In keeping with a Turner Sports tradition of tapping musical acts to help promote its major sports properties, Kings of Leon will be used for the NCAA Tournament on the consortium that will be airing all 67 games in March and April. Their song, “The Immortals” will be used in videos and background music throughout the tournament. I’m not a major Kings of Leon fan and prefer a hard rock band, but I’m making the decision here. Here’s the promotional video that will be used to promote CBS/Turner Sports’ coverage of the Tournament.
And here’s the press release from CBS/Turner.
TURNER SPORTS AND CBS TEAM UP FOR MULTI-PLATFORM MARKETING CAMPAIGN FOR THE 2011 NCAA® DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
KINGS OF LEON TO HEADLINE MARKETING CAMPAIGN AND PERFORM DURING THE 2011 NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR® WEEKEND AT THE COCA-COLA ZERO™ COUNTDOWN-PART OF THE BIG DANCE CONCERT SERIES
CAMPAIGN TO EDUCATE VIEWERS AND PROMOTE THE NEW TOURNAMENT FORMAT AS GAMES AIR NATIONALLY ON CBS, TBS, TNT AND truTV
Turner Sports and CBS Sports announced today that they will roll out a unified multi-platform marketing campaign to promote the 2011 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The campaign will feature a full-length music video featuring the four-time GRAMMY® Award winning band Kings of Leon, who will perform the song “The Immortals,” off the RIAA Gold-certified Come Around Sundown. The video will debut nationally across 5,800 movie screens from March 4 – 17. The video, along with a comprehensive cross-platform campaign, is designed to promote awareness, educate and inform viewersabout the unprecedented access to all the games during NCAA March Madness®, which for the first time in the tournament’s 73-year history, will be available live in their entirety across four national television networks: CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. The campaign will conclude when Kings of Leon headlines the Countdown on Saturday, April 2, part of The Big Dance® Concert Series during the 2011 MEN’S FINAL FOUR weekend in Houston.
This robust marketing campaign, which combines the powers of two giant media companies, is part of the 14-year agreement between Turner Sports, CBS Sports and the NCAA to air the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. CBS Sports and Turner Sports’ extensive outreach includes online, spot cable, digital billboards, digital elevator ads, spot radio and print. In addition, promotion will also appear on select Turner-owned networks, which include TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, HLN and CNN Airport and select CBS’s shared resources, which includes the CBS Television Network, CBS Radio, CBS Outdoor and CBS Interactive. Throughout March, CBS and Turner also will use their stars in special messages to promote the Tournament. In addition, an aggressive local market plan will be used for the over 200 CBS affiliates across the country.
“We are proud to be working with Kings of Leon throughout the tournament and using their powerful song “The Immortals” as a theme of our marketing campaign and coverage,” said Christina Miller, senior vice president of Turner Sports strategy, marketing and programming. “Our extensive multi-platform campaign will help communicate to fans the exciting new changes to the tournament’s coverage, particularly that every single game will be broadcast live nationally for the first time ever, allowing fans to choose which games they want to watch.”
“CBS is thrilled to be traveling down the Road to the Final Four with Kings of Leon and Turner, “said George Schweitzer, President, CBS Marketing Group. “This unprecedented multi-layered marketing campaign maximizes CBS’s powerful media platforms through television, radio, outdoor and online, combined with Turner’s many great platforms, to yield the greatest reach with unprecedented impact.”
To complement the overall marketing campaign, Kings of Leon also will headline the Coca-Cola Zero Countdown at the three-day free music festival. The Kings of Leon concert will take place at Discovery Green in downtown Houston. Other artists to perform during the Coca-Cola Zero Countdown and during the other two days of the Big Dance Concert Series will be announced at a later date. For the latest on The Big Dance Concert Series and all of NCAA Men’s Final Four events and activities, go to NCAA.com/FinalFour.
“We couldn’t be more excited to be working with Turner Sports and CBS on this massive campaign,” said Kings of Leon manager Ken Levitan. “Everyone in the band is a huge college hoops fan so we’re really looking forward to being a part of this.”
The 2011 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship tips off in primetime with the NCAA FIRST FOUR™ on truTV Tuesday, March 15 and Wednesday, March 16 and concludes with the FINAL FOUR® semifinals and national championship game on CBS Saturday, April 2 and Monday, April 4, respectively.
“This campaign is an important part of our outreach strategy to assure March Madness fans take full advantage of the expanded coverage of the NCAA Championship coming next month on CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV. Fans will be able to watch their favorite teams and all of the action from start to finish,” said Greg Shaheen, NCAA interim executive vice president of championships and alliances. “Kings of Leon is one of today’s most popular acts and their involvement is a further boost to the entire campaign with the enthusiasm continuing through the Big Dance in Houston.”
2011 will be the most exciting year yet for NCAA March Madness fans with more access to impressive performances both on the court and at the Coke Zero Countdown,” said Sharon Byers, vice president, sports and entertainment, Coca-Cola North America. “We are excited to partner with Turner Sports and CBS Sports this year to give fans an unprecedented March Madness experience.”
That’s it.
