NFL Sponsor "clicking" on all cylinders on-line | Sports Marketing 2.0

NFL Sponsor “clicking” on all cylinders on-line

Posted December 15th, 2006 by Pat Coyle • 2 Comments

Chunky Soup is using the Web to drive its brand message home this holiday season with its “Click for Cans“ promotion.

chunky home

This program works on so many levels it’s difficult to know where to start. So let’s just start.
First of all, it’s a cause marketing program that offers citizen fans a way to feed the hungry at Christmas, a time where our giving spirit is heightened. Right message, right time.

Second, it’s a competition that pits fans of NFL teams against each other. We want to win! By creating this competition, Chunky has given its umbrella NFL sponsorship legs in all 32 NFL cities – without making deals with all 32 teams. While we would like to see Chunky spend incremental money with the Colts in support of this program, it was impossible for us not to promote it.

Third, its really easy to do. Fans want to do their parts to help the hungry, but fans are also busy doing other stuff. This program makes it very easy for fans to feel good about themselves. All they need to do is click!

Fourth, it’s on-line so it has the potential to go viral. And it has gone viral. In fact, the Colts got so many calls and E mails from our fans and sponsors that we HAD to help support it. (see screen shot from our home page below). Still, as this article points out, not everyone agrees with Chunky’s strategy.

Here’s the copy of the story we posted on www.colts.com:

With the holidays approaching, the Colts are asking fans to help feed the hungry around Indiana.

How? By participating in the Campbell’s Chunky Click for Cans 2006 promotion.

The promotion works as follows:

Each year, one NFL team earns a donation of Campbell’s soup to the food bank of its choice. Campbell’s gets the official stats for all players on the winning team’s official roster and donates one can for every pound the total team weighs.

So far this year, the defending contest champion Green Bay Packers are in the lead, but as of December 5, the Colts were in third place behind the Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

The team that improves the most in the number of clicks from last year also receives a donation. The Colts currently lead that category.

The team with the most clicks and the team with the most improved clicks by midnight on December 15, 2006 will earn donations of Campbell’s soup.

The more times you participate, the more votes your team will have.

So you see we actually SOLD the program to our fans. This isn’t Chunky advertising. This is the Colts endorsing the Chunky cause. That type of support would typically cost a brand a lot of money

Not only did the Colts drive more traffic to the Chunky site (2,400 click throughs from our site on last count), Colts fans voted and caused the Colts to jump into second place overall AND become the “most improved” team, which will bring rewards to the hungry people of Indianapolis. (see below for today’s rankings). We’re gaining on the Packers!!

I don’t know the history of this promotion, but I believe it has been running for at least a few years. This type of consistency is yet another important factor driving its success. In addition, Chunky is fueling the fire with posts in local blogs. (see this post from www.Ichooseindy.com).

And let’s not forget just how committed Chunky is to this program. They’re using their main URL (www.chunky.com) to showcase the promotion. You don’t have to search for it. The Click or Cans program is EVERYTHING Chunky is about right now.

Plus, this program extends directly from the TV spots Chunky has been doing for several years now. We’re used to seeing Donovan McNab (and his mom) eating Chunky on TV, so it makes sense that he would be featured (along with other top tier players) in the click for cans program. This is positive for the athletes and Chunky as they both look like consistently good players!

I wonder why Philly and Seattle are not closer to the top of the rankings? Perhaps player endorsements aren’t really the big drivers here.

I haven’t noticed the local retail presence of this program, but I would bet the end caps in cities like Philly are packed with chunky alongside lifesize cutouts of their star QB. I can only imagine how many cases of soup Chunky has been able to “load in”. We’d love to see that kind of support in Indianapolis next year!