AllStarGameThe Major League Baseball All-Star Game counted on the field with the winning team earning home-field advantage in the Fall Classic. But the stakes were even higher for marketers and sponsors who stepped up to the plate. Fans in Minneapolis and around the country saw a little bit of everything from companies looking to score some brand loyalty. Here’s a quick look at a marketing scorecard for some of the game’s standouts: SINGLE: Legions of baseball fans at Target Field, MLB Fan Fest and other All-Star activities snagged memories with pictures and videos in what may be the most documented All-Star week on record. These memory-making events gave iON America a mega-platform to introduce itself as the “official action camera” of MLB.com, producing exclusive point-of-view footage and making headway in wearable action cams, a market category previously dominated by GoPro. In a world that devours user-generated content, iON executed against a genius strategy, getting its products into the hands of those closest to the game. Whether it was MLB’s biggest sluggers taking part in the Home Run Derby or Mr. Met walking the All-Star Red Carpet, fans were thrust into the middle of the action with iON Camera giving them an inside-look at what it was like to be an All-Star. DOUBLE: PepsiCo leveraged a full line-up of brands at the 2014 All-Star Game. Fans got a taste of Pepsi, Gatorade, Aquafina, Frito-lay and Cracker Jack through sampling at Mall of America and MLB Fan Fest and product placements at the Gatorade All-Star Workout Day. But at the heart of the Pepsi line-up was the title sponsorship of the first-ever MLB All-Star Pepsi Summer Block Party. The free three-day party celebrated the sights, sounds and smells of baseball and featured celebrity chefs and Minnesota’s best food trucks, taking ballpark tailgating to a whole new level. More importantly, the Block Party and other brand activations fit perfectly into Pepsi’s marketing push around its “Real. Big. Summer.” campaign — geared toward “…taking summer pastimes to another level of awesome.” TRIPLE: Target was already guaranteed big exposure thanks to its naming rights on the Twins ballpark. But the company didn’t just rely on home field advantage to make its mark on All-Star festivities around the Twin Cities. Target fired a marketing fastball, which included a 4,800-square-foot pop-up store, title sponsorship of the All-Star Concert at TCF Bank Stadium and major association with MLB’s People All-Star Teachers community relations program. It was a smart move by the retail company that inked a one-year national sponsorship with MLB at the beginning of the 2014 season for the express purpose of making an All-Star splash in its own backyard. The deal delivered some much-needed cheers for the hometown brand that has struggled with the negativity of its data breach and subsequent executive departures. HOME RUN: All eyes were on Derek Jeter in his final all-star appearance. Jordan Brand knew it. And the sneaker giant knocked it out of the park — using the Yankees captain’s final season and All-Star Game as the platform for the rollout of its RE2PECT marketing campaign. Fueled by a who’s who of celebrities that included Jay Z, Spike Lee and Billy Crystal, the TV spot honoring the shortstop’s career set Twitter abuzz and drew accolades among sports fans and advertisers alike. The spot led off the introduction of a signature line of Jordan Re2pect apparel and the announcement of a signature Jeter shoe set to drop in September. The last thing Michael Jordan needs is help selling shoes, but you have to tip your cap to his Airness on this one.


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