Taking grassroots marketing to another level, DreamWorks SKG has tapped the largest youth soccer organization in the country to promote its upcoming film, “She’s the Man” starring teen star Amanda Bynes.
For AYSO, the non-profit American Youth Soccer Organization, entering into its first cross-promotional agreement with a Hollywood studio was a big step. The L.A.-based non-profit has spent the past 40 years staking out Saturday morning sports fields and local pizzerias, so last week’s red carpet premiere was quite a departure. The movie opens worldwide March 17.
Neither party is getting rich on the deal, at least not directly.
“No money swapped hands,” said James Wood, membership development officer with AYSO. “It’s more like scratching each other’s backs.”
More than 650,000 kids play AYSO nationwide, and its network of parents receive regular e-mail blasts. It’s a marketer’s dream come true. Especially if you’re a Hollywood studio trying to promote a movie about a girl who pretends to be a boy to play on her brother’s high school soccer team.
The only link available on the official Web site of “She’s the Man” is to AYSO. The soccer organization’s site has features on the film and links to the movie. Additionally, AYSO is promoting the film to its young members through regular e-mail blasts sent to their parents, and a quarterly magazine with a readership of 1.5 million,
“Soccer is the number one sport in America for girls under 18,” said Jack Leslie, president of production for the Donners’ Co., which produced the movie. “They’re the biggest organization of their kind, and they’re sending e-mails out to all their members, so we figured, why not? You hope they all tell 20 of their friends,” he added.
The latest issue of AYSO’s “PlaySoccer” magazine featured a cover story on the movie, and an interview with the director, Andy Fickman, who was more than happy to talk to the magazine.
“He’s not just the director of the movie, he’s an AYSO dad,” said Wayne Watkins, director of marketing for AYSO. Fickman even coached his own son’s team.
The director was the keynote speaker at AYSO’s annual meeting in January and screened the film trailer for thousands of coaches, parents and volunteers.
For AYSO, the agreement was no accident. Watkins joined the organization a year and a half ago, and the former record company executive set out to bring entertainment industry tactics to build the brand.
His mind was reeling when he saw the breakout success of the 2002 teen girl soccer film “Bend it Like Beckham,” which had no marketing relationships with youth soccer.
“In retrospect, it was absolutely a missed opportunity,” he admitted. “But it was a really small film. Who could have known, at the time?”
Other movies have promoted themselves to AYSO. Last year, Universal Studios took out ads for “Kicking and Screaming” in the AYSO magazine.
“Every time there’s a soccer movie, we get a phone call because they want to sell tickets to our membership,” Watkins said. “DreamWorks was the first to say ‘What can we do for you?'”
