"Ideas that Work" is a periodic feature developed for The NCAA News by the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators. Individuals interested in contributing information may telephone Trip Durham of Elon University at 336/278-6708.

SCream Team

University of Southern California

Michael Alford, director of corporate sales and marketing

* Sport: All.

* Target: Students.

* Promotion: Evolving from last year's "6th Man Club," the "SCream Team" was created to reward students for frequent attendance at all home athletics events. Using electronic magnetic-strip readers at each event, students could swipe their student I.D. to be credited with points for each game they attended. Double points were awarded for games against Southern California's rivals. Students registered and tracked their points on usctrojans.com. Prizes ranging from movie passes to a home entertainment system were awarded based on students' level of attendance. All sports with venues that could support the magnetic-strip readers were included.

* Goal: The goal was to increase awareness and support for Olympic sports and basketball. Students who attended only football games had no hope of winning while those who supported basketball, volleyball and baseball had an advantage. The registration process also gave the athletics department the ability to track and target promotions at the best student fans.

* Results: More than 1,000 students participated in the program (about 13 percent of the 8,000 who purchased the student all-sport activity card). Staffing the scanners at each event was a challenge, but it was managed relatively well. Recruiting sponsors for the program was difficult because it was new and organizers didn't know how it would be received.

* Future: The program will be targeted heavily at freshmen next year in order to make the card scanning become more of a habit. Card swiping at the SCream Team booth and Internet page views allow the athletics department to quantify the number of impressions it can offer to a title sponsor. Once the program reaches 5,000 students, organizers hope to expand the program to the entire fan base.

$25,000 Papa John's Scholarship

Samford University

Alan Verlander, associate athletics director for external operations

* Description: This year, Papa John's was approached to become Samford's premier pizza partner. In conjunction with the advertising package, Samford wanted to offer a season-long promotion to reinforce brand awareness. In creating the Papa John's $25,000 Scholarship, organizers came up with a way to promote the product on campus while getting students to participate.

Numerous drop boxes equipped with pads of entry forms were positioned in high-traffic areas on campus. Students entered the contest by filling out an entry form. Before every men's and women's basketball game, the entries were collected and one contestant was drawn to participate in a shooting contest. If the contestant scored six points in a designated amount of time, he or she qualified for a chance to win a $25,000 scholarship at the end of the season.

During halftime of the final men's and women's basketball games, organizers brought all of the qualifying contestants to the center of the court. Each contestant then randomly picked up a money bag that was on the court. Each bag had coupons for free Papa John's pizza, but one bag had a special coupon for a shot at the $25,000 scholarship. The student with the special coupon had to make a lay-up, free throw, three-point shot and half-court shot in 24 seconds. The final contestants did very well in their effort but fell short of making all the baskets.

Ultimately, the promotion created great enthusiasm for students and got them actively involved with the sponsor. At the end of the season, organizers gave the sponsor all the entry forms so it could market directly to Samford students. The promotion allowed the students to connect with the sponsor by active participation fulfilling sponsor needs and adding excitement to Samford basketball games.