Women's Tennis' Race Against the Clock

In a clever stunt to promote the Rogers Cup, Flowe Experience turned one of the world's busiest intersections into a regulation size tennis court, with two top WTA stars to boot - Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic. The challenge was Flowe had only a thirty minute permit for Yonge Street, which created a frenzied media environment. Not such a bad thing for Sony Ericsson, who had signage t...

Deal Flow 8-20-2009

The Buffalo Bills announced a new partnership agreement with SANYO. SANYO will be the official electronics and HDTV provider of the Buffalo Bills. American Airlines announced a three-year marketing partnership that establishes it as the official airline and official sponsor of the New England Patriots, the New England Revolution, and Gillette Stadium. Sprint Cup race at Dover International S...

Is Sponsorship Hard Work?

Today we’re going to address another concern we get asked about a lot: "Is Sponsorship Hard Work?" I think the fear is that finding, servicing and activating sponsorships might become a cumbersome nuisance, and I'm here to tell you that such is not the case. Sure there will be times when you run across a sponsor that is … um, shall we say, "extremely user-friendly" – and we can talk about ho...

Joe and Clark get set to jet. Sponsor search is on.

You knew someone would take it "a bit too far" when Jet Blue announced their version of all-you-can-eat, earlier this month. According to Time Magazine, Joe DiNardo, a marketing executive at a Buffalo, N.Y.-based financial firm, and his friend Clark Dever, a self-described rogue technologist, are just the "someone." The two friends have mapped out a month long quest to visit as many cities as ...

2 Priorities for Improving Your Sponsorship Programs

Some positive economic indicator may be signaling the beginning of a rebound. Or maybe not, but we can only hope. Nevertheless, now is the good time to focus on improving your nonprofit corporate sponsorship program, especially if you suspect it lacks value. Here are two important priorities for making improvements; you’ll find additional suggestions in my guidebook, How to Jump-start Your S...

Deal Flow 8-19-2009

Aeroflot will be the official airline of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, pledging $100 million in money and services between 2009 and 2016. The Toronto International Film Festival has announced P&G Beauty and Skyy Vodka as official sponsors. Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment has signed MasterCard Canada as the title sponsor of the new Maple Leafs practice facility. Canada’s Olympic B...

Opportunity is Knocking. Will Anyone Answer?

The big news this week was the SEC’s release of its new media policy. This should not be confused with its “new media” policy. No, the SEC took steps to ensure it didn’t really have a “new media” policy, by essentially recoiling into the comfort zone that is the status quo, with its new media policy. Namely, it wants to protect the interests of its media partners and their advertisers, by ad...

Toyota Prius Partners with L.A. Freeways

Increasingly, we're seeing marketers recognizing that they can do good for both their brand and the public through thematically appropriate public-private partnerships. Yesterday Toyota and government officials unveiled a vivid roadside display made up of more than 20,000 live flowers, along the Pasadena Freeway (SR-110) in downtown Los Angeles with Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, officials fr...

Report: P&G Wrapping Up U.S.O.C. Deal

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that P&G is close to inking a deal with the U.S.O.C. that will allow them to put the Olympic rings to work on a wide range of P&G products for Vancouver 2010. This comes on the heels of the company's 13 brand deal with the NFL announced earlier this month and could be the biggest sponsorship to date for the U.S.O.C. Given the wide ranging demographic int...

Deal Flow 8-18-2009

The Breeders' Cup announced today that Dos Equis has agreed to become the official Beer sponsor of the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Championships. As part of the agreement, Dos Equis will have exclusive marketing rights on-site at Santa Anita Park for the 25th running of the Breeders' Cup World Championships to be held October 24-25, 2008. Women’s Professional Soccer and the U.S. Coast Guard annou...