Awards
2009 Ex Award: State Farm "Call your Shot"
Executed by: The Marketing Arm, Millsport, Usmp
Program Awarded: State Farm "Call Your Shot"
The Marketing Arm, Millsport, and Usmp won a 2009 Ex Award for their work on the State Farm “Call Your Shot” promotion. The award came in the Single-Venue category.
Now in its seventh year, the Ex Awards recognize excellence in event and experiential marketing.
State Farm used its ownership of Major League Baseball’s popular Home Run Derby at the 2008 All-Star Game festivities as a platform to engage baseball fans with the brand through the “Call Your Shot” consumer promotion that connected fans with the passion for baseball. The consumer promotion culminated at historic Yankee Stadium, where State Farm “painted the town (State Farm) red” – owning not just the event, but the city itself. With the help of Usmp, the experiential brand of The Marketing Arm, State Farm coordinated a 24-hour “takeover” of Times Square on the day of the State Farm Home Run Derby that generated more than two million impressions and included advertising on the Nasdaq and Reuters signs.
In addition, Usmp built a mini Yankee Stadium on Military Island in Times Square where consumers could take their shot at hitting a home run. Hall of Famer Cal Ripken was on hand to coach Boys & Girls Club members live on Good Morning America and consumers entered to be whisked away to that night’s State Farm Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. Beyond Times Square, double-decker buses, taxi tops, and street teams made sure that State Farm’s brand message was carried throughout the streets of New York.