In 2010, the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series Championship in 52years, and it was the first baseball championship for San Francisco ever. Comcast SportsNet, the television home of San Francisco Giants, enjoyed record viewership in 2010, but worried about maintaining their audience through the 2011 season when the likelihood of the Giants repeating were slim. So they asked us to come up with a low-cost idea to help maintain ratings, drive awareness for the network, and engage fans on their website.We created the Search for The World Championship Baby, a contest that set out to find the one baby that was conceived closest to the exact moment the San Francisco Giants won the World Series. We launched with a low cost TV spot that ran on ComcastSportNet, along with simple web banners and a web page that housed the contest on CSNbayarea.com.

In the first 24 hours after launch, Twitter mentions surged. 2 days later, CSN’s website experienced record traffic. Local and national press picked up the story and helped generate millions in earned media. 929 mothers-to-be who were impregnated during the World Series entered our contest. Then on August 1st, just 8 minutes after the exact 9-month anniversary of the Giants winning the World Series, the World Championship baby was born. And the new of the birth re-ignited the media buzz and fan engagement all over again.

First, we had to get client approval of the idea. From there we moved into production to create the TV spot and the banners. Then during a Tuesday night Giants home game, the promotion was announced. The TV spot ran on air and online for 4 weeks. The banners ran on csnbayarea.com for 4 weeks. Both placements directed people to the World Championship Baby page on CSN’s website where moms-to-be could enter. Everything was up and running by 7/5; the tv spot and banners came down on 8/1, the contest deadline. The World Championship Baby page stayed live until 9/1. On 8/5 we changed the layout to feature the winning baby and runner up baby photos.At no point did we have to revise what the plan we set in motion. The whole campaign ran even better as planned due to national and local news coverage and social media buzz.

In the first 24 hours after we launched our idea, Twitter mentions surged. 2 days later, CSN’s website experienced record traffic with over 40,000 unique visits. Local and national press picked up the story and helped generate millions in earned media as the promotion exploded. (Source: Agency PR partner, Powell Communications.) And in the end, CSN achieved a 5.47 share during broadcasts of Giants games. Our goal was only to maintain viewership. We actually helped CSN increase it by 29% during our promotional period. (Source: CSN Ratings, 7/5/11-8/25/11).