World Sport Group Questions Indian Insurer's In-Stadium Ad

The grey area of ambush is getting ever more complex. Take the case of insurer, Bajaj Allianz at last weekend's India-Australia cricket match. Bajaj Allianz, not a sponsor of the match, cut a deal with the broadcast partner, Neo Sports, to air a :10 vignette in support of the insurer's new child insurance plans. No harm, no foul right? Here's the rub. Bajaj Allianz':10 promo, according to...

Visa Launches Global Olympic Campaign

Visa today announced the global launch of its Olympic-themed marketing campaign for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Go World. This global campaign, which features television, digital and out-of-home advertising, host market merchant activation programs and usage promotions, enables Visa to connect with cardholders and Olympic and Paralympic Games fans to drive preference for and usage ...

Country Music & Nascar, Good Bedfellows?

In 2009, Beth Ann Morgenthau, owner of BAM Racing, made a tough decision. After being in racing for nine years, Mogenthau decided to pull her team from the track rather than piece together a "start and park" team with an array of sponsors. "The decision to come off the track was made primarily to enable us to continue to develop and expand on our patent-pending fan participation program and ...

The Perils of Overcompensating

As my colleagues know, and readers of this blog may be aware, I am a pretty big stickler for sponsorship accountability. OK, I’m a Nazi about it. This is nothing new. Ever since doing my Master’s thesis on sponsorship effectiveness and discovering the “sausage factory” that is sponsorship measurement over 10 years ago, it has been my contention that to be meaningful and worthy for a sponsor,...

A&E Buys Into Pacquiao vs. Cotto

Update: 2:37 PM A&E has taken title sponsorship of the upcoming HBO PPV boxing matchup between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto for Top Rank's Welterweight Championship. Prior to the event, PAWN STARS will be incorporated into the advertising and publicity campaign for the boxing match. The TV series will be featured in print, TV and radio efforts and will have a presence during the press ...

USOC Lands Official Medical Services Provider

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and D.I.S.C. Sports and Spine Centers have signed a strategic partnership in which D.I.S.C. will become an Official Medical Services Provider through the 2012 Olympic Games. With this agreement D.I.S.C. will collaborate with the USOC sports medicine team to develop and implement a comprehensive sports medicine program with unmatched continuity of care ...

Live Nation Grows Q3 Sponsorship Rev 4.4%

On the heels of announcing a marketing alliance with Coca-Cola, Live Nation today announced that sponsorship revenue totaled $78.5 million during the third quarter, an increase of 4.4% over the prior year. Revenue grew by 14% to $1.8 billion, but merger expenses (with Ticketmaster) impacted net income, which fell by half to $69 million. In 2009, Live Nation has grown its number of sponsors ...

Links 11/09/09

Live Nation Grows Q3 Sponsor Rev by 4.4%Ciara On Board for LG, Verizon Push A&E To Title Sponsor Pacquiao vs. CottoUSOC Lands Official Medical Services Provider in D.I.S.C.FA £10m McDonald's sponsorship deal targets grass-rootsFor Olympics Sponsors, Stock Prices Soar Before Vancouver GamesThe Perils of Overcompensating in Sponsorship SelectionFor Colts, Better to Be Lucky than GoodCamb...

Sponsored Wi-Fi Is Corporate Gift of Choice

Seems like sponsored Wi-Fi is the corporate gift of choice this holiday season. In recent weeks, Google has partnered with Virgin America, Lexus has teamed with American Airlines and Ebay has offered free Wi-Fi for Thanksgiving on 250 Delta flights. Today, Google announced it will also take the tab on free Wi-Fi for 47 airports nationwide through the end of the year. "This is one of our holi...

An Army of Sponsorship Volunteers

When the PGA Tour's Heritage golf tournament lost Verizon tournament director Steve Wilmot knew he had a challenging road ahead. While pursuing an $8 million replacement for Verizon, tournament officials are also taking a decentralized approach by enlisting a wide base of volunteers to call on local businesses - one skybox seat, booth or charity benefit table at a time - knocking on doors if n...