Degree Deodorant is partnering with the NCAA to conduct a series of fan movement studies at the 2016 Final Four in Houston. A sponsor of the NCAA, Degree will use Lightwave, a new bio-analytics technology that examines everything from buzzer beater reaction to crowd unison movement of “The Wave”.
“The energy at the Final Four is unlike anything in sports. The win or go home nature of the tournament creates an unrivaled level of excitement that gets fans moving more than ever,” said Matthew McCarthy, senior director of men’s grooming for Unilever. “As a brand that is dedicated to studying human movement to continue to improve our products our partnership with the NCAA gives us an amazing opportunity to use a premier sporting event like the Final Four to learn how we truly react during high energy moments.”
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Lightwave will install connected sensor devices through out NRG Stadium, as well as selected fans with intelligent wearable devices. This will provide further data and knowledge into human motion as attendees react to the most thrilling moments of the biggest games of the season.
“College basketball fans are without a doubt some of the most dedicated and passionate in all of sports,” said Matt Wolfert, Director of NCAA Corporate Relations. “Degree’s commitment to the study of movement is sure to unveil some fascinating and insightful data about crowd motion and the collective energy during the most important games of the year. This is another great example of how an NCAA corporate partner, like Unilever, gets involved and energized with our championship.”
We’re measuring how #FinalFour fans support their teams. See the real-time stats on 4/2. #EveryMoveCounts pic.twitter.com/2k2eOt10DS
— Degree Men (@DegreeMen) March 29, 2016
It will be interesting to see the results and opinions from the fans, as this is the first study of its kind to take place in a stadium. Degree could be on to something here if they do strike gold with this study due to the unique sponsorship angle tied in. It looks like Degree has become optimistic and familiar with technology, as they just launched the Degree MotionSense Lab centered around the endorsement of Steph Curry back in February.
These fan movement studies are a clever way to work in relevant sponsorship to the Final Four for a deodorant company. If the activation goes well then hats off to the Degree marketing department who found a potential sponsorship mainstay at one of the biggest sporting events of the year.