Modell's Teams Up Online

Many a member of the football, soccer or softball team relies on Modell's Sporting Goods for their equipment. That's why when the national retailer decided to launch its first-ever online sweepstakes, it opted for a team-based effort.

Its "Holiday Team Getaway Sweepstakes" used a new patented technology created by Cohen-Friedberg Associates. In order to enter, a consumer had to recruit a team member to also enter. This was fitting because the grand prize was a trip for two to St. Petersburg, FL, to catch a Major League Baseball spring training game.

"Modell's is all about team, so it's fitting that its first online promotion would be centered around that concept," says Eric Friedberg, co-founder of the marketing agency that created the technology which can be scaled to include any number of amount of team members (although he said four or five should likely be the max).

Modell's partnered with St Petersburg/Clearwater Conventions and Tourism, Trade Winds Island Resort on St. Pete Beach, JetBlue and the Ted Williams/Hitters Museum. An exec "from the museum sat next to me at game two of the World Series and he heard me talking about the technology and he said ‘I want in,'" says Friedberg. "It's hard to innovate on the Web these days. It's all about being viral. How can you get your brand in front of as many consumers as possible? This accomplishes that."

Teams who entered at 1800askmodells.com were also randomly selected to win a $25 gift card.