Latest Thinking from IEG

Five Relevant Lessons from Red Bull on Using Digital to Activate Sponsorships
The Red Bull Stratos mission— that saw Felix Baumgartner jump from more than 23 miles above the earth on Oct. 14, 2012—did not just break the world records for longest distance free fall, highest jump from a platform and maximum vertical velocity, it was the biggest digital live event on record, raising the bar on how brands can activate sponsorships in social media.

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Filed under: beverage, branded content, digital media, events, social media, sponsored content, activation

Heineken’s Smart Approach To Sponsorship Activation
While in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago, I dropped in on Hans Erik Tuijt, global manager of activation for Heineken and a speaker at IEG’s 2012 sponsorship conference.

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Filed under: beer, branded content, digital media, events, festivals, IEG conference, international, music, new media, research, sponsored content, sponsorship measurement, sponsorship ROI, activation

Why Content Matters
Competition for content is skyrocketing among sponsors, rightsholders, broadcasters and new media. Reasons include: cheap bandwidth, the proliferation of tablets and smartphones, new broadcast forms such as IPTV and web TV, new distribution outlets—Google and Apple are bringing their own TV subsidiaries onto the market—and the need for content to populate owned media.

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Filed under: branded content, digital media, new media, social media, sponsored content, trends, activation

Sponsorship Activation Meets Gamification

Combine geolocation, image recognition and augmented reality technologies with smartphone adoption—31 percent of mobile users have one, according to eMarketer—add in massive gaming participation (183 million Americans report playing a game for an hour per day, according to author Jane McGonigal), and it is no surprise that we are seeing more sponsors use games to activate their sponsorships.

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Filed under: digital media, new media, sponsored content, trends, activation

Smart TVs: The Next Sponsorship-related Content Battleground

The point at which corporate marketers began looking at properties as content providers, in addition to being sources of traditional benefits, was a watershed moment in sponsorship.

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Filed under: digital media, negotiating, sponsored content, trends, assets

Who Dropped The Social Gaming Ball?

Sports rightsholders are missing the boat on social gaming—free games played with friends asynchronously (meaning two can play even if one of you is not online).

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Filed under: digital media, new media, sponsored content, trends, assets

Maximizing the Value of Social Media Sponsorship

As a property, incorporating sponsors into your social media presence is a logical way to enhance sponsorship value.

However, similar to the old adage that you can’t put the horse before the cart, you cannot successfully incorporate sponsors into social media without a well-established social media presence.

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Filed under: digital media, social media, sponsored content, activation

Should Art Have Brand Attributes?

According to this article from the Vancouver Sun, Absolut is holding a $120,000 competition for an artist to develop a work of art or project for the city of Vancouver. The effort seems like a natural fit, considering Absolut’s history of collaboration with artists.

Still the program highlights the continuing tension between artistic freedom and corporate patronage. As the Sun article points out, the artists’ proposals are expected to reflect Absolut’s brand values and to incorporate Absolut in some meaningful—though not overtly commercial—way.

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Filed under: branded content, sponsored content, arts

Social Media and Sponsorship Join Forces for Marquette Basketball

This past week, Marquette University started posting from a Pepsi-sponsored Twitter account focusing on the home opener for its men’s basketball team.

This development is unique in that very few (successful) forays have been made into the world of sponsored social media.

So far, the only evidence of Pepsi involvement is a Pepsi logo and the text “Pepsi Season Opener” on the Twitter page. There have been no tweets or links posted regarding Pepsi or the sponsorship and the posts have largely focused on information aimed at building excitement around opening night.

If the user’s window is not maximized, the Pepsi logo and blurb receives little visibility, as it is mostly shrouded by text display.

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Filed under: digital media, new media, social media, sponsored content, sports, trends, activation

Sponsor Mighty, Dancing, Working, Little Old ME!

For the past year it’s been my personal obsession to keep tabs on everyday Jane’s and Joe’s who’ve managed to do the extraordinary and find ways to pursue their dreams and passions by getting themselves sponsored. The kind of “self-sponsorship” I’m talking about isn’t the sleazy “place an ad here (insert body part) and I’ll promote your brand in my online video” type — it is inspired, quirky and refreshing.

My ears first perked up when I heard Stride gum was sponsoring a guy named Matt who had a goal to dance around the globe (you can check Matt out here: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/?fbid=8uJc6NDGCmR). Stride worked its “Ridiculously long lasting” catch phrase with Matt’s non-stop dancing; exchanged funding for low key advertising in Matt’s online videos; and earned the brand one hell of an interesting spokesperson. As for Matt, well, he got to dance.

Then I learned of another guy, this one named Daniel, who was a bit indecisive in the career department and was looking to “Live the Map.” Daniel’s goal? Travel the 50 states and work 50 jobs in 50 weeks (learn about Daniel here: http://www.livingthemap.com/Living_the_Map/Why.html). The details of Daniel’s sponsorship situation aren’t quite as explicit but he’s sporting a relatively sophisticated web site with t-shirts for sale, professional travel advice and major media outlet coverage (Fox News, CNN, CBS, The Today Show, etc.) which certainly ups his sponsorability factor.

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Filed under: non-traditional categories, sponsored content, new media