Dick's To Be Featured On 'Apprentice,' Will Create In-Store Event

Dick's Sporting Goods will be one of this season's companies featured on NBC's hit reality show "The Apprentice." The hour-long episode is scheduled to air on October 27, and will challenge the two high-energy teams to create an in-store interactive event that will engage customers, drive traffic and ultimately increase sales.

"We saw this as a great opportunity to get a fresh perspective on marketing ideas from some of the brightest talent in the country," said Jeffrey Hennion, Dick's SVP/marketing. "This season's 'Apprentice' participants are well-educated and extremely seasoned. In fact, most of them are successful business owners or entrepreneurs, so we knew we'd gain new perspectives that we could adapt to our current marketing strategies or our in-store environment."

The outcome of the two teams' efforts was so well-received by the Dick's team that they decided to put a challenge inspired by the Apprentice task to the real test over three days, October 28-30, in 107 stores. Customers can take a chance to be a big shot at the "Make It Take It Sharpshooter Challenge," a unique event created to engage customers in hoop-shooting action right in the middle of the store.

"We're very pleased with the campaign as a whole and know our customers will enjoy the episode even more knowing they can actually participate in a similar in-store event the very next day. It's sure to energize the entire shopping environment," said Hennion.

The premise of the Sharpshooter challenge is simple: Each participant will get 24 seconds to make five shots: one at each designated floor spot. The more baskets you make, the more prizes you win. Sink all five shots and you'll win all five prizes plus a $100 Dick's Gift Card. Adidas has played an integral part in making this event come to life through specially designed signage and props that will give the event area a real basketball court look and feel. Other sponsors include Spalding, Lifetime, the NBA and EA Sports.

Dick's circulars, store signage, emails and website promote the special in-store event, as well as the "Apprentice Season Finale Sweepstakes" in which one lucky winner will receive two tickets to the season finale plus VIP access to the show's after-party. Basketball enthusiasts can also play the virtual version by visiting Yahoo's "Apprentice" website and shooting hoops with just the click of a mouse.