Washington Capitals Convention

Snow is on the ground here in Central Ohio, which means hockey season is in full swing!  We were fortunate enough to execute another successful Washington Capitals Convention this past September.  Building off of an impressive festival in 2011, MAG utilized new truss entrance packages and unique visual elements to create a stunning display of graphics that were pleasing to the eye of Capitals fans.  

With over 25,000 square feet of show floor space, there was plenty of room for fan engagement opportunities across the board.  Autograph stages were featured on the bookends of the hall, where fans could meet their favorite Capitals players past and present.  There were also new opportunities for fans to feature their skills between the dasher boards:  in addition to drop-in hockey, a synthetic ice rink was also added.  Skills games took center stage just as they did in 2011, with fans testing their hockey prowess in multiple facets of everyone’s favorite frozen pastime.  Trophies from the Hockey Hall of Fame were on display.  Attendees were also treated to breakout sessions with their favorite Caps personalities.  A grand stage was set to unveil that the next Winter Classic would be hosted by the Capitals in 2015.  The unveiling was presented by Caps owner Ted Leonsis and popular sports broadcaster Michael Wilbon.

That was all in one day!  And our hockey duties aren’t finished, as we head to Detroit for the Hockeytown Winter Festival at the end of December.  Load-in will commence in early December, and load-out will go into 2014 for an event of such a great scale.  MAG is proud to be part of such a majestic spectacle, where the Red Wings and Maple Leafs stars of yesterday will close out the event on New Year’s Eve in a sold-out Alumni Game at Comerica Park.

Be sure to join us at Comerica Park December 27th through the 31st for all the fun.  Until next time, we’ll see you down the road!

Life On The Road, Cooper Mobile Tour

The summer is drawing to a close, and what a summer it has been for the Cooper Tire Mobile Tour.  It was another great experience visiting historic racing venues such as Road America, Mid-Ohio, and Crandon International Off-Road Raceway.  These are the tracks where you can find the most enthusiastic fans in racing!  The population of Crandon doubles during their final TORC race of the year, and the largest crowds in a long time were on hand to see the races at Mid-Ohio and Road America.  

Cooper Tire's main focus when it comes to consumer engagement is data collection and garnering social media followers.  Recently, the @TeamCooperTire Twitter handle has seen a spike in followers thanks to our onsite engagement.  Creating banter with Team Cooper Tire's star drivers such as Matt Cook and Arie Luyendyk, Jr. have opened up the brand's Twitter page to a whole new stable of fans that the brand can interact with on a daily basis.  These conversations build loyalty and equity while producing a return on objective that makes these sponsorships worth the spend.  MAG facilitates these efforts and produces the content to bridge the gap between the Cooper brand and the consumers.

As exciting as this summer was, the summer of 2014 looks that much more exciting, as Cooper Tire recently announced that it will be the official tire of the Indy Lights series.  That makes Cooper Tire the official tire of all three rungs on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder, where the INDYCAR stars of tomorrow get their initiation.  In addition to Indy Lights, it was recently announced that TORC was purchased by Armory Marketing.  Armory has some exciting ideas for the fast-growing off-road series, and Cooper Tire and MAG are definitely looking forward to an enhanced activation next year.

Now that the summer is drawing to a close, MAG is gearing up for the Washington Capitals Convention on September 21st, as well as PBR World Finals at the end of October.  Couple that with the announcement that MAG is one of PROMO Mag's Top Shops for 2013, and you can see why we have been busy!  We'll keep you posted as the leaves turn and the cold weather approaches.  We'll see you down the road!

Marketing Activations Group, Life on the Road: PBR Part 2

A very important part of MAG’s overall business that continues to grow rapidly is the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) tour.  Over the last four years, MAG has grown its PBR business from managing a single partner, to now playing a role in up to six different partners’ activations on a week-to-week basis.  This not only includes concourse activation at each event, but has expanded into social media management, hospitality, sweepstakes, rider appearances, and much more. Our PBR partners -- which include Cooper Tires, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Caterpillar, Ariat, Wrangler, and Bad Boy Mowers -- are a diversified, yet key cluster of clients in the MAG portfolio.

Part two of the PBR season brought about some of the longest tenured and most popular stops on tour.  From Albuquerque, New Mexico, where The Pit sold out three straight nights; to Las Vegas, where the unique nature of the PBR’s Last Cowboy Standing event came to life; MAG continued to expand the social media footprint for Cooper Tires and Pabst Blue Ribbon throughlive content and weekly promotions.  MAG also played a big part in enhancing Caterpillar’s partnership with the PBR through data collection at each event.  

The second half of the PBR season kicks off in just a few short weeks in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Although the second half has fewer events, the impact and importance of each event becomes greater as the season continues.  The second half will see annual stops in Tulsa, Thackerville, and Springfield; and introduce some new markets such as Biloxi, Fayetteville, and Hollywood, Florida.  After the final nine regular season events, the pageantry and excitement leads to the season's pinnacle: the PBR Built Ford Tough Series World Finals in Las Vegas, where a newworld champion will be crowned. 

We look forward to a great second half.  Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @TeamCooperTire, @TeamPabst1844, and @FollowMAG for all of the action on the dirt and beyond!  We'll see you down the road! 

Marketing Activations Group, Life on the Road: Racing Season Part 1

When the weather gets warmer, it can only mean one thing… it's racing season!  To say the MAG staff is a little excited would be an understatement.  We've had such a great kickoff to our on-track activation, visiting two TORC races, NASCAR in Las Vegas, and the 12 Hours of Sebring.

It was great to be a part of the NASCAR weekend in Las Vegas this year, thanks to Boyd Gaming and Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  Cooper Tire is a proud sponsor of LVMS, and we were happy to host Boyd Gaming's huge prize wheel throughout the weekend.  The lines to spin the wheel were amazing.  Fans had the chance to win some great prizes, including VIP packages to next year's race. 

