Coca-Cola Raises Point-of-Sale Activation

Coca-Cola reported earnings of $1.896 billion (as comparted to $1.890 billion y/y), but 6% lower revenue, in some part due to foreign currency exchange. In this morning's Coca-Cola Q3 conference call, Chairman & CEO Muhtar Kent, offered up three partnership strategies that the company is applying to fight the headwinds of slower consumer spending, specifically at point of purchase: "I also...

Delta Lands at MSG

Delta, today, expanded its push into New York City by becoming the the first "Signature Partner" of the renovated Madison Square Garden. As part of the deal, Delta will be the "official airline" of Madison Square Garden and will receive a custom-branded presence in the renovated Garden and a significant presence across all MSG properties, including its venues, professional sports teams, televis...

FourSquare: Social Media for Cause Marketing

Of all the different social media tools I’ve tried (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc.), a new one I just started using, Foursquare, probably has the most potential for cause marketers. Why? Because the backbone of Foursquare is the businesses at which its members visit, check-in and score points. When you pop into a store, bar or restaurant you can earn points, badges or can even become...

Wonderful Pistachios Get Stackin'

Wonderful Pistachios has signed up a triple threat as part of its latest campaign to show the healthy snack benefits of pistachios. Coming on the heels of its $15 million "Get Crackin'" advertising campaign debut featuring Olympic swimmer Dara Torres and Miss Teen South Carolina, Wonderful Pistachios announced plans to roll out a grass-roots presenting sponsorship of the World Sport Stacking A...

One Spoken Word Can Make A Difference

This past week I enjoyed a terrific phone conversation with Butch Bellah, a sports team colleague of mine and current general manager of the arenafootball2 Bossier-Shreveport BattleWings in Louisiana. We both met through Facebook and then reconnected through LinkedIn. The conversation began with Butch inquiring about my hockey club's first-ever attempt at creating a “Facebook Members” party f...

Will Marketers Finally Free Wifi?

If you're tired of paying hourly rates for your internet connection, sponsored wifi which by many accounts struggled at best as a standalone business concept, may be making a comeback as a marketing one. Last week, we ran into a pop-up hotspot from Coke and Delta in the trendy meatpacking district. With Google's announcement today that they'll be providing sponsored wifii for Virgin America fli...

Ownership Change Impacts iShares 2010 Plans

iShares, a coveted ETF platform, announced yesterday that the company will not renew its three year old partnership with Europe's Extreme 40 Sailing Series due to its pending acquisition by powerhouse asset management firm, Blackrock. AccRick Andrews, head of iShares marketing, Europe, told Cowes Online: "With a change in company ownership of iShares coming on 1 December, we are unable to comm...

Deal Flow 10/17/09-10/19/09

Staples has extended its sponsorship of the Staples Center, with AEG, "in perpetuity." AEG contends that the arrangement is "the first lifetime naming rights extension for a major market arena." Morgan Stanley will once against activate its $5 million presenting sponsorship of the Dublin, Ohio PGA Tour stop. Nike and FedEx have renewed sponsorships with the NBA heading into the 2009-2010 sea...

How Well Does Loyalty Scale?

Anybody who has worked in an agency that recommends sponsorships to brand clients -- especially those that get paid commissions on them -- has seen it. Anybody who has worked for a brand has lived it. The “bigger is better, let’s get a big national property and leverage it locally” mentality reigns supreme in sponsorship marketing. It’s easier for a brand, and much easier for an agency to...

Budweiser Cross-Promotes Core Properties

It seems while many sponsors are slimming down sponsorship portfolios in deal numbers, some are increasingly attempting to make their core deals work harder via cross-property promotions. Here's one example, this coming February Budweiser will celebrate U.S. Olympians with a special Olympic paint scheme on Kasey Kahne's No. 9 Budweiser Team USA Ford in the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 and t...