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The two-year title sponsorship deal deepens Wendy’s commitment in the college space.
Courtesy of: IMG COLLEGE |
Major brands like Wendy’s, Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s and Nissan are joining forces to create a mobile fan fest that will visit 12 college football games this season.
IMG College initiated the idea and sold it to the brands. Sister agency IMG Live will execute the fan fest at the campus sites. This is the first time IMG has created a touring fan fest for football — it will be called the Wendy’s College Tailgate Tour.
IMG College’s Andrew Judelson, executive vice president for sales and marketing, said the company started planning four months ago to build a fan fest that could be transported across the country by an 18-wheeler. Additional activation items were added and the fan fest’s final footprint became 125 feet by 125 feet, dressed in Wendy’s red.
“We wanted to deliver something that would enhance game day, provide incremental value to the schools and become a unique proposition for brands,” Judelson said. The tour will hit some of college football’s hotbeds, such as Michigan, Ohio State, Ole Miss, UCLA, Virginia Tech and others.
IMG didn’t wait for Judelson to sell it before building it, he said. The company intended to create the mobile fan fest and tour it, whether it was sponsored or not. As it turned out, Wendy’s signed on as title sponsor for two years.
Terms of the deal were not available, although the cost for brands to sponsor the tailgate tour is in addition to their normal rights fees with IMG.
The double-deck tailgate tour trailer will be the centerpiece of the fan fest with indoor-outdoor areas, patio, rooftop deck and a 14-foot screen supplied by Daktronics. Inside the trailer will be additional elements, like a TCL esports gaming lounge, TVs showing live games, and virtual reality headsets provided by Mandt VR. Coca-Cola is sponsoring the virtual reality demonstration area at seven of the 12 schools where Coke has pouring rights.
Nissan is expected to showcase its vehicles, while Kellogg’s plans to promote its Pringles brand. Other local sponsors could buy in as well, although not in the same category as the national brands.
Additional activations in the space will include appearances by former athletes and live radio shows by IMG Audio that also will broadcast on TuneIn online radio.
For Wendy’s, the tailgate tour takes the brand even deeper into the college space. Wendy’s became an NCAA corporate partner last year through NCAA rights holders CBS and Turner, and the brand has a sponsorship with ESPN’s college basketball awards show. Wendy’s also has a long-running deal as presenting sponsor of the Wooden Award, which goes to college basketball’s player of the year.
