Alltel's Latest Mouthpiece: NFL Legend Sanders

Alltels ad with Barry SandersAlltel Wireless is giving football fans the chance to hang out with NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders at a tailgate party this fall. The marketing campaign aims to heighten awareness for the carrier's Circle of Friends service by flying the group via private jet to any college or pro football game. 

Fans can enter the "My Circle Gridiron Getaway" promotion by texting the word JET to 57533 or by logging onto www.alltelfootball.com. Alltel will choose five grand-prize winners among the entries to jet-set with 10 friends to the regular-season game of their choice for the ultimate VIP experience, including a pre-game tailgate, spending money and a MOTO Q 9c.

Alltel plans to use existing television spots to promote the sweepstakes scheduled to run on sports-related media channels. Beginning this week, consumers will see online and print ads marketing the campaign.

Sanders will market the sweepstakes in a planned media tour. Alltel will use his voice in select radio ads, and he also appears in a print ad as part of the overall strategy. Consumers will begin seeing the general newspaper ad for the campaign Sept. 12.

The print ad featuring Sanders for the Alltel Gridiron Getaway specially targets the African-American market. It's scheduled to run in 24 newspapers, mainly in the Southeast.

Almost likening the Alltel promotion to football, former Detroit Lion running back Sanders says it's all about the team spirit and competition. "I like the challenge of trying to run through the defenders" of the opposing team, he tells Marketing Daily.

About the sport itself, Sanders says many kids play neighborhood football growing up because they learn the strategy of working together and it's a great team game. "Those lucky enough to play on a college or pro-team understand the team spirit behind it," he says "There's something about mixing strategy with skill, ability, heart, drive, desire and will that makes it special and unique."

Sanders retired from pro football in 1999 after a 10-year career. He was elected to the all-pro team in every year, while also earning the 1997 Most Valuable Player Award for becoming the third player in NFL history to rush for over 2,000 yards.

Next story loading loading..