UPS is "putting its logistics muscle to work in an unprecedented effort to get all 132 men’s and women’s basketball coaches in the NCAA tournament to autograph replicas of a Final Four court," according to Michael Smith of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. When the fields are set next week for the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, UPS will "begin shipping segments of two replica courts" to the coaches, who will "sign their piece of the court and return it to UPS." Once all of the signed pieces are together, they will be "displayed at the fan fests during the men’s Final Four in Indianapolis and the women’s Final Four in Tampa." The 24-foot-long replicas are "roughly a quarter of the size of an actual court." The pieces ultimately will be "auctioned on eBay from March 20 through April 7, with proceeds going to Coaches vs. Cancer and the Kay Yow Cancer Fund." The autographed basketball courts are "one aspect of a multi-pronged commercial effort by UPS around March Madness." The company also is using the next month to "launch a new brand campaign called 'United Problem Solvers,' replacing the "5-year-old 'We Love Logistics' messaging." UPS also "will have a 'Game Solvers' feature in the pregame studio shows on CBS and Turner channels throughout the tournament" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/9 issue). UPS VP/Customer Communications Maureen Healy said that launching the campaign during the NCAA basketball tournament "made sense because UPS is the official logistics provider for the NCAA, and the audience demographics are a good fit." Healy: "The audience that is watching NCAA really skews toward more senior-level decision makers, and it reaches audiences from small businesses to the mid-market to large enterprises" (ADAGE.com, 3/8). Meanwhile, today's WALL STREET JOURNAL looks at UPS' marketing under the header, "UPS Launches New Ad Campaign."
