• by Tanya Gazdik , February 10, 2010

Tennis star Venus Williams is endorsing Tide's newest laundry product, which includes Febreze and is designed to clean sports apparel.

While recent advances in clothing technology have yielded lighter workout wear, the downside is that those fabrics trap dirt and odors, according to Procter & Gamble's Tide. The new product, Tide plus Febreze Freshness Sport, is geared toward those issues, but can also be used on non-sportswear.

Williams will be used in TV, print, in-store and online advertising, including the product's Web site. Cincinnati-based Tide is promoting the new product with an online contest where consumers can design a tennis outfit for tournament play. The winning look will inspire an outfit that Williams will wear at a major tennis tournament in 2010. The contest ends May 7.

"This product was developed to help address the torture test cleaning and freshness challenges that some of the new technology fabrics for activewear present," said Suzanne Watson, associate marketing director, North America Tide, in a statement. "Because this product can help solve tough cleaning and freshness issues, it also works well on all loads of laundry.

Tide took advantage of the biggest sporting event of the year with an on-site promotion connected to the Super Bowl last week in Miami. Conducted by Manchester, N.H.-based Gigunda Group, it included a pop-up studio where visitors could make custom T-shirts for free. The event kicked off Tide's new campaign: "You make it work. We'll keep it clean."

From Feb. 4-6, Gigunda's street team took over a stretch of beachfront real estate along Ocean Drive in Miami Beach with the interactive Tide Mile of Clean Style/Stain Brain Experience. The event included fund-raising to benefit Haitian earthquake victims.

Also featured was a giant 16-feet-tall clothesline, pinned with 300 articles of clothing that spanned three blocks, all to be donated to Miami families in need when the program is complete. Visitors could pick up samples of Tide products along the way and complimentary bottles of water and receive information about the entire Tide product line.

The Tide Studio also featured an interactive kiosk and live demonstrations to spotlight the Tide Stain Brain application, along with a computer station equipped for free downloads of the Tide iPhone Stain Brain App. Visitors could test knowledge of stain solutions against those available through the iPhone application.