"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.

Shriners Hospitals for Children
Night at Furman Hoops
Furman University

Contact: Furman athletics marketing staff

At a home basketball game, Furman invited the Shriners Hospitals for a group night. This included employees, patients, the hospitals' board of trustees and area Shriners. A plaque was presented to Shriners officers before the game. In addition, there was a "hokey pokey" dance for the young hospital patients with Shriners clowns, Furman cheerleaders, Furman dancers and mascots. Employees were admitted by presenting their hospital identification badge. Family members paid $1 each for admission. There also was free pizza and soft drinks served at the game for all children associated with the Shriners. The promotion resulted in the largest crowd ever for a men's/women's doubleheader at Furman.

Little Cat Slam Jam
Kansas State University
Contact: Kansas State athletics
marketing staff

Before the game, a board member from the student support group randomly selects five participants for the halftime contest.

Organizers are looking for kids between 5 and 10 years old.

Just before halftime, a parent brings the kid to the court level to meet with a promotion representative.

The kids get to practice before going on the floor for real.

For this promotion, a Lil' Tykes basketball and goal is used. The height is set according to the size of the kids.

The kids' names are announced, and they step on to the court and then dunk the ball.

During the promotion, the theme song from the "Space Jam" soundtrack is played.

At the end of the contest, the audience determines the winner by the amount of applause for each contestant. If it is close, the cheerleaders pick the winner.

The winning contestant receives two gift certificates to various local businesses.

Each contestant receives a "prize" (little-face tattoos or plastic key chains, for example) for participating.

This is an excellent promotion for a local toy store to sponsor or for other companies that have children as customers.

Used Car Night
Samford University

Contact: Samford athletics marketing staff

Samford gave away a used car to a lucky fan during halftime of a men's basketball game. Fans entering the gym were given an entry form to register for the drawing. No purchase was necessary, and there was a guaranteed winner.

The promotion began with a sales call to the university credit union. As part of its advertising package, it would be the title sponsor of "Used Car Night." Its responsibility was to secure a car from a local dealer, who also would have a sponsorship tie-in to the event. Once a car was secured, organizers took delivery of it and displayed it in front of the gym. Both the credit union and the car dealer had signage on the car. Official rules were posted, too.

The designated game was expected to draw well because of the academic schedule and the opponent. The result was an attendance record for a single event in the Samford gymnasium. The sponsors were pleased, and Samford since has planned several more major promotions with them. The car dealership also became a sponsor as a result of the promotion.

As a follow-up, Samford provided entry slips to both the credit union and the car dealer so they could market directly to fans who entered the contest.

Part of the success owed to the promotion's broad appeal. Fans from the student body, faculty, staff, alumni and general public all had a chance to win. Samford also garnered positive media coverage and a sense that "something out of the ordinary" was going on.

Olympic Sports Promotion
University of Oklahoma
Contact: Oklahoma athletics marketing staff

Target audience: Sororities/fraternities and other campus organizations.

Sport: Any Olympic sport.

On the week of football homecoming, the athletics department worked with the campus activities council to coincide homecoming events with athletics events. CAC's "skit night" was the same night as a volleyball game. To receive points, the organizations had to attend the volleyball game. Roll for various groups was called between matches. If a group didn't attend, no points were awarded to that group, and it wouldn't be permitted to perform that night.

The attendance for that night was 1,800, compared to the average of 386.