Banned Vodka Keeps Launch Sponsorship Anyway

Utah-based vodka Five Wives Vodka had planned to celebrate its launch in Idaho with a sponsorship of the Boise Music Festival, but after the Idaho Liquor Control Division banned the product's sale throughout the state the Five Wives threatened to pull the sponsorship. In making the ruling, state officials had called the product "offensive to a broad segment of our population." However, vow...

How One Company Is Using Game Mechanics To Refresh A Six Year Old Sponsorship

Gaming is big business. So big in fact that all kinds of businesses/sponsors that you wouldn't normally associate with gaming are looking to in some way "gamify" their interactions with consumers - even stodgy old healthcare companies. So it stands to reason that those same companies would look for new ways to weave game layers into their tired old sponsorship activations. One of the largest p...

Plumbing Company Finds Perfect Fit With Urinetown Partnership

Think your job is tough selling sponsorship? Try pitching a musical named Urinetown. Even with all the Tony Awards, it's not exactly an easy sell to the upscale brands that normally sponsor shows. So Kansas City's the Theatre in the Park turned to the next best and most logical prospect -- a local plumbing company -- and ended up landing a unique title sponsorship for its July run of the show. ...

IBM Ends Its NFL Sponsorship Over Difference In Views

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) has ended its information-technology sponsorship of the National Football League because of differing views over how the partnership should be handled. “We determined that our respective views on how the NFL should manage the IT sponsorship were too different and we decided not to renew our agreement,” said Chris Andrews, a spokesman for IBM. Re...

High School Sports Network Raises $11.7M To Stream Live Events

iHigh.com, the high school sports broadcasting platform run run by Jim Host, has received $11.7M in funding from Cox Media Group to build out a platform that distributes high school sports video content online. In the process, the company hopes to allow high schools to tap into marketing budgets while providing a scalable, one stop shop for advertisers to interact with students and parents. ...

Nike, Xbox Team Up To Bring Personal Training Into Your Home

Yesterday at E3, Nike and Xbox announced plans to bring personalized training into the home through a new collaborative product called Nike+ Kinect Training. Using Kinect for Xbox 360 the training software will track in home workouts, providing real-time feedback whenever you work out. Users will be able to earn NikeFuel points, connect with friends and with Fuel Print, measure against fitness ...

Intrepid Gets Sponsor For Space Shuttle Arrival

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum has signed Time Warner Cable as an official sponsor of Space Shuttle Enterprise’s 2012 arrival into New York City and of its Space Shuttle Pavilion home currently being built on top of the museum’s flight deck. The sponsorship announcement coincides with the Enterprise’s current voyage via a pulled barge from JFK Airport to the Intrepid. In addition t...

Watch This Stunning Projection Instillation Turn Architecture Into Art

URBANSCREEN, the German design collective that turns architecture into elaborate 3D projections is at it again with what may be one of their most challenging assignments yet. The design group was recently tasked with transforming the Sydney Opera House with an augmented reality instillation called Lighting of the Sails. This interview with Daniel Rossa and Max Goergen URBANSCREEN explains h...

Would You Blow This Up At Your Event For A Sponsorship Deal?

Earlier in the week we wrote about Kansas City's Theatre in the Park, which we mentioned was planning to showcase an inflatable toilet as part of their Urinetown sponsorship with a local plumbing company. Annie at Bob Hamilton Plumbing + Heating + A/C + Rooter was kind enough to send over this shot of the blow-up that will accompany the sponsorship. #activationstag

Adidas Looks To Tell Soccer Stories With Tumblr

Adidas is taking advantage of Tumblr's new promotion capabilities to activate its sponsorship of Euro 2012. Through adidasfootball.tumblr.com fans will get an inside look at cutting edge video content from the world of soccer. Adidas will use Tumblr's ‘Radar’ section as well as premium space in the Tumblr ‘Spotlight' to draw fans to regularly updated video content. Tumblr and adidas announced ...