How Scale And Smarter Hiring Created A $250M Sponsorship Juggernaut

Over the past few weeks, Live Nation CEO MIchael Rapino has been on the spring conference circuit talking up the company's sponsorship prospects. And there's a good reason for that. Despite reporting a $163 million loss in 2012, the sponsorship business reported impressive growth recording $164 million in profit on $248 million in revenue. In two of his most recent conference presentations, Ra...

Airline Asks For Paper Napkin Pitches

American Airlines recently found a novel relatively free way to tap into the genius down at SXSW in Austin. Partnering with start-up community, Wakefield, the airline created the American Airlines Paper Napkin Pitch Contest, which runs until March 12th and asks passengers to drop a napkin with their most creative ideas for AA into boxes located at the #newAmerican lounge at SXSW. In addition to...

Yar Har! Surrender the Sponsor

This past weekend, Scott Speed's 95 Ford Fusion featured an interesting paint scheme in Las Vegas. Across the back of the race car were the words: “Surrender the Sponsor" accompanied by a full black skull and cross bones. The paint scheme, intended to help the team generate interest from sponsors, has already worked with the team closing a couple of deals for future races, according to USA Toda...

WaPo, The Latest To Cash In On Sponsored Content

The Washington Post last week introduced “BrandConnect,” which allows marketers to offer content to Washington Post users and feature it on The Post’s homepage and throughout the site. CTIA-The Wireless Association is the first partner on board with this article. Though not always popular, the move is an increasingly common one for publishers looking to cash in on sponsored content. “With Bra...

GE Partners With NFL, Under Armour To Launch $20M Open Innovation Challenge

GE and the NFL today announced the Head Health Initiative, a four-year, $60 million collaboration to speed diagnosis and improve treatment for mild traumatic brain injury. The goal of the research and innovation program, guided by healthcare experts, is to improve the safety of athletes, members of the military and society overall. The initiative includes a four-year, $40 million research and ...

Live Nation Adds Exclusive Carbon Offset Provider

In an effort to make Live Nation's concert venues more environmentally sustainable, the live music company has added an exclusive carbon offset provider. JustGreen Lifestyle, a division of Ontario-based Just Energy, will audit 85 participating concert venues in the United States to evaluate energy use and purchase carbon offsets to bring the concerts carbon neutral. For the green energy company...

MSG Sells Entire Stake In Live Nation

The Madison Square Garden Company today announced in a curt statement that it has sold all of its approximately 3.9 million shares in Live Nation for net proceeds of approximately $44 million. The 3.9 million shares represent a stake of about 2% of Live Nation's outstanding stock. The move may not come as much of a surprise considering that Cablevision's Jim Dolan recently resigned from Live Na...

Did Olympic Medal Maker Bribe Its Way Into Beijing Games?

Looking to get a leg up in its biggest market, BHP Billiton spent millions to become the Diversified Metals and Minerals Sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, but more than four years after the Games' conclusion the Australian mining multinational is now the subject of a U.S. Justice Department investigation. According to the Associated Press, investigators are trying to determine whether Chinese go...

The Awesome Pepsi Prank That Got Two Million Views In A Single Day

Is this new viral video fake or not? The better question, who really cares! Check out this instant classic from Pepsi and Jeff Gordon, where one of the most famous drivers in NASCAR history dupes an unsuspecting car salesman into taking an unforgettable test drive. Hat tip: Jared Melzer #activationstag

Google, Adidas Team Up For Talking Shoe

Finally, a shoe with real personality. Google and Adidas recently teamed up to create a sneaker that offers up motivation. The snazzy sneakers track every move the user makes and generates data that’s captured using an accelerometer, gyroscope and pressure sensors. That data then gets pushed to a web app on your mobile phone and translated in real-time into funny and motivating commentary that...