USA Promotes White Collar With - White Collars

My dry cleaning is now being sponsored by USA Network. Check out this ad for USA's new original series, White Collar. Of course, the upside of acceptance to advertising is supposed to be a lower transaction cost. No such luck.

Links 11/02/2009

IZOD to Title IndyCar? McDonald's Outlines Vancouver Olympic PlansDo you get more out of replacing a long-time sponsor due to "shock value"?JetBlue Activates Boston College Sponsorship With 10% Off FanCar Sponsors Its First Driver, Terry LabonteING NYC Marathon Sponsorship ActivationsMarathon Champ, Meb, has three sponsors: ALCiS, PowerBar and NikeTurner Signs Sony Playstation to Ben 10 De...

WSOP Sponsor Tie-Ins Part II

Last time I sat down at the keyboard, I wrote about my recent experience of watching World Series of Poker on ESPN recently. I'm admittedly a poker neophyte – wouldn't know an inside straight from an inside fade. (Okay, I made that up... I don't even know if there IS something known of as an "inside fade"...) But I do recognize good sponsorship tie-ins, and if you want to see some classic text...

Macy's Congratulates Phillies for World Series Victory

Some make-goods are in store for Macy's, after the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday ran a premature ad by the department store congratulating the Phillies on winning back-to-back World Series. This, despite, being down 3-1 in the series (3-2 after last night). The Inquirer apologized late yesterday for the mishap.

Colbert Nation Becomes Official Sponsor of U.S. Speedskating

In the latest example of crowdsourcing sponsorship, which we've covered extensively (here, here, here, here, and here) Comedy Central's Colbert Nation has stepped up to become an official sponsor of the U.S. Speedskating team. Colbert Nation's sponsorship will include uniform branding and comes on the heels of the U.S.S.A previous sponsor, DSB Bank, declaring bankruptcy. Colbert made the annou...

Holiday Events as Branded Entertainment

Looking for new ways to activate your event partnerships this holiday season? In the past couple of years, projection ads have gotten a whole lot more sophisticated. It's no longer a logo projected onto a flat surface, folks. Check these two examples from the U.K. which really show the new capabilities of the medium. waterloo station advertising from clive darr on Vimeo. Since many proper...

Coca-Cola Pops the Top on Hollywood Parade

Coca-Cola today announced it would be the presenting sponsor of this year's Hollywood Christmas Parade, the first time in its 82 year history that it will be nationally televised in a two-hour special. The event will be co-sponsored by City of Los Angeles and Associated Television International. From AdWeek: Coke regularly amps up its marketing during the fourth quarter. Its animated polar be...

More on the QBE/Premiership Deal

On October 21st, Australian specialist insurance firm QBE made a splash in Europe by announcing its upcoming sponsorship of Guinness Premiership. To celebrate the partnership, QBE unveiled a 4 meter high branded rugby ball at One Lime Street next to the Lloyd's building, home of insurance institution, Lloyd's of London. Check out this video from QBE and london firm, Generate Sponsorship. QBE R...

Shifts in Spending to Q4, Marketers Prefer 'Just in Time' Advertising

Lots of media and marketing earnings calls this week. Here's two bellwethers from today, which seem to reflect a still cautious yet more upbeat expectation for ad markets heading into Q4. For instance, Viacom is seeing advertisers purchasing "just in time" inventory, while over at MasterCard, lower-than-expected Q3 spending, may result in "the fourth quarter advertising and marketing spend [...

Sponsorship FAIL

There's a million and one things that can go wrong between the time you sign a sponsorship deal and the time you measure it. It's more important than ever to make sure you've got the most experienced partners by your side. Whether you need help selling, finding, activating or measuring sponsorships; the SponsorPitch service providers database will feature targeted product and service solutio...