The USF2000 Series and Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Series both got under way on the hallowed grounds of Sebring International Raceway.  The annual kickoff at Sebring is one event we definitely enjoy (who doesn't love Florida in March?).  Our brand ambassadors utilized new consumer engagement tools that resulted in instant-win prizes via Android tablets, making the Cooper Tire Stage a popular spot once again.  MAG was also on hand for the announcement of the merger between American Le Mans and the Grand-Am series, which should be some great racing next year!

The TORC combine in Primm, Nevada drew a great turnout of racers.  We were excited to see the debut of Matt Cook's new Pro 2 truck.  Little did we know that it would be Doug Mittag who stole the show when we arrived in Dodge City!  The youngster captured a win in the Pro Light division on Friday and a top-three finish on Saturday.  Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with Doug as well as Nick Baumgartner on our Facebook page, Twitter page (@FollowMAG), or even Team Cooper Tire's Twitter (@TeamCooperTire).

Next up on the schedule?  The middle of May will see the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites get back on the track at Mazda Raceway in Laguna Seca.  That same weekend, the TORC Series invades Eldora Speedway in Western Ohio.

We'll see you down the road!

Marketing Activations Group, Life on the Road: SportsFest

Our second year at the 97.1 The Ticket SportsFest was even better than last year.  Building off the momentum of a very successful TigerFest for Detroit's favorite baseball club, MAG was able to deliver another satisfying event for both the Tigers and Red Wings.  Aesthetically, you could tell which pro teams' displays were created and designed by MAG.  Professional, vibrant signage was displayed above and on the floor.  Entertainment for all ages was available for each team.

Many of the same interactives seen at TigerFest were once again available to the fans at SportsFest, with the addition of live trivia on the stage.  Fan favorites such as Tigers Plinko, the PAWS Lil Dingers Challenge, and the video arcade were back by popular demand.  Meanwhile, the Red Wings rocked the Suburban Collection Showplace from beginning to end thanks to the energy and engagement of MC Leighton and DJ Matty Sexton on MAG's multi-purpose truss stage.  There were so many great prizes given away by the Red Wings, leaving many smiles on the fans after a fun day!

It's evident that Detroit sports fans are some of the best fans in the nation, and they deserve the credit!  The Red Wings and Tigers recognize their passion, and they showed their appreciation by putting on another great event in Novi.  MAG was happy to help along the way.

SportsFest is in the books, and the first half of the PBR season is winding down; but the Cooper Tire race season is heating up, and Bracket Town (the Official Fan Fest of the NCAA Men's Final Four) is right around the corner.  Look for more updates soon.  Until then, we'll see you on the road!

Marketing Activations Group, Life on the Road: PBR Part 1

Not everyday do you walk into a building to see thousands of diehard fans rooting on their favorite athletes.  We get the opportunity every weekend to see this unique sport of professional bull riding.  Not only are the fans loyal to their favorite bull riders and bulls, but the brands that partner with the sport, as well.  We are fortunate enough to represent several of the top partners of the PBR, including Cooper Tire, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Wrangler, Ariat, Caterpillar, and Bad Boy Mowers.

The first half of the PBR season is a little over half way through, and it’s been a great year so far for both MAG and its partners.  From the first weekend in January at a sold out Madison Square Garden, to this past weekend at an electric Dallas Cowboys Stadium, MAG has facilitated the day-to-day activation for each of its PBR partners.  With past markets such as St. Louis and Winston Salem reemerging and markets such as Sacramento and Oklahoma City holding strong, the PBR has blanketed the country with outstanding events.  They have set five attendance records this year alone, and the organization is looking stronger than ever!

New initiatives such as activations for one of the PBR’s newest partners, Caterpillar; to holding the Pabst Blue Ribbon Party Barn at each event; as well as social media efforts for both Cooper Tire (@TeamCooperTire) and Pabst Blue Ribbon (@TeamPabst1844); have made for exciting new projects for MAG.  Nine events down in the first half, eight to go as we end up in Las Vegas May 10^th and 11^th before a three-month summer break.  Stay tuned for more PBR action to come soon!

Marketing Activations Group, Life On The Road: TigerFest

Comerica Park.  Home of the 2012 American League Champion Detroit Tigers.  That was our setting for TigerFest, where thousands of rabid Tigers fans came out to meet the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Prince Fielder, and Justin Verlander.  Talk about star power!

You would think that Detroit in January would be warm, right? Kidding, of course.  But the amount of fans that arrived all bundled up was amazing.  There was plenty of heat on the concourse of the stadium to keep everyone from facing the extreme elements outside the stadium.  The MAG team was able to keep warm for setup and teardown by staying busy.  The two-day setup turned out to be a thing of beauty. 

                                                
TigerFest gave fans a view of features not usually open to the public.  The clubhouse and the dugout were just two features that are extremely exclusive.  Autograph lines seemed to stretch for miles.  We were very happy to have the likes of Miguel Cabrera, Max Scherzer, Doug Fister, and Alex Avila on our stage for kids activities.  As a baseball fan, meeting Miguel Cabrera (the first Triple Crown winner in over 40 years) made me feel like a kid, too!  That's what makes these events so rewarding. 

Especially for the youngsters, it was great to have an event where fans could be outside and active, ready for the season.  Any chance you can get to play whiffle ball in the dead of winter has to be a great day!

TigerFest was a blast, and we were happy to face the elements and deliver a great event for great fans.  To be a part of another great event just a few weeks later - 97.1 The Ticket SportsFest - has us believing that Detroit is tough to beat when it comes to great sports cities. 

Until next time… we'll see you on the road!