One Spoken Word Can Make A Difference

This past week I enjoyed a terrific phone conversation with Butch Bellah, a sports team colleague of mine and current general manager of the arenafootball2 Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings in Louisiana. We both met through Facebook and then reconnected through LinkedIn. The conversation began with Butch inquiring about my hockey club's first-ever attempt at creating a “Facebook Members” party f...

Will Marketers Finally Free Wifi?

If you're tired of paying hourly rates for your internet connection, sponsored wifi which by many accounts struggled at best as a standalone business concept, may be making a comeback as a marketing one. Last week, we ran into a pop-up hotspot from Coke and Delta in the trendy meatpacking district. With Google's announcement today that they'll be providing sponsored wifii for Virgin America fli...

When All Else Fails..

File this one away in it could always be worse. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has a story today entitled "Footy club fattens the sheep" that claims a local football club has abandoned sponsorship in lieu of 300 sheep. Yep, that's right. 300 sheep. The president of the club's social committee says the team must find ways to be self-sufficient and not reliant on sponsors so team mem...

Deal Flow 10/17/09-10/19/09

Staples has extended its sponsorship of the Staples Center, with AEG, "in perpetuity." AEG contends that the arrangement is "the first lifetime naming rights extension for a major market arena." Morgan Stanley will once against activate its $5 million presenting sponsorship of the Dublin, Ohio PGA Tour stop. Nike and FedEx have renewed sponsorships with the NBA heading into the 2009-2010 sea...

How Well Does Loyalty Scale?

Anybody who has worked in an agency that recommends sponsorships to brand clients -- especially those that get paid commissions on them -- has seen it. Anybody who has worked for a brand has lived it. The “bigger is better, let’s get a big national property and leverage it locally” mentality reigns supreme in sponsorship marketing. It’s easier for a brand, and much easier for an agency to...

Budweiser Cross-Promotes Core Properties

It seems while many sponsors are slimming down sponsorship portfolios in deal numbers, some are increasingly attempting to make their core deals work harder via cross-property promotions. Here's one example, this coming February Budweiser will celebrate U.S. Olympians with a special Olympic paint scheme on Kasey Kahne's No. 9 Budweiser Team USA Ford in the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 and t...

Ivies Get Their Marketing Bucks, Too

While they might not be seeing $86 million guarantees, Brown University and other Ivy League schools, too, are seeing the benefits of sports marketing firms expanding once local sponsorships to broader deals with national brands. The Brown Daily Herald takes a look at how a new deal with Nelligan Sports Marketing has helped to "soften the blow" of a difficult economy, bringing in new sponsors...

Konica Minolta to Title First Event in New Meadowland Stadium

Konica-Minolta has extended their partnership with magazine and events group, Inside Lacrosse, to include title sponsorship of the Big City Classic, which will be the first event held at the New Meadowlands Stadium on April 10, 2010. Konica Minolta has also extended its title sponsorship of the Face-Off Classic, to be played on March 6, 2010, at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Last year 2...

What Is Sponsorship's Killer App?

Can Facebook be used to draw support from sponsors? That's the idea behind the new app, Given. Given is a new product created and launched in 48 hours at London start-up event, Launch48. Events like Launch48 are not meant to come up with the perfect, bullet-proof application, but to see how far a simple idea can be taken from idea to code to inception in two days. We haven't yet seen the ful...

Delta Lands at MSG

Delta, today, expanded its push into New York City by becoming the the first "Signature Partner" of the renovated Madison Square Garden. As part of the deal, Delta will be the "official airline" of Madison Square Garden and will receive a custom-branded presence in the renovated Garden and a significant presence across all MSG properties, including its venues, professional sports teams, televis...