Mayor's Forecast Says Municipal Marketing Worth $25 Million To Chicago

New Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is planning to ramp up advertising and sponsorship on prominent public property to help balance the city's books. His $6.3 billion budget assumes $25 million in revenues from “municipal marketing” and sponsorship deals. The Chicago Tribune reports that everything from building naming rights to the city's website, and even garbage cans and parking pay boxes are on ...

Bad Hair Day: Soccer Team Gets First-Ever QR Code Haircut For Sponsor

Betfair, never one to shy away from trying new things (see here, here and here), has signed a unique sponsorship deal to shave QR codes into the heads of Bromley FC players for the first round of this season's FA Cup. It is believed to be the first time that QR codes have been implemented via haircut. When scanned the QR codes will lead fans to the Betfair mobile site. Celebrity stylist Danie...

Here Are The Marketers That Are Making The Most of Veterans Day

Marketers are stepping up their game for Veterans Day, according to the New York Times, with more extensive sponsorship activations and cause-related promotions. Among the blue-chip brands celebrating Veterans Day this year are American Airlines, Applebee’s restaurants, Cheerios cereal, Heinz ketchup, Papa John’s pizza, Pringles chips and the Sam’s Club division of Wal-Mart Stores. There is eve...

Penn State Removes Sponsor Logos From Website

Sponsor logos, which were still being displayed on the Penn State Athletics' website as recently as Wednesday, have been removed from the school's sponsors page. Such a move may be expected as marketers cautiously watch the situation unfold and weigh their options. Citing the child abuse scandal at Penn State, at least one major advertiser has taken action to distance itself. Cars.com has ca...

The Six Golden Rules Of Naming Rights

With the recession, the velocity of naming rights deals seemed to wane, but over the past few months we've seen a resurgence in action, ranging from Mercedes Benz' recent deal to rename the New Orleans SuperDome to St. James Park's name change after 119 years. According to Synergy Sponsorship CEO Tim Crow, corporate sponsors should follow six golden rules when considering naming rights opportun...

Check Out IKEA's Manland Experiment

Everyone's favorite Scandinavian retailer recently came up with an inventive way to keep guys entertained while their wives and girlfriends shop. An IKEA Australia store launched a trial of something called "Manland" in September, complete with non-stop sports, a pinball machine and a foosball table. Wives and girlfriends got a buzzer like you might at a Chili's reminding them every 30 minutes ...

MasterCard Sponsors Sony Ericsson Open; Offers Cardholders Pre-Sale Window

MasterCard has signed a three-year sponsorship agreement with the Sony Ericsson Open to be the tournament’s official card and preferred payment method. As part of the sponsorship, MasterCard will offer its cardholders exclusive access to the global presale of tickets before they officially go on sale to the general public on January 2. The MasterCard exclusive ticket presale is taking place ...

Sponsors Suspend Payments To NBA Teams

Major sports sponsors are starting to react to the latest breakdown in NBA labor negotiations - with their wallets. MillerCoors, which has sponsorship deals with many NBA teams, announced on Monday that it will start withholding all payments to its NBA partners until a resolution to the lockout is found, while Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel also reports that Frontier Airlines has followed s...

This Major Apparel Brand Celebrates Sponsorships By Creating Co-Branded Beer

Coming on the heels of the beer it created for last year's World Cup, Puma has launched another bottled craft beer called KREECHR to celebrate its participation in the ongoing Volvo Ocean Race. The custom brew is being created in very limited quantities by Brewers & Union. “Brewers & Union has produced yet another fine craft beer, this time in support of Mar Mostro’s endeavours in the...

For The First Time, A Premier League Sponsor Will Donate Its Shirt Deal To Charity

Premier League club, Norwich City, will get a new look for its November 19th clash with the Arsenal. Aviva, which paid millions to become the kit sponsor in 2008, will donate its shirt to Railway Children, an international charity that exists to help children and young people living alone and at risk on the streets. Friday's game will reportedly be the first time a commercial sponsor has gifte...