New Business Pitch - Tough Times Require Fundamentals

I recently participated in a new business pitch for a major branded sports property. The agency team pulled together and did a great job, developing a thorough presentation and exciting creative. It’d be a great account to have on agency roster, in any economic environment. It struck me that we should approach more of our professional lives like a new biz pitch. For those in agency or consu...

Air Asia Lands in Raider Nation

Last week, we looked at JetBlue's new branded Real Salt Lake airplane, in what seemed like a good activation tactic around a pretty smart deal. No doubt, airplane branding can be an effective tool for both sponsor and property. However, the Oakland Examiner recently came across one from Raider Nation that may make you scratch your head. This is Air Asia's new plane, which is branded by the Ra...

Commercialism in the Classroom

This sounds like an idea that may have sprung out of the college of commerce, but may not fly with the philosophy department. "This class brought to you by..." could be the scenario for students at City College of San Francisco, if some administrators get their way. Good idea? Tough times call for tough decisions. While the recession is nobody's friend, it has opened up a lot of new o...

Hello Asia, As far as you know we're the best football team in America!

A simple "global branding play" according to the release and now we've got a much better glimpse at the plane itself. However you feel about the deal, the "unique" design is definitely going to get some impressions for both the team and airline. The "Commitment to Excellence" is our caption contest for the week. Give it a shot in the comments! Last week's winner=Joe Waters Bon...

Akon/Chivas' Sponsorship Sidelines "Freedom" Tour

Just four days before Akon's July 2nd concert date in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian government cracked down on the Freedom Tour stop over concerns about the stop's primary sponsor, Chivas. "We expect every show promoter in this country to abide by our rules and regulations,” said Mohammad Daud. “We have not relaxed our restrictions on cigarette and liquor sponsorship for public events like con...

Five Lessons from the Ultimate Pitchman

"Hi, Billy Mays Here!" was his famous tagline and for years he made late night television his home, moving millions upon millions of cleaning products like the Awesome Auger, Oxiclean and Orange Glo - two minutes at a time. Mays died late last week at his home in Florida, but not before leaving us with many an infomercial gem like this. While he had his critics and his style certainly was...

Civic Entertainment Helps Southwest Land in B Park

To celebrate yesterday's launch of its' new service to La Guardia, Southwest Airlines has teamed up with 'Witchcraft to provide Bryant Park visitors with a pop-up patio. We popped over and checked it out. Aside from having a drink served by adjacent sandwich shop 'witchcraft, visitors can ask questions, learn about Southwest's new routes and even book tickets. Partnerships with the city ...

Bumpy Ride: Car Co's & Theme Parks Fate Tied?

As the mercury rises and summertime interests become divided between pools, parks and family trips, advertising typically slows in traditional media. So what's a Mad ave media planner to do? Kevin Downey of Media Life Magazine provides one answer in today's piece entitled "your client at the amusement park." While some of the industry's leaders are on a financial rollercoaster of their o...

How I First Learned to Sell!

Key Learnings is an ongoing collection of insights and stories from thought-leaders within the sponsorship industry. Today's key learning comes from Jim Loria who has over 30 years of sports management experience and for the past 10 years as served as President of the USHL's Sioux Falls Stampede. My breakthrough in first learning the sales business came at about the lowest point in my life. I...

Reaching Teens? Event Sponsorship Tops List

We live in an age of permission marketing and live event sponsorship has the highest level of acceptance among teens, according to a Fuse Marketing and University of Massachusetts Amherst study on advertising to teens that eMarketer reported on today. While teens are spending an ever increasing share of their time with mobile and new media like text messaging, video games and social networks,...