Jul 02, 2009 at 06:55 PM
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SF Giants & AT&T Launch the AT&T Park Experience

A lot of brands talk about revolutionary mobile (wireless) activation plans, but if there's one sponsor that should be able to blow it out it's AT&T in San Francisco. Today, AT&T announced the next phase of their mobile in-stadium activation plans for the San Francisco Giants/AT&T Park sponsorship, which the company acquired via SBC in 2005.

"With the rising popularity of smartphones and other handheld devices offering Wi-Fi access, fans are craving more ways to connect with the game they love, and sports venues have an opportunity to engage fans even more deeply," said Angie Wiskocil, senior vice president for AT&T Wi-Fi Services. "We're excited to work with AT&T Park and other venues to enable that connection between our favorite teams and today's on-the-go lifestyle."

The "AT&T Park Experience" will provide fans with some serious mobile candy including the following:

Giants Chatter

  • Fans texting the word "GIANTS" to 56418 will opt-in to Giants Chatter, receiving six to eight insider alerts during each game -- including player updates, injury reports, and insights from coaches, players and broadcasters.
  • Content alerts, such as video recaps and images of same-day plays will be available to AT&T customers through the shortcode.
  • Special offers -- including free tickets, discounts on Giants memorabilia and more -- texted to participants at the stadium.

    • Text to Screen

  • Prior to each home game, spectators in the stadium will be invited to text personal messages to be displayed on screens in-stadium by texting the word "CHEER" to 56418 to start each submission.

    • Keyword Sweepstakes

  • The AT&T Video Vault will feature a series of videos of notable Giants moments on the Diamond Vision videoboard, along with invitations for fans in the stands to vote via text for their favorite plays for a chance to enter various sweepstakes.
  • Throughout the season, two fans from each game will be randomly selected to receive tickets to an upcoming Giants game by texting G1, G2, or G3 to 56418. The winning play will be broadcast on the videoboard following the voting period and winners will be notified via text message. Users can redeem their prize at the ballpark's AT&T Fan Zone -- the headquarters of the AT&T Park Experience.

    • Last year, AT&T might have been delivering added experiential value simply by distracting fans from the 72-90 on-field experience, but not this year! The Giants have a winning record and AT&T's plan appears to bring a nice mix of hardcore content (i.e. in-game insider alerts), entertainment (text->jumbotron) and offers (merchandise discounts, etc). These latest plans build upon AT&T's 'Giants Digital Dugout' which has leveraged WiFi to add instant content to the in-game experience since 2004. Today, the application allows fans to watch the game's most exciting plays from multiple angles virtually instantly, track things like pitch count and pitch speed and even locate the nearest concession stand.

    AT&T's activation is being supported by Omnicom's The Marketing Arm.

    The home of the smart phone is the perfect place for some progressive mobile promotions, but would this activation fly in other less tech-savvy markets? What can other teams take away from AT&T's wireless activation?