LG is running a March Madness promotion called “Do...

LG is running a March Madness promotion called “Do March Right” as part of its corporate sponsorship of the 2013 NCAA Basketball Championship tournament that begins this week (LG.com/NCAA). The promotion -- a contest for best “game-time recipes” -- runs across LG’s appliance, TV and mobile divisions, the company said. The sponsorship includes retailer tie-ins, print, broadcast and online advertising and on-site events, including a one-on-one LG Coaches’ Cook-Off at the Final Four hosted by celebrity chef Richard Blais and featuring the Harlem Globetrotters. The promotion is being run through Facebook with the recipe winner to be announced on LG’s massive Times Square video billboard April 8, the date of the tournament’s championship game, according to LG. The company chose 16 recipes from submissions it received, and consumers can vote on the recipes using a bracket format. At the same time they're voting on recipes, participants can register to enter a contest for LG prizes including a 3D TV, washer and dryer, and LG Optimus tablet, along with a chance to win tickets to the Final Four tournament in Atlanta next month, rules said. Participants can vote and enter the contest each day of the promotion, LG said. Last year, LG extended its alliance with the NCAA via a multi-year agreement that runs through 2015. Under the agreement, negotiated with CBS Sports and Turner Sports, LG will continue as an official NCAA corporate partner and have exclusive category marketing and promotional rights related to 89 NCAA championship events across 23 different sports, it said. LG didn’t disclose its budget for the “Do March Right” promotion. Hhgregg, meanwhile, is piggybacking on the LG promotion with its own 64 Teams/64 TVs contest that began Monday. The hhgregg contest is divided into six rounds that run over the course of the tournament. Contestants can enter each round at hhgregg’s website for a chance to win LG TVs, including 32 32-inch models, 16 42-inch models, eight 47-inch TVs, four 50-inch units, two 50-inch Google TVs and the grand prize: a 60-inch TV, 32-inch TV and home theater system. In addition to the contest, hhgregg has marked down prices on select TVs, appliances and furniture to spur traffic in advance of the NCAA tournament under the website banner “Markdown Madness.” An LG 55-inch 55LS4500 LED-lit LCD TV was slashed $300 to $699 in the deal.