The Sponsorship Deal That Has Left Wing Conspiracy Theorists Salivating

It isn't often that a sponsorship deal makes its way into election year politics, but this being an Olympic year with election mud slinging reaching an all time high and a candidate who has previously taken an activate role in selling major sponsorship deals; this may be the year. Mitt Romney, who has largely been credited with cleaning up and turning around the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee...

Check Out This Awesome Slideshow on The History of Olympic Sponsorship

Some big-name brands, such as Coca-Cola, have been linked to the Olympics for nearly 100 years. Take a look at how sponsorship first started, and how it has changed the Games. Watch at CNN >> #trendstag

Paddy Power Pushes Olympic Limits With Ambush Attempt

It's all fun and games until someone ends up going to court. Paddy Power, the betting brand infamous for its creative ambush tactics, is at it again with this billboard strategically placed in rail stations around London. The billboard, Paddy Power says, references the Paddy Power Egg-and-Spoon Race, not the Olympics. Here's the billboard in question.. LOCOG isn't laughing and has instructed...

NBA Scores Official Business Analytics Partner

The NBA is opening up more of its historical data, as well as enhanced real-time analytics, to the fans. Previously the domain of NBA employees, more in-depth statistics will be made available on NBA.com next season thanks to a new marketing partnership with German software giant, SAP. SAP will serve as the Official Business Analytics Software Partner of the NBA with its HANA product powering s...

Nike Skirts Ambush Issue By Taking On The Idea Of 'Official'

Nike yesterday launched a series of brilliant ads on YouTube for its "Find Your Greatness" campaign, which will soon run across the world in 25 different countries. Obviously, the campaign, which is also creating a social media stir under the hashtag #findgreatness, is released to coincide with the Olympics starting this weekend, but there's little chance you'll mistake Nike for an official spo...

VW Creates Beetle-Branded Shark Cage For Sponsorship of Shark Week

Volkswagen of America will be the presenting sponsor of Discovery Channel's 25th anniversary Shark Week this August and as part of the partnership, a special Shark Week-branded Volkswagen Beetle shark cage has been created by the automobile's engineering team to crawl the ocean floor in search of ocean predators. Volkswagen and Discovery Channel have been working with marine biologist and shar...

[VIDEO] Check Out Beckham's Adidas Photo Booth Stunt

Perhaps a slightly less intrusive take on the Adidas Netherlands stunt, the famed apparel brand brought David Beckham along to surprise UK fans who recently thought they were taking a fun photo to support Great Britain's Olympic team. #activationstag

The Gold For Most Inappropriate Olympic Sponsor Goes To...

According to a new study by market research firm, Research Now, McDonald's is most often identified as the most inappropriate Olympic sponsor. The study surveyed 7,200 respondents across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia to find that many consumers are confused about which companies are official Olympic sponsors, and believe that some are more “inappropria...

Performance-Enhancing Beer Pokes Fun At Olympic Partners

No stranger to stirring up sponsorship controversy, Scottish brewery, BrewDog, has come up with an interesting way to tap into the Olympic buzz. Tired of seeing fast food and sugary drink Olympic sponsors, the company created a 6.5% India Pale Ale infused with creatine, coffee, guarana, ginseng, gingo, maca powder, matcha tea and kola nut. Here's the viral video, which it seems may test the li...

Not To Be A Downer, But The World's 2nd Largest Ad Agency Is More Excited For Rio

While London 2012 has gotten all the hype in the run-up, many of the world's largest advertising agencies have been quietly making big moves over the past few years to capitalize on what is perceived to be a bigger prize, South America. One of those agencies is Interpublic Group. Brazil, over the next couple years offers what some to be the perfect confluence for marketers -- two of the world'...