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Reliant Energy Signs Active Imagination to Activate Sports SponsorshipsHouston Business Journal
February 22, 2008 By Greg Barr Rodeo Performers Sing Chorus of Light Plugs
The local marketing firm that developed the "Root for the Good Guys" campaign for the Houston Astros in 2003 has stepped up to the plate for Reliant Energy Inc.
Active Imagination Inc. has signed a one-year contract as Reliant's agency of record to promote the utility company's sports sponsorships and provide assistance with other nonsports programs.
Rocky Harris, Reliant's director of sports and marketing sponsorships, says Active Imagination had the most direct sports experience of the three bidders.
"They know what connects with sports fans," Harris says.
The firm's first branding project with Reliant has a little more to do with music than sports, although professional bull riders at the 2008 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo could make a strong case that staying atop 2,000 pounds of raging beef for a few seconds is a real sport.
Reliant has teamed up with Shoppa's Farm Supply of El Campo to host kid-friendly one-hour country music shows inside the Reliant Center throughout the rodeo.
The "Plugged In" concert series promotes energy-efficiency initiatives. As part of the deal, each of the 15 performers has agreed to plug a daily energy-efficiency tip from Reliant's Web site while on stage.
Trent Willmon is an appropriate opener for the concert series on March 3. The Nashville country singer, no stranger to branding, is preparing to launch his own brand of barbecue sauce.
Owen Temple, who performs March 11, is going the extra mile.
Temple has signed on as an official Reliant Energy spokesman and will be doing TV and radio appearances during the rodeo to promote the idea of replacing incandescent bulbs with more efficient fluorescent bulbs. "Not only will you be saving money, but you will also be helping the environment," Temple says in his pitch. "Make a difference, change a light."
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