Survey Says This City Offers Best Shot At Attracting Sponsors

A new survey carried out by IFM Sports Marketing, and commissioned by IFM client, London & Partners, the official promotional agency for London, says London is the sporting destination that is guaranteed to provide the highest return and media profile for sponsors. Seeming to support London's bid for the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships, more than half of the global industry leaders poll...

WTA Sponsor: Consumers Trust Athletes More Than Doctors

Kevin Guest, the North American President of nutritional supplements company and WTA official partner, USANA, talked about how critical sponsorship was to the company's marketing efforts on today's third quarter conference call. Most interestingly, he says athletes have more cred than doctors when it comes to talking about products, which is presumably why the company has some of the top names ...

Experiential To Play Key Role In Nokia's Biggest Marketing Campaign Ever

After sliding down BrandChannel's Best Global Brands list from #8 to 14 and losing 15% of its brand value in 2011, Nokia will look to reverse its luck heading into the holiday season by tripling its marketing budget around the launch of a big new product. Today at Nokia World 2011, the company launched the Nokia Lumia, which will be supported by the biggest marketing budget in the company's his...

Playmark Looks To Simplify Athlete Licensing For Small Business

NFL PLAYERS, Inc., the for-profit subsidiary of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA), and Playmark, today announced an exclusive partnership to make the official rights of NFL players more accessible to small businesses and entrepreneurs. Playmark.com's streamlined licensing process aims to make it easy for the creative and tech community (think product developers and designers), to create offic...

Jobless, Amar'e Interviews at Foot Locker

Making the most of the NBA situation, opportunistic marketers are still finding clever ways to activate even as the lockout eats in to more of the '11-12 season than fans would have wished for. Long-time New York Knicks sponsor, Foot Locker, rolled out this amusing Amar'e Stoudemire job interview on YouTube this week. Hat tip: Brian Gainor #activationstag footlocker

So You Think You Can Dance?

Smirnoff's Nightlife Exchange Project hopes to get 10 million people to discover, share and swap the most original nightlife experiences in 50 countries across the world. To do that, the vodka brand has lined up some serious star clout in the form of a new partnership with Madonna, who will use the branded social media platform to find a dancer for her upcoming tour. The contest opened yesterda...

Tire Maker's New Ad Hints At More Sports Sponsorships

With all the recent jockeying among tire companies for sports deals (don't take our word for it: check SponsorPitch's Sponsor Index), it's not a big surprise that one tire maker's new TV spot focuses almost exclusively on the correlation between their product and sports performance. Check it out below. The company in a release says that the ad is intended to mirror their existing spon...

Done Deal: Post Says Meadowlands Naming Rights Deal Completed

There have been a lot of rumored naming rights suitors since the Giants and Jets began construction on a new stadium. Among them Ashley Madison and Allianz. Alas, it seems one may stick. As has been rumored for at least a couple months now, the New York Post says that MetLife has signed a definitive agreement to become the naming rights partner of the Meadowlands. The 20-year deal will be annou...

Goya Teams Up With Marc Anthony For Sponsored Tour

Goya Foods, which says it is the largest Hispanic-owned food company in the United States, has agreed to sponsor a six-city concert series with Marc Anthony, Ana Gabriel and Marco Antonio Solis to celebrate Goya's 75th anniversary. Though the deal has likely been in the works for some time, the timing of the sponsorship announcement is interesting given Anthony's press as of late. The nine ...

First Time Sponsors Toast US Open Tennis

Update: Aetna has announced a three-year sponsorship with the USTA that will include many activation elements at the U.S. Open. As the U.S. Open gets ready to kick-off, fans will have an official champagne to toast several new sponsors. Moet & Chandon will join Davis Cup sponsor, Adecco, and notable newcomer, Xerox, as new additions to the U.S. Open's official sponsor line-up this year. The...