Latest Thinking from IEG

Komen Controversy's Lessons For Sponsors
Having enjoyed many years of a productive partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the organization’s corporate partners are no doubt feeling blindsided by this week’s firestorm over SGK’s decision to no longer provide funding to Planned Parenthood.

More >

Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, social media, backlash

Paterno’s Legacy And The Big Question For Sports And Sports Marketers
My family and I moved to the suburbs of Pittsburgh when I was nine and Joe Paterno was already many years into becoming a football and Pennsylvania legend.

More >

Filed under: college sports, pro sports, sports, backlash

What’s the Worst Cause Deal Ever? That’s an Easy One
I was recently asked to name the most damaging cause marketing deal of the past two decades. That dubious honor goes to Sunbeam's alliance with the American Medical Assn.

More >

Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, backlash

Black Mark for BlackBerry: What RIM Did Wrong In Venezuela Sponsorship Snafu
I never suspected the trove of classified government communications trickling out through WikiLeaks would contain a sponsorship story, but a recently released February 2010 cable from the U.S. embassy in Caracas, Venezuela tells a tale with valuable lessons for sponsors.

More >

Filed under: backlash, Canada, contracts, international, media sponsorship, negotiating, telecommunications, arts

Pepsi Refresh Still Plagued by Bad Practices
My IEG Consulting Group colleagues and I have been pleased to help hundreds of nonprofits— from UNICEF and World Wildlife Fund to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the American Heart Assn.—generate millions of dollars in nontraditional revenue. We also have teamed with some of the world’s leading brands to value, measure and maximize their ROI on nonprofit partnerships.

More >

Filed under: beverage, cause marketing, social media, soft drink, backlash

Why Leagues Should Not Regulate Team Sponsorships

English Premier League club Manchester City recently signed a 10-year deal—which includes title of the team’s stadium and shirt sponsorship—with Etihad, Abu Dhabi’s national airline, for the princely sum of £300 million ($482 million), according to media reports.

More >

Filed under: international, naming rights, pro sports, valuation, backlash

AT&T Crosses a Line in Asking Nonprofits to Lobby for Merger

Politico reported last Friday on AT&T’s efforts to build support in Washington for its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile by leveraging the tens of millions of dollars it gives nonprofits.

More >

Filed under: cause marketing, nonprofit, strategic philanthropy, telecommunications, backlash

Risk/Reward: FIFA’s Troubles and Their Impact on Corporate Partners

When asked seven months ago about the risks of sponsoring FIFA in the midst of bid fixing allegations, the head of legal promotions for Adidas global sports marketing, Jens Jacobsen Jensen, speaking at the European Sponsorship Assn. conference, asserted that the public separates sponsors from controversies surrounding sponsored properties. Adidas was not considering pulling its deal, he said.

More >

Filed under: legislation, backlash

A Reasonable Solution To The Indy 500 Sponsorship Row

I have been holding my breath for a week now, but I think it’s time to let it out.

More >

Filed under: backlash, motorsports, servicing, soft drink, activation

Soulful Selling: Morgan Spurlock and A Day at the Zoo

I spent Friday morning in Philly in meetings with an IEG Consulting client, the Philadelphia Zoo. Though I was really there to talk sponsorship, I admit the day’s highlights included excitedly waving at a black leopard and cooing to an adorable baby giraffe. Life is good.

More >

Filed under: branded content, branded entertainment, entertainment, how to get sponsorship, museums/zoos/aquariums, backlash