Activating around October’s Major League Baseball postseason, MLB telecoms sponsor T-Mobile aims to hit a home run with its #UnlimitedBaseball contest.
Linked to its unlimited data T-Mobile ONE offering, this fan-focused competition invites baseball lovers to share just how much they love America’s game.
To enter, fans are incentivised to post a video or photo on their Instagram or Twitter accounts sharing how they’re baseball’s number one fan and tag it with #UnlimitedBaseball and #contest.
Fans can also shoot and post their video//photo at special T-Mobile on-site, at-stadium booths during the American League and National League Championship Series games.
Simply by demonstrating their passion using the #UnlimitedBaseball hashtag participants are guaranteed a $5 MLBshop.com gift card, as well as a chance to win one of the initiative’s major prizes: which range from a year of T-Mobile ONE, MLB.tv for life, tickets to 2017 games or a $2,500 shopping spree on MLBshop.com.
Gear up for the 2017 season w/ a ⚾️ shopping spree! Post a pic/vid proving you’re a #1 fan to enter. Click for rules!https://t.co/yAJZlEgk3B
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) October 20, 2016
Plus, one lucky winner will scoop the grand prize: a VIP trip to every game of the 2017 World Series.
Each week through the postseason, T-Mobile is revealing two #UnlimitedBaseball finalists (picked by CEO and president John Legere himself) on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages.
Then it is the fans themselves who vote to select the winner by simply responding to their favourite.
Thousands of submissions, 3 finalists, only 1 of! Who's it going to be? Vote using #UnlimitedBaseball + #Baseball #Office or #Love pic.twitter.com/MUO1lYd4jG
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) October 26, 2016
.@redturn2 needs your help picking the week 3 #UnlimitedBaseball winner! Reply with "Travel" or "Marriage" by tomorrow at 6am, ET. pic.twitter.com/SADaL25Es4
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) October 24, 2016
T-Mobile will announce the grand prize winner live on FOX during Game 4 of the 2016 World Series on 29 October.
The telco amped up its #UnlimitedBaseball promotion at the start of the postseason in October with a set of marketing assets led by an ‘Unlimited Baseball: Nats v Sox’ spot with rolled out from 4 October.
The ad, which is fronted by Washington National’s star slugger Bryce Harper, urges consumers to ‘Never miss a moment of Postseason magic. Stream every pitch, hit, and Bryce Harper bomb with T-Mobile ONE – unlimited data for everyone. Welcome to #UnlimitedBaseball’.
The initiative also includes OOH, print and in-stadium signage, as well as plenty of digital and social support.
Time to hit it out of the park, #1 fans! Tag your ultimate fan pic/vid w/ #UnlimitedBaseball #contest for a chance at some major MLB swag! pic.twitter.com/uknZ13oOUS
— T-Mobile (@TMobile) October 19, 2016
And all the assets and executions drive viewers online to find out full details on #UnlimitedBaseball at the initiative’s core web hub www.t-mobile.com/MLB and to www.t-mobile.com/ONE for more information about T-Mobile ONE.
‘We know T-Mobile customers hate limits and love baseball! Our customers have already streamed more than one million hours of MLB.tv this season alone – without ever worrying about their data bucket or overages – thanks to free MLB.tv from T-Mobile!’ explains T-Mobile USA CEO John Legere.
‘Now, I can’t wait to see all the super fandom and give everyone the chance to win some truly epic stuff!’
Comment:
While this isn’t actually the first 2016/17 campaign based around a sponsor’s search for baseball number one fan led by a consumer-created video/photo mechanic (see our Wix.com ‘Number One Yankees Fan’ campaign case study), this is an impressively integrated initiative with a broad national reach and an admirable depth of creative assets.
T-Mobile has been an official MLB sponsor for the last four years and through the season offers customers a range of fan perks: from the MLB At Bat app for free and free subscriptions to MLB.tv, to deals at the MLB Shop and data bonuses.
Plus, this time around, for the first time in the 69-year history of World Series TV broadcasting, T-Mobile is the Fall Classic’s official presenting sponsor.
Back in April 2015 T-Mobile announced it was again giving customers free MLB At Bat subscription worth $20: enabling its customers to have a season-long Premium pass allowing them to stream the MLB.TV ‘Game of the Day’, watch in-game highlights and access live look-ins on key plays (blackout restrictions apply).
While it was as long ago as 2014 that T-Mobile first announced its self-styled game changing MLB deal with a nationwide campaign led by a 30-second spot created by Publicis Seattle and also starring Harper.
In addition to its individual athlete ambassador endorsement deals with Harper and Andrew McCutchen, the telco also boasts six MLB team deals within its baseball partnership portfolio.
Links
T-Mobile MLB Web:
http://www.t-mobile.com/mlb.html
T-Mobile Web:
www.T-Mobile.com
T-Mobile Facebook:
T-Mobile Twitter:
T-Mobile Google+:
T-Mobile Instagram:
MLB #This:
MLB YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/MLB
MLB Twitter:
MLB Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mlb/
MLB Facebook:
MLB Google+:
https://plus.google.com/u/1/+MLB/videos
MLB Website:
MLB TV:
