Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.?s Infiniti is using mobile to activate its corporate partnership with the NCAA, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and Turner Sports, NCAA Men?s Basketball and the 2011 NCAA Division I Men?s Basketball Championship.

The automaker is sponsoring the ?Round by Round Coaches vs. Cancer? bracket game and CBSSports.com?s ?Bracket Challenge.? Fan participation will drive Infiniti?s donation of up to $500,000 to Coaches vs. Cancer, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches that empowers coaches, their teams and communities to join the fight against cancer.

?Infiniti targets affluent adults 25-54,? said Meghan Murphy, manager of marketing, media and event planning at Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., Franklin, TN. ?The NCAA Tournament viewership has a high index for affluent consumers, and the Infiniti target audience tends to be early-adopters of technology.

?Since the biggest media property in March is the NCAA Men?s College Basketball Tournament, this timing fits nicely with the launch of the all new Infiniti M Hybrid,? she said.

?There are two main objectives of the Infiniti/NCAA partnership: driving awareness and engagement.?

Infiniti offers a full line of luxury performance automobiles, including the G Coupe, Sedan and Convertible, M sedan, EX and FX crossovers, and the QX full-size SUV. 

Infiniti targets basketball fans
Infiniti mobile campaigns have targeted smartphone users for the past couple of years.

The brand extended advertising campaigns to the iPad as soon as there were opportunities available. 

The automaker is taking a multichannel approach to promoting its new 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid, which goes on sale March 16 at Infiniti retailers nationwide. The price point starts at $57,300.

The Infiniti M Hybrid is a V6 luxury hybrid offering more than 350 horsepower and 32 mpg fuel economy.

?The size/scale of the audience with the NCAA Men?s College March Madness Tournament is ideal for creating awareness for our all new Infiniti M Hybrid,? Ms. Murphy said. ?But, at the same time, the scope of the tournament is all about engaged consumers.

?Mobile is one of the most important tools for consumers to get up-to-the-minute scores, information and to check their brackets,? she said. ?Mobile is always in the media mix when launching an Infiniti.

?The NCAA mobile properties are once again part of the plan for the NCAA Tournament this year.?

Mobile madness
Turner Sports, CBS Sports and the NCAA have launched an enhanced NCAA March Madness on Demand live products for the upcoming 2011 NCAA Division I Men?s Basketball Championship.

NCAA MMOD, produced by Turner Sports Interactive, is available across multiple digital platforms, including online at http://mmod.ncaa.com, as an iPhone and iPod Touch application, and for the first time, as an iPad app.

Among the new features, NCAA MMOD will offer improved live viewing with richer quality and larger format streams, a personalizable channel lineup feature and live stats and social companion views.

NCAA March Madness on Demand will provide live streaming video of every game of the new 68-team tournament as they are broadcast by CBS Sports and Turner Sports, starting with the First Four from Dayton, OH, on March 15, and continuing through the Men's Final Four semifinals on April 2 and the national championship game from Houston, TX, on April 4.

The mobile plan for the Infiniti M Hybrid is expected to have roughly 79 million impressions against the intended target audience.

In addition to running ads with CBS and Turner, Infiniti is also partnering with Disney?s ESPN and Time Inc.?s Sports Illustrated.

Infiniti will have 100 percent ownership of the bracket section within the ESPN Bracket Bound application for the iPhone and Android.

There will also be run-of-site and run-of-app placements on ESPN.com and ESPN ScoreCenter XL on the iPad.

There will be 100 percent ownership of the CBSSports app on the iPhone and 50 percent ownership of the Sports Illustrated iPhone application.

?All mobile creative will feature the all-new M Hybrid and will drive to the vehicle landing page for M Hybrid on Infinitiusa.com,? Ms. Murphy said.

Final Take