IEG’s Sponsorship Blogs

How Social Media Is Profoundly Impacting Sponsorship

Posted: 3/12/2010 3:30:02 PM by Lesa Ukman | with 0 comments

I will be conducting a workshop at IEG’s Unbound conference on how sponsors and rightsholders are effectively using social media to engage and connect with fans. And on April 15, I will be in London for a similar session with Burson Marsteller on the topic.

In preparing for those discussions, I have come across a great many examples that demonstrate the depth and breadth of these extensions. Here are a few:

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Filed under: cause marketing, digital media, new media, trends, activation

Not Sold on Lewis Hamilton’s Secret Life

Posted: 3/11/2010 4:06:04 PM by Jon Kander | with 0 comments

Formula 1 driver, Lewis Hamilton, and Reebok unveiled an alternate reality game (ARG) yesterday called Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life. Hamilton is the central character in this game, which allows its users to experience a facet of Hamilton’s “life” beyond being a Formula 1 driver. The overall goal of the game is to help Lewis train and prepare to recover priceless artworks, sculptures and manuscripts from thieves. Apparently (or as Reebok would like you to believe), Hamilton is a big “The Thomas Crown Affair” fan and bypassing museum security/stealing priceless artifacts is his secret passion.

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Filed under: branded content, motorsports, new media, non-traditional categories, social media, sports, activation

Is the Social Media Trend the Shiny Object Distracting Us From the Real Marketing Revolution – Mobile? Perhaps.

Posted: 3/11/2010 11:32:49 AM by Carrie Urban Kapraun | with 0 comments

I had a light bulb moment earlier this week when I read a document called Mobile Mania (A Manual for the Second Internet Revolution) produced by Simon Silvester of Y&R (a WPP agency). It seems simple enough, but one of my take-aways was that I (we) need to start thinking of mobile devices as portable, very personal mini-computers, not as smart phones – meaning mobile devices are the evolution of computers, not the evolution of cell phones. It really is a major distinction. Everything that we do on computers and the internet will be available on mobile devices and will be improved by the personalization, immediacy and mobility that these portable devices provide.

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Filed under: olympics, activation

Are NASCAR Feuds Good For Sponsorship?

Posted: 3/9/2010 11:47:34 AM by Vinu Joseph | with 1 comments

After watching this crash by NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Kobalt 500, you might be left thinking the same thing I did: “Wow, his sponsor must love all that additional exposure.”

Actually, I was wondering how incidents like this one square with the sport’s efforts to maintain its fan base and, of course, attract sponsors.

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Filed under: NASCAR, pro sports, activation

Increased Activity around Participatory Sports Events by Amica Insurance and What it Could Mean for Properties

Posted: 3/5/2010 1:20:46 PM by Carrie Urban Kapraun | with 0 comments

Since 2008, Amica Insurance, based in Rhode Island, has really stepped up its marketing activity around participatory sports events, specifically triathlons and marathons. In 2010, Amica is the title sponsor of no less than 13 events across the U.S., including a series of 10 sprint distance triathlons, an Ironman 70.3 and two marathons. What is also interesting is that almost all of these events did not exist before 2008.

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Filed under: events, marathon, sports, agency

2010 Could Be The Year Of The CPG In Sponsorship

Posted: 3/4/2010 10:05:54 AM by Jim Andrews | with 1 comments

(This blog post originally appeared as an opinion column in IEG Sponsorship Report on Feb. 19, 2010)

I know the Chinese lunar calendar says it is the Year of the Tiger, but my more prosaic outlook says properties should be paying attention to packaged goods marketers these next few months, as they are primed to step up sponsorship and activation spending.

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Filed under: prospecting

Just Because you Aren’t an Endemic Sponsor, Doesn’t Mean You Can’t Be Endemic to the Overall Sports Experience

Posted: 3/3/2010 5:11:27 PM by Jon Kander | with 0 comments

In a down economy, companies are forced more and more to make their sponsorships relevant and meaningful. Companies who are endemic to a particular sport are a natural fit for those particular sponsorship opportunities. However, for companies whose businesses do not naturally fit into the sports experience, they have to be a little more creative with how they activate their sponsorship platforms to make their presence meaningful to the fans and attendees. In particular, companies within the consumer and B2B technology and communications categories have done a great job of leveraging their sponsorship opportunities and made themselves largely endemic to the sports experience.

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Filed under: pro sports, sports, trends, activation

Coca-Cola Steps Up, Then Steps Into Hot Water

Posted: 3/3/2010 4:35:57 PM by Vinu Joseph | with 0 comments

Those familiar with African-American step-dancing likely know its importance among traditionally African-African fraternities and sororities. Stepshows can offer rousing competition, but they mainly serve to bring people together and highlight the organizations’ shared values and goals. So putting on a step competition would seem like a slam dunk for a company interested in connecting with an audience of young, educated and influential African-American men and women.

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Filed under: backlash, soft drink, arts

Paid, Owned And Earned: Sponsorship Delivers All Types Of Media

Posted: 3/3/2010 1:36:34 PM by Jim Andrews | with 0 comments

(This blog post originally appeared as an opinion column in IEG Sponsorship Report on Feb. 2, 2010)

During a meeting with folks from the media buying world in New York, I was introduced to the idea of categorizing media into one of three buckets: paid, owned and earned.

While those descriptors are fairly self-explanatory, Forrester Research has developed definitions for each that are very helpful to those who want to explore the idea in greater depth.

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Filed under: new media, social media, trends, what is sponsorship, assets

Why Motorsports Teams Should “Trade Paint” With Art Museums

Posted: 3/3/2010 1:12:49 PM by Diane Knoepke | with 0 comments

Hallelujah and thank you, Bill Taylor. I read his great Harvard Business Review blog post yesterday on idea-swapping outside the immediate field (or sector or industry) we work in. If there’s any Kool-Aid you are open to drinking today, let this be it.

While I suggest you read the full post—he has good anecdotes about companies employing the strategy—his last paragraph sums up his point.

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Filed under: associations, cause marketing, entertainment, how to get sponsorship, motorsports, non-traditional categories, sports, arts