• by Karl Greenberg , September 10, 2012

Marketing Daily was at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas last weekend before the Michigan versus Alabama game to check out Nissan's new Sentra compact car, and to check out the automaker's NCAA football grassroots program, Heisman House, tied to its sponsorship of the Heisman Trophy. 

The program, a partnership with ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the Heisman Trophy Trust, saw its first expression during last year's NCAA season. This year, in addition to giving a spotlight to Nissan's 2013 Sentra, it also promotes both the Heisman and its charity efforts. The venue, which will travel to other NCAA games, is packed with different interactive areas for fans to do things like get their pictures taken with an actual Heisman trophy, and listen to former Heisman winners and NCAA stars talk about the upcoming game. The grassroots effort is supported by TV ads as well. 

And if the automaker was hoping to get around 15,000 people through the doors of the frat-house-themed venue, it probably succeeded last weekend, regardless of the brutal heat of a late summer day in Dallas. It might have been 100 degrees in the shade on Sept. 1, and there isn't much of that to be had on the blazing parking lot outside Cowboys Stadium. But Michigan and Alabama fans being what they are, they packed the lot and the (mercifully air-conditioned) stadium.  

At the link, reporter Karl Greenberg battles the heat to talk trophy with Jon Brancheau, VP marketing at Nashville-based Nissan North America. Grab a cold Shiner beer, drape a wet towel over your head and enjoy.