Home Depot is “expanding its marketing efforts” with a three-year NCAA deal that will be timed to begin with this year’s NCAA Tournament, according to Olivia Rockeman of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Home Depot has sponsored college football games on CBS for more than 25 years and now "adds basketball and about a dozen other college sports for each gender to its advertising repertoire.” The deal includes “advertising rights for 90 NCAA championships,” including the women’s and men’s D-I basketball tournaments. The NCAA campaign is “geared toward" do-it-yourself shoppers, with ads featuring Basketball HOFer Shaquille O’Neal that include "home-improvement tips and how-to guides” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 3/12). The campaign launches March 17 with ads on linear TV including CBS, TBS, TNT, TruTV and ESPN; digital and social content; integrations and experiential activations at the Men’s and Women’s Final Four locations. The campaign also includes "Tips from the Tool Shaq," a content series to help doers get their spring projects done. The series ties together basketball themes with common spring projects including "How to Protect the Paint" and "How to Clean the Glass" (Home Depot).
