ESPN

ESPN has had a personal touch with advertising in the last few years. They use sport center hosts in commercials and reach the audience in a more personal way by being featured in both the show and commercials. In most commercials the hosts are featured with sport stars and college mascots which build an even higher connection with fans. By using sport hosts who are already familiar with ESPN fans and combining them with fans or mascots makes watching commercials enjoyable which I can't say the same for most other networks. One example is for the NHL where the Penguins and Devils feature their mascots. The Penguins mascot comes in and turns the heat to minimum, then the Devils mascot comes in and turns it to full blast. The commercial is funny and may draw new viewers in because of its friendly attitude and nature. Link -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIhFoVy1v70&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Twitter Treasure Hunt

For the last three years Tony Hawk has been using Twitter to set up treasure hunts for his products. He saw the value in Twitter and how the information traveled so quickly and decided he could use it as a form of promotion and way to connect to his fans. His first time he hid a skateboard in a bush and tweeted the location, by the time he was back at his office a fan had tweeted back with a picture of himself and the board. He has now expanded the hunt globally and does it once a year. This is a great form of promoting himself and his company and this kind of technique using Twitter can inspire other companies to try similar techniques. http://www.entrepreneur.com/video/223326