Each Monday, we will share some great activation practices throughout the sports and entertainment landscape. This blog will serve as a space to highlight innovative ideas and campaigns. Want to have your idea or campaign featured? Send us a note on Twitter at @Navigate_Res.

This week we take a look a classic marketing tactic: direct mail.

Papa John’s Leverages NFL Sponsorship to Drive Incremental Sales Locally

In today’s sponsorship world, digital and online activation are buzzwords and trending. Old tactics like direct mail seem to have fallen by the wayside due to the way that people communicate these days. However, Papa John’s is leveraging its nationwide NFL sponsorship to drive incremental sales at a local level. It’s a genius campaign overall that allows them to measure effectiveness in multiple markets. Let’s take a look at the elements of the sponsorship. This example looks at the activation in the Scottsdale and Arizona markets surrounding the Arizona Cardinals.

Front: Patrick Peterson Special

Papa John’s teamed up with Cardinals’ cornerback Patrick Peterson to offer the special “Patrick Peterson Deal.” Fans have to order online and use the code Patrick to get two large, two-topping pizza for $16.21. Part of the proceeds ($1.21 of every sale) go to Peterson’s foundation, which helps provide low-income and inner city youth with opportunities and resources to reach their full potential. By offering this online only, Papa John’s is able to capture the data of anyone that orders online, allowing them to put that person in their system for future promotional offers.

Patrick Peterson Special

Special 2: Cardinals Win, You Win

This is a classic Papa John’s deal, but it is unique to see the company activate in a way that makes it unique to each local market through a national partnership. It’s a genius way to localize a national sponsorship so that individual franchisees understand the importance of the sponsorship. In this deal, fans get 50 percent off an online order of regular menu price items the day after the Cardinals win.