Formula One Sponsors Face Massive PR Problem As Bahrain Protests Rage

Companies typically spend well into the six and seven figures for high-priced hospitality at any one of 20 Formula One events throughout the year, but hospitality at the Bahrain Grand Prix is off around 80% according to one agency's estimate and bigger concerns loom. More pressing than the sunken hospitality costs though from a marketing perspective, is the PR backlash that many sponsors are...

Want A Dream Sponsorship Internship This Summer?

Calling the next great wave of promising sponsorship professionals! NFL and IOC credit card sponsor, Visa, is looking for a couple social media-minded sponsorship interns this summer. You can see both opportunities and apply here. If you'd rather intern at a slightly smaller company, send us your resume at hireme@sponsorpitch.com. SponsorPitch interns will get a close-up look into everything s...

Mexican Town Celebrates Cinco de Mayo With Unique Sponsorship

Puebla, the Mexican city where the May 5th, 1862 Battle of Puebla occurred, will commemorate the 150th anniversary of Mexico's victory over the French in a unique way. City officials have teamed up with Golden Boy Promotions to sponsor “Ring Kings: Mayweather vs. Cotto” in Las Vegas on May 5th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. It's the first time the City of Puebla has sponsored a boxing event. ...

Starbucks Expands To Theme Parks With Latest Partnership

Starbucks is set to bring cappuccinos to Walt Disney Theme Parks. The companies today announced that Starbucks will open six cafés as part of the company's latest push into non-traditional venues. In recent months, the coffee maker has extended distribution points beyond typical retail channels, having this winter launched partnerships in the air and on the ski slopes. It seems the latest ide...

The Question They Never Ask About Olympic Sponsorship

The Olympics is a corporate whorefest that has sold out to global greenwashers and sinister branded-Childcatchers forcefeeding our kids burgers, sweets and fizzy pop. An unintended feature of Locog’s PR campaign is that each date in the ‘Days to Go’ calendar brings with it a news hook allowing the media to give corporate sponsorship a kicking. Some of this is justified, reasoned criticism and ...

Music Festival Sponsorship: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

We have been talking a lot about music sponsorship here at Slingshot. Mainly because we are knee-deep in a couple of very exciting music projects, but also because everyone is gearing up for festival season. Mostly I have been consumed with which festival to go to for our agency’s second birthday, but I have also been having some interesting conversations with both brands and rights holders o...

Did $30K Bribe Help Nike Win Sponsorship?

That's what recent media reports indicate. A Nike China marketing executive is again coming under scrutiny for allegedly providing a $30,000 bribe that according to reports may have helped Nike secure title sponsorship of the Chinese Super League. The investigation stems from charges against a former Chinese Football Association chief, Xie Yalong, who allegedly accepted over 1.7 million yuan in...

P&G Extends NFL Sponsorship To Detergent

Fun PR stat alert. The average NFL team cleans more than 5,500 pounds of laundry each week! So it comes as no surprise that Cincinnati-based Procter and Gamble has elected to extend its wide-ranging sponsorship of the NFL to make Tide the league's "Official Laundry Detergent." The multi-year sponsorship, beginning with the 2012 NFL season, will also see Tide be the first P&G brand to become...

[VIDEO] BP Protestors Hijack Stage Over Shakespeare Sponsorship

Think you're having a bad day? This has to be an event organizers worst nightmare. It seems protesters of BP's sponsorship of the World Shakespeare Festival jumped on stage pre-show and gave their own rendition of the Tempest, complete with costumes and all. Curiously, it seems they weren't immediately removed from the stage and even drew some applause. Maybe the audience thought it was all jus...

Sponsorship Drives Results For B2B Marketers

The marketing mix has, for most of us, become decidedly more complex over the last fifteen years. This holds for business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) marketers alike. B2B marketers are more active in channels they might have dismissed as ineffective half a generation ago. Professional service and engineering firms, industrial equipment manufacturers, and commercial insure...