Spokesman Drew Brees
designed his own Saints-
themed Flip camera.
Looking for a boost in sales over the holidays, Flip Video camcorders last weekend launched an extensive commercial campaign featuring athletes.
The six-week campaign, which includes NFL quarterback Drew Brees, NBA guard Steve Nash, skateboarder Ryan Sheckler and NHL winger Jordan Eberle and center Evgeni Malkin, is the brand’s most robust sports campaign.
Each athlete will be featured in 15- or 30-second spots that they filmed themselves. The spots show everything from Brees juggling a football with his fingertips to Sheckler launching himself over more than a dozen stairs on his skateboard. They will air on national and regional cable networks.
The deals with each athlete were just commercial deals. The price varied from athlete to athlete, and terms of the deals weren’t available.
The athletes will be featured alongside celebrities and musical acts ranging from “Dancing with the Stars” host Brooke Burke to Sean “Diddy” Combs to the band OK Go.
Digital and out-of-home advertising in six markets will support the campaign. Components of it will be visible on New York taxi cabs, Los Angeles billboards and in Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco.
Each athlete active in social media will post notes regarding Flip on his Twitter feed and Facebook page. Brees and Sheckler also designed their own signature line of Flip cameras, which are available for purchase on Flip’s website.
The campaign expands on Flip’s use of athletes. The company has worked with Olympic skier Bode Miller and NBA guard Dwyane Wade and felt that they were effective because of the depth of their social media following. Brand executives say Flip plans to use more athletes.
“We’re a lifestyle brand,” said Jodi Lipe, director of marketing, Cisco Consumer Products, Flip Video. “When you think about lifestyle, you ask where the passion plays are, and the passion plays lie in sports, celebrity and music. We were very fortunate to find six great partners in the sports genre who are passionate supporters of our brand.”
