The WWE uses a heavyweight campaign to tighten its stranglehold on sports entertainment

Throughout its history, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) has never been accused of subtlety. The incubator for superstars with nicknames like “The Body” and “the Rock,” WWE has evolved into an entertainment empire built on action-packed drama and some of the most intense multimedia marketing in American pop culture (see sidebar). But the conglomerate exceeded even its own reputation for the unexpected with a 2008 mail campaign that spotlighted a curious new promotions star — commonly known as “the fridge.” To trumpet the premiere of WWE’s new high-definition TV programming initiative, the Connecticut-based entertainment organization began courting programmers and marketers at large cable and satellite providers by mailing out actual branded mini refrigerators filled with ice packs. And in launching perhaps the heaviest direct-mail campaign in entertainment history, the industry-leading WWE also reminded observers that integrated direct marketing is often as crucial to maintaining brand dominance as it is to attaining it in the first place. The effort began taking shape in late 2007, when Lisa Richards, WWE vice president of affiliate marketing, and her team began thinking of ways to underscore their claim that the HD technology enhanced the WWE fan experience. “We came up with the pun ‘So Real It Hurts’,” Richards recalls. “Basically, we wanted to communicate that our programming would enhance the overall viewing experience, that HD offers fans the actual experience of being in the ring.” When the marketers learned that the company had 50 mini refrigerators idling in a warehouse, the idea shifted into high gear. Rallying around the freshly minted “So Real It Hurts” slogan, Richards and team collaborated with WWE’s creative department, branding the iceboxes with logos emblazoned with a red and white cross. To drive home the point about the HD viewing experience, the jet-black refrigerators were each crammed with 75 8-by-6-inch ice packs, all the better for recipients to nurse their virtual “wounds” after viewing hours of exciting WWE HD programming. The outlandish effort was topped off by a promotional letter that comically stated the intent of the campaign: “These are dangerous times for the millions of WWE Fans. As we make final preparations for our High Definition transition… it has come to our attention the superior resolution, better picture quality, digital surround sound and smoother motion of WWE in HD creates an enhanced viewing experience so intense and so real it hurts.” WWE also devised a complementary phase of the “So Real It Hurts” campaign that sent branded media kits featuring only the ice packs and promo letter. The 9-1/2 by 7-1/2–inch boxed kits were mailed to 100 additional VIPs on WWE’s distribution list. Shipped to their respective targets in January 2008, the iceboxes — 36 inches high, 20 inches wide and 23 inches deep — drew a powerful and almost immediate response. “Oh my God — everyone called,” Richards says. “You’re sitting there in the office — and you get a refrigerator delivered.” The campaign eventually earned the WWE marketing team the prestigious Gold Mark Award from the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing, along with an excellence in marketing award from a top publication in the cable industry. Pages: 1 2 3

Case Studies, Dimensional Mail, Integrated Marketing, Large Business