Just one inning into the game. You can feel the tension as every sports bar in America has tuned in to the highly anticipated 2017 World Series, Game 1. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros begin to battle it out. An ad flashes across your screen: T-Mobile #HR4HR, Home Runs for Hurricane Recovery.
Say what? Wasn’t Houston where all the flooding was?
Photo Courtesy of The Independent
T-Mobile created the hashtag “#HR4HR” at the onset of postseason baseball to encourage donations for hurricane relief. With each postseason home run, the company offered to donate $10,000 to the hurricane recovery fund Team Rubicon, the disaster response organization utilizing the skills and experiences of military veterans. T-Mobile also offered to donate an extra $1 each time the hashtag was tweeted or retweeted.
The charitable acts only increased as the playoffs continued when T-Mobile President and CEO John Legere made it a double header with $20,000 per home run and $2 every time #HR4HR is tweeted during the World Series!
While some tweeters criticized the company’s interruption of the games and the use of natural disasters for promotion, most fans found the hashtag both philanthropically supportive and entertaining. The tweets poured in, not only flooding the website but also raising awareness and funds for fellow Americans in need.
Risky Business?
T-Mobile, the official partner of Major League Baseball with lots of customer tie-ins, took a risk by putting the financial results in the hands of twenty-first century social media users and a possible seven game series. But the decision to initiate “Home Runs for Hurricane Recovery” and promote rebuilding the nation was a strategic marketing move.
Baseball’s loyal viewership guaranteed millions of eyes on the screen when the #ad first ran. This exposed all viewers to T-Mobile as a potential cell phone carrier. Even more powerful, though, was the branding image that was now illuminated: T-Mobile was working with viewers and fans to support those in need, on cell phones!
The company loaded the bases to do a good deed and enhance their brand. Seems they knocked this one out of the park!