Page 36 - 2015 IHSAA Annual Report

SECTION SEVEN MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS AND CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS

Outdoor billboards, newspaper ads and in-school posters recognize the 2014-15 IHSAA mental attitude award winners for
football and boys and girls basketball. They’ve also proved to be an effective way to publicly thank the presenting sponsors
of these tournaments.

In an effort to tell positive stories about high
school sports and to help counter the publicity
that negative stories often generate, the
IHSAA launched a micro-campaign designed
to celebrate the association’s football and
basketball mental attitude award winners.

Full-page newspaper ads were placed in The
Indianapolis Star and in the hometown papers
of all the mental attitude award winners in both
sports. Posters were given to the schools of all
the winners to display on campus and distribute
to middle and grade schools in their districts.
And since Indianapolis is the capital of the
state as well as a center of influence, celebra-
tory outdoor billboards were displayed for two
months following the state finals in both sports.

An added benefit of publicly honoring the
IHSAA’s mental attitude award winners
is that it also is an effective way to publicly
thank two of the association’s most active and
generous corporate partners, the Indianapolis
Colts and the Indiana Pacers and Fever.

34 INDIANA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION ANNUAL REPORT 2015