Brands that nailed March Madness marketing

If your March Madness bracket made it to the end, I just don’t believe you. And don’t even pretend you knew St. Peter’s would get past round one. But I mean, how big of a Peacock fan are you now? Fun stat for you digital marketing nerds. After their big win, the St. Peter’s website was viewed more than 56 other team sites, with head coach Shaheen Holloway’s bio page receiving 458% more traffic than the next head coach, North Carolina’s Hubert Davis. The Peacock’s guard, Doug Edert, was the most-searched player during the tournament. His bio page saw a 1,645% increase in traffic. Pretty sure that big Jersey hair accounts for a lot of the percentage.

Of course, St. Peter’s wasn’t the only brand that relished in the March Madness spotlight. In just the early rounds of the men’s and women’s tournaments, companies received more than $165 million worth of “equivalent media value.” For some perspective, this is only a few million shy of what Super Bowl LVI generated. Obviously, NCAA official corporate partners and team apparel brands dominated the share of exposure. Nike, Spalding and State Farm were the obvious favorites.

But as expected, several names off the court took advantage of the extra eyeballs the tournament brought in.

Coors 🍺
The beer maker introduced “Chillollipops,” a new beer-flavored lollipop intended to help hyped-up sports fans calm down as they watched heated basketball matches. The non-alcoholic treats sold out online, but were passed out at select bars. We sent a few to Aaron and Jacey. They’re Baylor Bears.

Wendy’s and Twitch 🍔 + 🎮
The gaming platform revived two of its popular shows in celebration of March Madness, ‘Let’s Go! College Hoops’ and ’SuperFan FaceOff.’ The square patty expert Wendy’s featured a segment of ’SuperFan,’ where hosts called out their favorite daily menu items. Honestly, it’s not a Frosty everyday, then I don’t want to hear it.

Buffalo Wild Wings 🐔
Buffalo Wild Wings collaborated with the brand Overtime for the “Home of Overtime Collection,” a branded merchandise collection only available when March Madness games went into overtime. Not only could serious game watchers score a hoodie featuring orange Buffalo sauce, the promo directed customers to the restaurant. Free wings were offered during overtime. TBH, I feel like they should’ve led with the free wings part.

Dick’s 🏀
The sporting goods giant partnered with Just Women’s Sports to offer a $150,000 first place prize; the largest winning reward ever in a women’s college basketball challenge. With support for women’s sports on the rise, Dick’s bracket challenge feels right on time.