MLB and Bank of America “kicked off” a Vine-related marketing campaign on Memorial Day “thanking members of the U.S. armed forces” for their service, according to Mike Shields of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. BofA Senior VP/Enterprise, Consumer and Global Wealth & Investment Management Marketing Meredith Verdone said that during week one of the MLB Vine effort, BofA “raised $50,000 that will be split between its two charities.” MLB also has “toyed with making Vines that are themed around big summer movies, including ‘Godzilla’ and Marvel’s upcoming ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’” To date, these “aren’t paid opportunities, though MLB is certainly willing to make its Vine prowess available to movie sponsors for a fee down the road.” League officials said that there is a “real possibility MLB Advanced Media could become something of a Vine agency, both for its own sponsors and non-baseball advertisers.” However, MLBAM Dir of New Media Andrew Patterson said that “overtly commercial messaging doesn’t really make sense with Vine (no selling tickets or jerseys) and that funny rules so far.” Patterson: “It’s about developing a personality and using social channels.” Twitter and MLB currently are “selling Vine as part of larger ad packages,” and MLB is “planning a new #Troopthanks Vine for July 4th, and two more later in the season.” MLB to date has “produced roughly 150 Vines.” About 100 "were produced for Vine in advance while 50 were produced in real time during MLB games" (WSJ.com, 6/3).
