Verizon, Coca-Cola Among Sponsors Activating Around NFL Games

By Terry Lefton, Editor-at-Large

80,000 Towels Will Be Handed Out During Sunday's Giants Game

Another weekend of NFL Playoffs means another round of sponsor activation in the host playoff cities. As was the case in the opening round of the NFL's postseason tournament, three of the four host teams will be giving fans one of the most familiar of gate premiums: rally towels. In New Jersey, where the Giants play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Verizon Wireless brand will be on 80,000 towels from McArthur Towel and Sports, one of a number of in-stadium efforts from the carrier, which is presenting sponsor of the game, and will also sponsor the NFC Championship contest if the Giants prevail. Giants Senior VP & CMO Mike Stevens said that last year's championship run is still paying dividends. "Pretty much all of our sponsors are doing some kind of post-season activation and most have incremental playoff deals," he said. Among the efforts is a promo from MasterCard and ShopRite, in which card usage is encouraged by a ticket sweeps. The Giants are employing a playoff campaign of their own: "Never Satisfied.'' The slogan will appear on the towels, on video boards and other in-stadium messaging. Giants beer sponsors Coors, A-B, and Heineken all have campaigns. One example is a Coors Light print ad with a Giants helmet and a bottle of beer. The caption: "Refresh, Repeat.''

75,000 Towels Will Be Given Out Saturday During Ravens-Titans Game In Nashville

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY: In Nashville, where the Titans host the Ravens Saturday, grocer Kroger and Coke are sponsoring 75,000 light blue McArthur towels with the slogan "This Is Our House, LP Field," along with the Kroger and Coke logos. Kroger also held a ticket giveaway, which helped generate incremental retail displays and built traffic, said Titans VP/Marketing Ralph Ockenfels. To activate behind the Panthers/Cardinals game in Charlotte Saturday, Kraft and grocer Harris Teeter have joined forces for a unique promo in which buy-one-get-one coupons for Planters Nuts and Maxwell House Coffee, are affixed to every one of the "Growl Towels'' from Thunder Road Brandworks that will be given to fans at Bank of America Stadium, according to Kyle Caddell, the Panthers Dir of Sponsor Sales & Services. In a marketing ploy similar to the one performed in Arizona prior to the opening playoff round, Panthers sponsor Alltel Wireless offered game tickets to the first 100 people in line at an Alltel store Monday at 5:00pm ET. Caddell said fans began queuing on Saturday afternoon, and more than 150 were in line by the late Sunday.

STATUS QUO: Pittsburgh is where the rally towel craze started with the "Terrible Towel" in '75. Still, the Steelers avoid rally towel promos for two reasons. One, the Terrible Towel has always been a retail item (inventor and now-deceased Myron Cope used to rail against giveaway rally towels as cheap imitators). The other reason: "I think everyone here already may already have one,'' laughed Steelers Dir of Marketing Tony Quatrini. However, the Steelers Web site has more than 30 different Terrible Towel inspired products for sale, including Terrible Towel Tote bags ($9.95), earrings ($7.95), and gloves ($4.95), along with a few different towels ($6.95 and up). "Really, the idea here has been to treat playoffs like another game, because we've been there,'' Quatrini added. So aside from increased hospitality, there isn't any sponsor activation at Sunday's Chargers-Steelers game that is any different from the regular season. However, the Steelers will use the game to honor the military, with a paratrooper jump, a flyover, and the swearing in of new military recruits on the turf at Heinz Field.