Would you believe it if we told you that The Social Lights think March Madness is going to be extra boaring this year?
We’d like to introduce you to our friend, Fred. Fred Hoiboar.
Photo Credit: Hickey Photography
Fred is a 1000+ lb Hampshire boar that resides on a farm outside of Des Moines, Iowa. Fred is on a quest to win the Biggest Boar Competition at the Iowa State Fair, with weigh-in just 5 months from today. For those of you still confused, yes, Fred is a pig.
You may be wondering, where do The Social Lights come into the picture?
Our newest client is comprised of eight men who’ve decided to enter Fred Hoiboar into the Biggest Boar competition this August. The idea arose at their annual get-together at the Iowa State Fair. They’ve been dreaming about this for the past two years, and finally, at the beginning of January, their wish came true. They found the perfect candidate for the Biggest Boar competition – now affectionately known as our friend, Fred.
This boaring group of guys (self-proclaimed “old men”), realized that social media would be a fun way to spread the word through their networks about raising this pig leading up to the State Fair, but they acknowledged that they were amateurs at implementing proper social media tactics and strategies. They summoned The Social Lights to put together a social media marketing campaign to promote their prize-winning porker.
That’s when the Fred Hoiboar campaign became larger-than-life—literally. The goal was to develop a strategy to leverage communication and technology as a way to get people excited about the boar at the State Fair. It was no easy feat, but now we are squealing with delight at the six-month campaign we developed to help Fred go “Wee, wee, wee. All the way to the State Fair.”
Partnering with other talented creatives, dare we say a “cream of the crop” team, we were able to roll-out the entire campaign, appropriately titled, Bring Home The Bacon, for our client in less than one week! The deliverables included a six-month integrated social media strategy, which ties in branding, copywriting, website development, video production, social media engagement, and digital PR.
Let’s take a minute to back-up and share Fred’s story.
The name Fred Hoiboar is not a misstatement, nor is it a mistake. Any basketball fan can identify Fred Hoiberg as the Iowa State Cyclones basketball standout and former NBA player for the Pacers, Bulls, and Minnesota Timberwolves. In 2006, Hoiberg retired from playing professional basketball due to complications from a heart condition. He joined the Minnesota Timberwolves front office and in April of 2010 was named the head coach of the Iowa State Cyclones Men’s Basketball team.
When we contacted Fred Hoiberg about our campaign, we suggested that he partner with the pig to raise money for a good cause. He chose Camp Odayin, a non-profit organization that allows children with heart disease to go to summer camp (www.campodayin.org). He visits the camp each summer to shoot hoops with the campers (talk about an unbelievable role model)! Proceeds from each Bring Home the Bacon T-shirt (currently for sale on fredhoiboar.com) will be donated to Camp Odayin.
Bring Home the Bacon
Last Thursday, our team hit the road and ventured down to Iowa to produce a video for the Fred Hoiboar campaign. We had the opportunity to meet Fred Hoiboar and Coach Fred Hoiberg, as well as a few of the men who decided to bring this idea to life. Here are some snapshots behind-the-scenes during the making of Fred’s Bring Home The Bacon video:
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Photos by: Hickey Photography
Fred is carrying the momentum that the Cyclones have built over the past few weeks with our Bring Home The Bacon campaign. Tune into the Cyclones first game of the Big 12 Tournament tonight at 8:30pm vs Texas, and stay in touch with Fred Hoiboar and his #boaring life:
Visit Fred’s Website: www.fredhoiboar.com
“Friend Fred” on Facebook | www.facebook.com/fredhoiboar
#FollowFred on Twitter @FredHoiboar | http://www.twitter.com/fredhoiboar
