How Can Teams Treat Sponsors Better?

Darren Rovell's cnbc blog post today on the New Jersey Nets sponsorship efforts led to some interesting discussion. I think in general, it is a good time to sweeten the pot for your partners with soft benefits (remember, soft benefits are "experiences" or other value delivered with minimal hard cost association). From the article, it sounds like many of the extras being thrown in are exper...

2. Herm Edwards - Cadillac

Herm Edwards/Jets - Cadillac This one could have easily been #1. The conversation may have bothered Former Jets coach Herm Edwards, but Cadillac likely didn't mind the additional exposure. Continue to #1 >>

Some Truth Behind Every Joke

We're back! There's some truth behind every joke. Just in case you were confused, the preceding message was just an attempt at some April Fools Day fun. With that said, we thought we'd use the day as an opportunity to show how uneducated and ridiculous some of the accusations currently being lobbed at the sponsorship industry really are. Got a few emails so thought we'd clear that up right ...

Sponsor Spotlight: ZipCar

If you're not in NYC, Boston or San Francisco or a handful of other major cities you may not yet be familiar with ZipCar. ZipCar was founded in Boston and offers "car sharing," which is increasingly becoming a legitimate alternative to car rentals in many major cities. ZipCar seeks to be the antithesis to car renting and offers a lot of unique customer delights, sort of like Jet Bl...

Deals: U2 & Blackberry

The world's most famous band is headed back on tour for the first time in three years and this time they're taking they're taking their crackberries with them. The 360 World Tour, which will include 14 U.S. cities in the summer of this year, announced that Blackberry will headline their tour as the top sponsor as one component of a deeper strategic partnership, which presumably will in...

Activation: KFC Wants to "Freshen Up" Your Street

As agencies have long understood, sponsorship proposals can work both ways - as a brand you don't always have to be on the receiving end. Heck, sometimes the property (or the sponsorship opportunity) may not even yet exist (or know there's interest). In the case of YUM! Brands, KFC recently saw America's road troubles as an opportunity to communicate their "Fresh Tastes Better" campaign, fi...

Commentary: Look Across the Board for Hidden $

Today, a must read for sponsorship sales professionals from IMG veteran Kevin Hanft: "Funding Sponsorship Deals - Look Across the Board for Hidden Dollars" Hanft's thesis is that "with the current economic times requiring senior buy-in, full utilization and accountability, it may require internal advocates to find broad based support and budget resources." Here's a few of the corpo...

Sponsor Spotlight: Retaks Backpacks

Retaks, was featured in the April edition of IEG Sponsorship Report! Founder David Meikle discusses how Retaks is using both sponsorship of existing events, as well as their own proprietary events, to grow the brand of this newcomer to the backpacking space. The lifestyle backpack-maker is using events like the Action Sports World Tour and the 3rd Retaks Expressions Tour to grow awareness wit...

Is Your City Selling?

Almost all major cities have CVB's that look to lure big ticket events to their locale. Now some cities are going a step further and actively helping match brands with local events. At NYC & Co, the official marketing and partnership arm of NYC, they do just that. Acting as a one stop shop for marketers looking to tap into the city, more and more cities may be looking to assist brands in nav...

Going the Distance: John Hancock & the Boston Marathon

For the 24th consecutive year, John Hancock was at the starting line of the Boston Maraton today. That may not come as a surprise given that John Hancock is about as Boston as Fenway with a Red Sox and Gilette stadium sponsorship rounding out all of the home town bases -John Hancock partnership overview. John Hancock's sports marketing director, Deb Maxfield discussed the pa...