Byline: Marissa Miley
They are by now iconic, the bathing beauties splashed across the pages of Sports Illustrated, seemingly having the time of their lives, beckoning you to join them. Now, for the first time ever, you can. With the Feb. 10 publication of its 2009 Swimsuit Edition, the Sports Illustrated Group is kicking off a business initiative focused on 'experiential marketing,'' and the first event is 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 24/7 New York to Vegas.''
Sponsors for Swimsuit 24/7 include Southwest Airlines, Nissan North America, PepsiCo's SoBe line of drinks, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and MGM Mirage. As part of its partnership with SI, Southwest will fly 19 swimsuit models and VIP guests, including select corporate sponsors, clients and SI leaders, out to Las Vegas on Feb. 12. The airline will do so in one of its Boeing 737s, wrapped from nose to tail with large images of a swimsuit model-an attention-grabbing stunt that will continue for 60 days after its maiden voyage, with flights around the U.S.
(SI plans to reveal the cover, and the cover model, on CBS's 'Late Show With David Letterman'' with a surprise stunt this week.)
Swimsuit 24/7 will also feature promotional wrapped buses driving around Manhattan and a 1,200-person, invite-only party at the Vegas nightclub LAX with a to-be-named 'A-List'' talent. VIP guests and a few lucky consumer prize winners will be able to test-drive the new Nissan 370Z-all in the company of the swimsuit issue's lifeblood: the models themselves.
For the less fortunate, there will be 'behind-the-scenes'' videos posted on SI.com and YouTube, among other sites.
The shift toward experiential marketing is one of SI's top priorities as it becomes a multiplatform brand. In 2005, the swimsuit edition brought in 96% of its revenue through print-ad sales and 4% through digital. But this year, 60% of revenue will come from print, 30% from digital and 10% from experiential marketing.
'We feel that we've accomplished a big goal: We've diversified our media,'' said Sports Illustrated Group President Mark Ford.
He said he expected that experiential marketing may rise another 5% in 2011 but said, 'We're pretty close to where we're going to be.''
CAPTION(S):
SI: Going 'experimental'.
