Williams Randall "Dances" on National Stage with NCAA

03.14.2010

Indianapolis, Ind. - The excitement won't be confined to the basketball court this March for everyone watching the games. Making its debut during the NCAA basketball tournament running March 16 through April 5 will be a new television commercial created for the NCAA by Indianapolis advertising agency, Williams Randall Marketing. The commercial will continue airing during all NCAA championship broadcasts.  

"We've been thrilled to work with several national sports organizations in recent years, and the NCAA assignment provided a great opportunity for our agency. There's a lot of excitement building as Indianapolis prepares to host the Final Four, and this new spot elevates that excitement even more for us." says agency CEO, Gerry Randall.

The advertising agency, having spent recent years producing award-winning work for the Izod IndyCar Series, continues its metamorphosis from regional Midwestern agency to national player. Just last month the agency's email initiative for Indiana Tourism received national recognition for its effectiveness and was presented as a case study in Miami.

The new NCAA commercial features balls from various NCAA sports being inflated as a metaphor for how consumers can help "breathe life into more than 400,000 student-athletes dreams." And that familiar voice delivering the message? That's right, Tom Selleck, who played basketball for USC in his college days, is the voice-over.

The goal of the commercial is to thank the NCAA's corporate teammates, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Capital One, Enterprise, LG, Hershey's, Lowe's, Planters, State Farm and The Hartford.

"I was particularly impressed by both the agency's grasp of our marketing objectives and the creativity with which they interpreted them," said Peter Davis, NCAA Director of Corporate Alliances.

"We wanted the spot to break through the clutter and noise of a sporting event by actually being quieter than the rest of the broadcast," explains Dan Zumbiel, senior copywriter. "And we thought balls inflating on their own in an isolated, empty venue made for arresting imagery to tell our story," adds David Cordell, senior art director.

Technically speaking, there were several challenges the agency had to tackle. "Our special effects guy ate, drank and slept with these balls for the better part of a week in an effort to learn the best ways to both collapse and inflate them," says creative director, David Stanton. It was a fairly elaborate collaboration between the NCAA, the agency, the producer, the director and the editor."

Beginning March 14, you can see the commercial on CBS or at NCAA.com/dreams where you can also enter the sweepstakes that are mentioned in the commercial.

About Williams Randall Marketing

Williams Randall is a full-service market-communications agency focused on delivering creatively fresh, strategically sound, measurable marketing programs for its clients. With offices in Indianapolis and Terre Haute, Ind., Williams Randall works primarily with Midwest clients in a variety of industries: tourism, education, entertainment, consumer goods, health care and financial services. Find out more at williamsrandall.com.

CONTACT: Gerry Randall, 317-972-1234 ext 205 or 317-416-9101