• by Karl Greenberg , March 13, 2015

Starting on Monday, Buick will be hitting the trick shots in its fifth year as auto partner of NCAA and March Madness. The GM division's program this year, however, centers on an unusual bracket challenge that pits 16 trick shot experts against each other in a sweet-16 format shootout, with consumer voting determining winners. 

Starting March 16 on Buick.com and running all the way through the Final Four championship, the program features trick shooters, including four-year-old viral sensation “Trick Shot Titus”, who have developed a knack — and a following — for hitting impossible swishes, rather like the “Dude Perfect” guys, who have worked with Buick sibling GMC as well as GM competitors.

Buick will also advertise and enjoy broadcast integration and brand presence on NCAA digital properties. Molly Peck, director of marketing and advertising at Buick, tells Marketing Daily that Buick has benefitted from the ongoing NCAA and March Madness relationship because college sports fans are educated, affluent alumni. “It offers up a highly engaged person, wide demographics, and a three week period that gives us time to tell our message and activate in different media: digital, broadcast, and on site,” she says. “And it gives us a lot of really quick TRP [target rating points] because people don't DVR the games, and they watch the ads. We get high engagement levels.”

Buick will drive traffic to the viral trick-shot videos via paid online advertising, and will have brand activation on NCAA.com, says Peck, adding that because of the videos, a lot of the social drivers will take care of themselves. “Many of the [trick shooters] have a large following of their own, and the tournament itself is a highly social time, whether people are watching live coverage, checking stats or looking for upcoming games. And so much tournament content is consumed online.”

Among Buick's activities on NCAA.com is the “Boss Button Brought to you by Buick” feature it launched last year. It plays on the idea that people will probably be looking at NCAA content while at work. The idea, says Peck, is that if your boss walks up, you hit the button and a dummy PowerPoint page comes up. Or an academic-looking chart comes up if you're at school. What's on the charts and tables is Buick vehicle info. “We are building the brand as well as giving people reasons to consider our products.” Buick is also sponsoring the post-game show, including a Buick-themed “Expectation Shattering Performance of the Game.” 

Last year, Buick debuted its umbrella “That's not a Buick” campaign during March Madness. Pecks says that this year Buick will extend the campaign with a focus on technology. One of the ads that will run during game broadcasts, and which just launched, focuses on in-vehicle WiFi offered through GM's telematics platform OnStar. 

Buick has enjoyed continuous sales increases, particularly for Encore and Enclave SUVs. The automaker in 2014 had its second consecutive year of record sales worldwide. Peck says the brand is conquesting “at an enormous rate. [Customers] are coming from everywhere, from other brands and people moving up to luxury.”