Firestone Signs Five Year Deal With MLB

From The New York Times: Firestone, which in the past has mainly limited its sports sponsorships to auto racing, has reached a five-year, multimillion-dollar deal with M.L.B. to become the official sponsor of the sport’s All-Star balloting next season. The deal also includes national advertising during broadcasts and in print publications at stadiums. For Firestone, it’s the first nonraci...

Activation Tactic of the Week

Are you looking for new ways to speak directly to high class, middle-aged consumers? Are you looking for new ways to leverage sports without spending large sums of money on official partnership agreements? Charles Schwab, the Official Investment Firm of the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour, recently launched a creative messaging campaign that speaks directly to its middle-aged, affluent consu...

Sponsorship for PR Services?

Presumably PR firms understand the enormous value of aligning with the Olympic games. They understand, but how will they value it when it comes to their own bottom line? That's what PRWeek asks today. London 2012 has asked PR firms bidding for the Games business to consider Value-In-Kind sponsorship of London 2012, presumably in lieu of some payment. PR Week writes: The lowest sponsor...

Links 12/18/09

Deals NASCAR, partners plan up to 500 branded campgroundsPetronas chairman confirms withdrawal from F1 team sponsorshipABC board revokes employee's Jim Beam bass fishing sponsorship amid investigationFirestone Signs Five Year Deal With MLBUSA Luge gets extension of Norton deal til 2014 Trends Champions League money up despite downturn There Was No Business Like Barca's in 20...

All I Want for Xmas..

Alcohol companies are without question, the best at activating around a thematic association, without actually having to purchase any imagery rights to do so. In this case, it's Heineken creating Christmas trees out of over a 1,000 Heineken bottles. The first from Shanghai, the second from Beijing (don't ask us the tie-in to bad country music). Apparently, Heineken has taken this ...

Product Launches Offer Oppty To Pitch

When properties see new product launches at big companies, they should be licking their chops right? Afterall, you have to spend money to make money (and build a new brand!). The trouble for sponsorship sales, is not necessarily in convincing companies to spend around product launches, but finding out about them and pitching to their goals, in the first place. When a product gets introduced to...

Supplier vs. Sponsor; Loophole for Cig Co's?

Does the delineation between sponsor and supplier offer a loophole for cigarette manufacturers, banned from advertising and promotion in most countries? That's what government officials in New Zealand are asking, according to the New Zealand Herald. At issue is whether companies like Philip Morris and British American Tobacco have circumvented NZ's Smoke-Free Environments Act of 1990 by obtain...

It's That Time of the Year Again!

Yes.. the holiday season is approaching, but more importantly it's spend it or lose it time (otherwise known as Q4) for some marketers and agencies. In Rockefeller Center, the tree is going up and the rink is packed, but the spend it or lose it mentality is what brings real cheer to the eyes of many properties. These gifts, however, aren't always 'no strings attached.' In case you're not ...

NFL Nixes Capt. Morgan Guerilla Attempt

Pretty much every property has dealt with ambush marketing attempts, but rarely do these attempts actually make it onto the field of play. Rarely may have happened during Monday night's Eagles-Cowboys game, according to a report from Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson: In hopes of raising brand awareness, Captain Morgan intended to offer lucrative charity contributions in exchange for each insta...

Applause Please

Stand up and give these agencies and service providers a big fat round of applause. Or better yet, click the links below and find out what they are all about. Whether you need help selling, finding, activating or measuring sponsorships; the SponsorPitch service providers database will feature targeted product and service solutions to your sponsorship needs. If you like what we're do...