Six years ago, James Giglio was a director at an advertising agency specializing in installing ad campaigns in vacant storefronts. He saw a broader trend of brands infusing technology into campaigns to generate engagement but didn’t think there were any real conduits to showcase that tech.
At dinner one night at the Continental in Philadelphia’s Old City district, Giglio grabbed a pen and paper and started sketching rough ideas for an immersive kiosk and a gaming wall. Traveling to Tampa a short while later, he remained consumed by this new vision.
“I just couldn’t get the idea out of my head, and I needed to,” he said. “I called all the area teams. The Rays took my call, and I pitched them what is now MVP.”
Although the Rays didn’t immediately sign on to Giglio’s idea, the conversation gave him the confidence to start a company based on the concept: MVP Interactive. Giglio went from a dinnertime sketch in March 2012 to CEO and founder of a startup in May of that year, to showcasing a virtual bobblehead experience for his first client, the NBA, in February 2013. Giglio set that up at the Slam Dunk Contest of the All-Star Game in Houston. On the spot, he landed the bank BBVA as a client.
MVP Interactive has since worked with teams in every major sport, including the Vikings, Buccaneers, and both New York franchises in the NFL, the Cubs, Mets, and Red Sox in MLB, the NBA’s Rockets and Thunder, the MLS’ Dynamo, and the NHL’s Rangers and Flyers.
“What we’re seeing now is teams making more of a holistic effort—you know, making sure all of the elements of their overall marketing or sales campaign ties into what’s happening inside the stadiums,” Giglio said, before adding: “I would like to think and hope that, over the next foreseeable future, more and more properties really see the concourse as strong inventory for themselves as well as sponsors and to be really leveraging the concourse as a touchpoint versus an ingress-egress or essentially just a hallway to your seat.”
His most recent installation is the Flyers Family Fun Zone at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Residing behind Sections 120 and 121 on the concourse are four distinct experiences. The Virtual Goalie allows fans to try and stop shots from a few Flyers shooters. That experience uses a 98-inch video screen with gesture detecting capabilities, allowing fans to use their arms and hands to make saves. A photo is taken as each user plays, which can be sent via email and later posted to social media.
A 55-inch touchscreen surface enables fans to play digital air hockey. Instead of holding paddles and redirecting a physical puck, the whole experience is on screen. There are also two augmented reality photo experiences. In one, fans can choose from 12 pre-recorded Flyers players to skate up and pose for a selfie with them. In the other, users enter a photo booth where a player photobombs their pictures.
The idea, Giglio said, is for the gaming units to have “stop-in-their-tracks” appeal.
“There’s a lot of double take, pause, and then intrigue and then finally conversion,” he said. “What’s the draw and how compelling is that initial message?”
Giglio sees Anheuser-Busch as a key driver of innovative sports sponsorships. Just this fall, Bud Light garnered national attention with fridges that unlocked to provide fans with free beer after the Cleveland Browns won a game. The brewer also produced the top photo op in Philadelphia with a nine-foot statue of the “Philly Special,” a recreation of quarterback Nick Foles and coach Doug Pederson discussing a trick play that helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl.
MVP Interactive specializes in tech-driven experiences, and Giglio is eyeing a move toward mobile. He laughed recently at the facial-detection system his team built for the NBA’s virtual bobblehead, saying it’s just like a Snapchat filter. “I did it the hard way with a kiosk,” he said. Another tech challenge: he affixed a VR camera atop a football helmet and had someone walk through FedEx Field to provide a unique experience—most VR footage comes from cameras fixed in place.
“We’re finally moving away from credit card and towel promotion handout sponsorships,” Giglio added. “Giving fans more things to do seems to be a real focus.”