Infiniti Steps Up College Basketball Sponsorship with ESPN and CBS

Apparently, Infiniti loves basketball more than any other sport in this world. After it announced its official sponsorship of Big Ten and SEC college basketball for the 2008-2009 season in October last year, Infiniti passes to the next level.

Apart from the conference sponsorships, Infiniti is going to collaborate with ESPN, one of the biggest multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company and CBS to further enhance and reinforce its support of college basketball.

This means that the luxury automaker will develop a customized, multimedia campaign that includes telecast, digital, event and sweepstakes components. In addition, the campaign will also contain promotional and online opportunities, special event and on-site marketing, tickets and hospitality and use of SEC and Big Ten marks and logos.

"We have worked very closely with Infiniti to come up with the ideal mix of media," confessed Ed Erhardt, president, ESPN Customer Marketing and Sales. "Their sponsorship of Big Ten and SEC college basketball melds very well with our schedule and we feel this multi-platform campaign will resonate with fans throughout the season."

More importantly, the Infiniti's  extension into the NCAA (National Collegiate Athleltic Association) tournament is also linked to the partnership between the luxury car maker and CBS as the famous TV channel broadcasts exclusive coverage of the NCAA tournament, when viewership is at its highest. Thus, CBS will help the car maker to run ads  in the NCAA Tournament in Infiniti's Top 15 markets and in Indianapolis, the Big Ten Tournament location.

"We are excited about our presence in College Basketball," said Ben Poore, vice president of Infiniti Business Unit. "College Basketball fans are passionate about their teams, just like our Infiniti owners are about their vehicles. It's a great fit and really allows us to reach out and speak directly to our target demographic consisting of passionate, well educated and affluent consumers."

Last but certainly not the least, Infiniti will also air its NCAA Vignette Series, "My Defining Moments," hosted by Verne Lundquist, showing former college basketball players who tell the story of their college athletic experiences and how that has translated into success in their professional careers.