick wants to engage with the passion of all fans of college basketball during its biggest event,? said Molly Marchese, vice president and media director at Starcom, Detroit. ?From the schools? alumni base to college basketball fans to students, they all represent some qualities that are core to the Buick brand. 

?The Buick Human Highlight Reel is a celebration of former NCAA student athletes making incredible and inspirational contributions to their communities off the field or court,? she said. ?We're highlighting real people making a real difference, utilizing the values they learned as a student athlete and how they translated it to a real life cause.

?Through the massive community of former student athletes, we're compiling moving stories of personal commitment and featuring them on the site.?

Additionally, Buick is asking fans who were former student athletes or know of one who exemplifies a Human Highlight Reel to share their stories. 

Buick Human Highlight Reel

The Buick HHR features videos and fans submissions

NCAA MMOD
The NCAA March Madness On Demand application is available for Apple?s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
In addition to Buick, other brand sponsors include Hewlett-Packard, Coca-Cola Zero, Capital One and AT&T.

Turner and CBS collaborated on the launch of the app, which Buick sees as an effective vehicle for reaching affluent Apple users who are basketball fans.

?How our consumers behave is what helps drive our innovation,? said Victor Lee, senior vice president of marketing and branded entertainment at Digitas, Boston. ?With that in mind, Buick is working with selected media partners Turner and CBS, as well as the NCAA to bring live Tournament games to mobile and iPad devices for the first time ever.

?We are in the age of mobility - the ability to access content and activate a brand is critical,? he said. ?We believe that mobile is a personal experience that a consumer has with their product and enabling content that is easily accessible and relevant is vital to a brand?s success.

?Mobile shouldn't be viewed as an add-on channel anymore, but rather a critical one that provides value to a brand and, more importantly, a key lane in how consumers are getting content these days.?

CBS and Turner, HP and Buick
Many of CBS?s biggest advertising partners seek to reach consumers across every platform, and as such, smartphones and tablets are filling an important role by giving companies the ability to deliver their brand messages to consumers wherever they are.

That role becomes even more vital with the Division I Men's Basketball Championship, an event that attracts millions of passionate fans who crave the latest information and scores in real time, per CBS.

?Our strategy is to deliver the best possible basketball experience for fans,? said Alex Riethmiller, West Palm Beach, FL-based director of media relations at CBSSports.com. ?New features like Game Center, Social Arena and the channel guide all serve as a complement to the TV-viewing experience.?

There are more than 50 advertisers have digital media running with MMOD across NCAA.com, CBSSports.com and SI.com.

Within the applications? live game view portal, brands are running 30-second pre-roll video ads. The user initiates the player, starts by viewing the pre-roll clip then proceeds to view a live game.

Various brands? logos appear on the pre-video slate homepage. All games will begin with a pre video slate.

Brand sponsors also get logo placement/branding on the iPad/iPhone app loading screen.

There are banners throughout the app, including headers, expandable HP and Buick banners?320x250 on the iPhone?that will execute when the user launches the app for the first time each day.

HP and Buick are also running promotional units that are 324x210 on the iPad.

Buick branding within the iPad app

HP and Buick each have 50 percent share-of-voice for the app itself.

?CBS has done a terrific job with MMOD for eight years, and the newly-enhanced product furthers that initial design by providing full access to games for people wherever they are,? said Deb McBride, director of ad sales public relations at Turner Broadcasting System, New York.

?Sponsorship by the presenting sponsors of the app, HP and Buick, make it possible for us to bring this application to consumers for free,? she said.

The NCAA MMOD app falls within the larger suite of MMOD digital offerings, which includes a CBSSports iPhone app, live streaming online, real-time scoring and stats, brackets and social media integration.

The communication strategy of CBS and Turner, aside from targeted press outreach, includes several media days to unveil the product, give hands-on demonstrations and giving press access to talent and NCAA/CBS/Turner executives who make up the overall NCAA Mens? Division I Basketball Championships coverage and initiative.

?There will also be several events and initiatives that will create consumer awareness of where and how fans can access all Mens? Division I Basketball Championship games across all platforms,? Ms. McBride said.

Final Take
Buick