BREAKING: USOC to Announce P&G Deal

Procter & Gamble's USOC sponsorship has reportedly been secured and will be announced later today. The deal, which has been widely speculated for some time, will involve up to seventeen feminine and household P & G products and will include both the Vancouver 2010 games and London 2012. The price tag on the deal is estimated to be between $10-15 million.

Deal Flow 8-31-2009

MLG has signed a major sponsorship with Doritos to sponsor the MLG Skills Combine. Procter & Gamble has signed on as a sponsor of the United States Olympic team for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Games in a deal that includes more than 12 of P & G's household products. The Philadelphia Phillies have signed a four-year sponsorship with Horizon Services, a Philadelphia-based plum...

In New York, Ambush Opportunities Abound

Now that we've booked our own ferry tickets to today's opening day of the U.S. Open, we figured we'd let you in on the this year's best U.S. Open tennis transportation secret: the Venus Williams Powerade Zero Ferry. Powerade will offer tennis fans a free ferry ride to the tennis matches from August 31 to September 6 to promote its zero calorie sports drink in its ongoing battle with G2. But...

IHOP Unveils New NFL Promo

As if pre-game tailgating wasn't bad enough for our diets, IHOP today unveiled their new NFL breakfast menu promising to make it a full day feast for football fans. IHOP will leverage the association through the in-store offer, a national TV campaign and social media efforts. IHOP's official sponsorship with the NFL, announced this past June, marks the first time the League has teamed with a ...

For Sponsors, 3 Steps Towards Transparency

Earlier this year, politicians, the media, and just about everyone with an opinion, it seemed, publicly flogged Northern Trust Bank for proceeding with the second year of its five-year commitment to PGA Golf because it received TARP funds. According to the bank's CEO, no public dollars funded the sponsorship, and fiscally sound, doing quite well, the bank went forth with a sponsorship program i...

Virgin Mobile and Kyocera Send a Message with FreeFest

For Virgin Mobile, which was acquired by Sprint Nextel earlier this year, reducing churn and preaching affordable pricing plans are key staples of the company's marketing strategy. So what better way to do that, with one of it's handset partners on board, then to launch a free music festival that rewards loyal customers with VIP benefits and exclusive experiences? For four years the Virgin Mo...

A-B College Beer Cans – Great Idea, Poor Execution

A-B’s campaign to brand beer cans with local college colors was a simple, yet brilliant product marketing idea. They have successfully rebranded bottles and cans in the past and fans have exhibited a definitive affinity to purchase school branded products. Sometimes, the best ideas simply reinvent the wheel. However, A-B fell asleep at the wheel when trying to roll this out, and not only blew t...

Help Your Favorite Non-Profit Net a $20K Sponsorship

Call it the American Idolization of sponsorship. Allowing consumers to have a hand in the sponsorship selection process is a relatively new trend. Last week, we looked at Monster's crowdsourced band sponsorship and Okanagan Spring's crowdsourced value-in-kind promotion. In response to those stories, we got an email about Tom's of Maine, which is doing a similar promotion for community progr...

Deal Flow 8-28-2009

Autodesk has joined WorldSkills Calgary 2009 as a Platinum Sponsor and the Presenting Sponsor of the Mechanical Engineering Design (MED) competition. Cash4Gold today announced that it is sponsoring Randy Couture in a pair of upcoming fights, including his battle with Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira as the main event during UFC 102 on August 29th. The South Jersey Building and Construct...

Sponsorship for Authors

Okay – we just finished covering sponsorship for those of you in the speaking business – now to switch gears and focus on those of you in the newsletter and e-zine business. In today's age of specialization, we're finding more and more niche authors out there – and believe me, it's true what they say: "There’s riches in niches"! Especially where securing sponsorship is concerned. Specialized ...