To leverage college hoops interest around the climax of March Madness, Intel’s ‘Final Four’ campaign is fronted by LeBron James and focuses on the brand’s 360-degree replay technology used through the tournament.
Intel’s True VR is the ‘official virtual reality provider of the NCAA’ and the campaign supports Intel as it ups its virtual reality credentials in the sports space after signing a multi-year deal with Turner Sports and the NCAA to stream March Madness games in VR.
Intel’s VR work follows its 2016 acquisition of Voke (which partnered with Turner and the NCAA to broadcast last year’s Final Four games in VR for the first time ever) and sees Intel/Turner stream six games (from the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 stages through the Final Four and the National Championship game) in VR.
(Intel’s VR alliance with Turner Sports will extend beyond basketball).
The Intel campaign sees the Cleveland Cavaliers’ super star front a pair of commercials featuring the 360-degree replay technology being utilized by broadcasters throughout the three Final Four games in Phoenix.
The replay technology, which takes a similar form to that used by Fox during Super Bowl, involves no fewer than 28 arena cameras capturing the wrap around imagery.
The campaign is spearheaded by a 30-second commercial, launched on 30 March, called ‘Baby Face – It’s All Epic’.
It debuted during the Final Four Thursday night highlights and shows LeBron James sinking a 3-pointer buzzer-beater.
The high-tech spot zooms in on the Akron-born mega star as he sheds tears in front of fans in 360-degree replay.
This ad was supported by a follow-up commercial called ‘Stretch – Another Side to LeBron’.
‘By featuring LeBron in our marketing, we draw a parallel between our high-performance brand and this high-performing athlete, while showing how Intel technology can deliver a sports experience like no other,’ comments Intel’s SVP and chief marketing officer Steve Fund.
The spots are supported digitally and socially across Intel’s platforms including on Facebook
and Twitter.
Shots falling early for the Zags in Phoenix! Powered by Intel 360 replay technology #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/owV0BikHOZ
— Final Four Phoenix (@FinalFour) April 1, 2017
All the associated campaign executions aim to drive viewers to watch in VR by downloading the MML VR app, powered by Intel True VR.
The Road Ends Here.
Watch Gonzaga vs. South Carolina in VR. #FinalFour
Download the MML VR app, powered by Intel True VR. pic.twitter.com/n9aXUJZMBx— Final Four Phoenix (@FinalFour) April 1, 2017
The NCAA March Madness Live VR app is available via the Oculus store: users will need a Gear VR headset and a Samsung device to watch the games in virtual reality, while Turner is also airing content via Facebook 360 Video on the NCAA March Madness Facebook page.
The VR streams are being offered via two tiers of pricing (with different functionality for the user): a ‘silver’ virtual ticket costs $1.99 per game and gives fans access to a 180-degree courtside view with the same CBS commentary that viewers watching the traditional TV broadcast will hear, while a ‘Gold’ option is $2.99 per game (or $7.99 for all six games) and gives the fan more flexibility with the option to switch between seven cameras angles, from courtside to the student section to behind the basket.
‘We’re putting the power into the fans’ hands,’ trumpets David Aufhauser, managing director of strategy and product for Intel Sports Group.
‘They can determine how they want to experience VR.’
Activative Comment:
The ads might not be strictly story-telling spots and they are fairly simple in terms of narrative and plot, but the technology (coupled with the star athlete) seems to have generated plenty of engagement for Intel.
The two spots combined have racked up around 500,000 YouTube views in the first four days since they were posted on the video channel.
It also follows other Intel VR sports projects such as its work at the NFL’s Super bowl and its VR initiative with the MLB (see case study).
James’ work with Intel on this campaign is just part of his bigger endorsement deal with the giant chipmaker.
Indeed, he is one of several sports stars to have athlete ambassador deals with Intel.
Others include 28-time Olympic swimming medallist Michael Phelps
and five-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady who has also appeared in an Intel 360-degree Intel campaign airing around this year’s Super Bowl.
This campaign links is the next VR step for Intel since its 2016 acquisition of start-up Voke.
Links:
Intel
https://www.facebook.com/Intel
https://www.instagram.com/intel/
NCAA:
http://www.ncaa.com/march-madness
