CASE STUDY: GOODYEAR | WORLD'S LONGEST SHOT

ISSUE:
In early March 2007, Goodyear capped its advertising and Blimp aerial coverage of the tournament games leading up to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Finals by securing aerial coverage for the telecasts of the Final Four games in Atlanta. Goodyear complemented the coverage with a modest ad buy but faced the late entry of a competitor with a major ad buy that was far beyond the scope of its own. Without being an official sponsor of the tournament and with cost and availability precluding a heavy ad schedule, Goodyear needed to generate media attention surrounding the Final Four. It turned to Coyne PR to help create/reinforce a consumer connection between Goodyear and NCAA March Madness.

IDEA:
With less than a month to go before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, Coyne PR developed a magnet event with strong national media appeal. The idea was simple: Goodyear would provide one lucky college basketball fan from each of the four participating schools with the chance to make the ultimate basketball shot. Each lucky student was given a chance at the Goodyear “Get There” World’s Longest Shot, shooting a basketball from the Goodyear Blimp toward an oversized Goodyear “Get There” branded hoop . . . from more than 500 feet in the air. Those making the shot would earn bragging rights for their school and tickets to attend any sporting event covered by the Goodyear Blimps.

IMPACT:
The Goodyear “Get There” World’s Longest Shot contest fully leveraged the Goodyear Blimp and maximized Goodyear’s NCAA Tournament involvement to generate tremendous exposure. Media coverage soared to new heights, scoring more than 1,800 media placements, including 22 hits on major national broadcasts and more than 600 local market segments on TV stations across the country. There were more than 930 radio segments; stories appeared in daily newspapers across the country, and nearly 300 Web sites covered the event. The PR event generated a tremendous ROI. It helped Goodyear beat the competition and achieve an astounding second place ranking in consumer brand recall in a post-Final Four consumer survey.