Captivating Connections.

can colbert save speed skating?

He's certianly going to try...

"On Monday night's Colbert Report, the mock-blowhard host of the Comedy Central show announced that he will ask his loyal fans to donate money to the U.S. Speedskating team, whose largest commercial cash sponsor, Dutch bank DSB, just went belly-up. (Colbert snarkily referred to DSB as 'Deposit Savings in Bong') In exchange for the publicity and potential revenue, Colbert Nation logos will be stitched onto the suits of both long-track and short-track skaters during World Cup competitions before the Olympics. Right now, the long-track team is preparing for a competition in Berlin, while the short trackers are in Montreal for a meet. 'We are scrambling like crazy to get the logos on the uniforms this weekend,' says U.S. Speedskating executive director Bob Crowley."

is tailgating the new marketing hotspot?

I'm from Balimore, and it still always impresses me when I go home to "Ravenstown" and see the rapid fans (including my friends and family) more or less live their lives (or at least weekends) by how the Ravens do.

Media Life recognizes the power of the tailgate, and has written an article positioning it as the new 'it' marketing spot:

"Now, two weeks into the NFL season, is a great time for marketers to reach out to fans who turn up at stadiums to cheer their teams on, and that doesn't necessarily mean spending huge dollars on signage in the stadium itself.

Another way to reach them, and at far less cost, is before the game starts when they’re tailgating in the stadium parking lot.

And besides cost, there are other advantages to targeting tailgaters. They're largely male, they're in a receptive mood, if not downright joyous in anticipation of seeing their team play, and they're not watching a game, as they would much of the time inside the stadium. They're talking with their buddies.

And the advertiser doesn't have to commit for the whole season. They can do one weekend or several, or all of the home games, and that makes it even more cost efficient.

In a typical tailgate campaign, street teams will be sent in to mingle with fans, talk up the product, and hand out fliers and samples. The advertiser might also hire a plane to tow a message around in the sky.

To find out how to get your client’s message in front of NFL tailgaters, read on."

is williams safe?

It's usually the case that, when a celebrity "goes wild" or acts out, sponsors shy away from them. This may not be the case for tennis' Serena Williams...

"Most marketing experts believe tennis star Serena Williams isn't in danger of losing any of her estimated $12 million in annual endorsement deals after her profane outburst at the U.S. Open -- none of her sponsors dropped her, and Nike and Kraft Foods put out a statement of support."

And it doesn't sound like they're planning on it.

Ms. Williams has marketing deals with Nike, Wilson Sporting Goods Co., Hewlett-Packard and Gatorade. She also owns and designs her own clothing line, Aneres. Kraft Foods, which sponsors Ms. Williams through its Oreo Double Stuff Racing League, in which she and sister Venus Williams are pitted against Eli and Peyton Manning, is also standing by her. Company spokesman Basil Maglaris said, 'We're glad to see Serena Williams has taken responsibility for her actions and we continue to work with her.'

Nike noted that Ms. Williams apologized almost immediately after the outburst and said 'she let her emotions get the best of her. Nike stands behind Serena and looks forward to her outstanding career continuing.' A Wilson spokeswoman at company headquarters in Chicago declined to comment to AdAge.com; other sponsors could not be reached at press time.

But experts don't fear a backlash. 'I tend to think she is in no danger of losing her endorsements,' said Robert Boland, clinical assistant professor of Sports Management at New York University. Mr. Boland even referred to an on-court interview conducted by Patrick McEnroe after Ms. Williams teamed with her sister, Venus, to win the U.S. Open women's doubles championship a day after her tirade. Mr. McEnroe asked about the outburst and was booed by the crowd.

'I don't see it having any negative effects on her long-term marketability, though I'd expect her current sponsors may want to limit her visibility until Americans lose interest in this scandal and move on to the next,' said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director for San Francisco-based Baker Street Advertising. 'It's also possible that this could lead to new endorsement opportunities for her in the same way that Brett Favre's off-season indecision [about retiring] found its way into a Sears ad [in the 30-second spot, Mr. Favre spends hours deciding whether to buy a new TV]. Serena's outburst could become the subject of a campaign for an anti-perspirant, herbal tea, mattress or other product designed to help you stay cool, calm and relaxed.'"

What do you think?

march madness leads to online boost.

March Madness caused quite an online impact:

"The recent NCAA college basketball tournament in the US caused significant spikes in selected sports websites in March 2009, according to The Nielsen Company, which reported increases in both month-over-month (MoM) and year-over-year (YoY) traffic for CBS Sports, ESPN and Yahoo Sports, reports MarketingCharts.

Monitoring traffic to these three major web properties reveals that CBS Sports had 15.1 million unique visitors in March 2009, a 70% spike in activity over February 2009 and a 20% increase over March 2008. ESPN had 19.8 million unique visitors, a 34% MoM increase and a 16% YoY increase. Yahoo Sports had 19.4 million visitors, a 2% MoM increase and a 31% YoY boost."

disney partnering with you tube

Even Disney is getting in on the online video action now:

"Disney Media Networks and YouTube announced an agreement Monday that includes the launch of multiple ad-supported channels featuring short-form content from ESPN and the Disney/ABC Television Group.

Disney Media Networks will have the option to sell their own advertising inventory within the Disney/ABC and ESPN channels, according to a joint statement issued by the companies.

The channel rollout is scheduled to begin in mid-April for ESPN and early May for the Disney/ABC Television Group channels, which will include ABC Entertainment, ABC News, ABC Family and SOAPnet. Reviews of what will be available can be viewed at www.YouTube.com/ABC and www.YouTube.com/ESPN."

pepsuber.

Anyone who watches "Saturday Night Live" saw the Pepsi-infused "MacGruber" sketches. What suprised me was that the same sketches were then used for the Super Bowl the next day...

"In a move that some viewers considered shocking, cast and crew from the Peacock Network's venerable 'Saturday Night Live' crafted three ads for Pepsi that essentially grafted mentions, cans and logos of the famous soda into three different executions of 'MacGruber,' a long-running spoof of the old 'MacGyver' TV series. The ads looked just like 'SNL' skits but ran during commercial breaks on the Jan. 31 edition of the show. One of the ads also appeared during the recent Super Bowl. Pepsi's ad agency, Omnicom Group's TBWA/Chiat/Day, had little if any involvement in the commercials."

It seemed that people were really shocked SNL went along with it, especially when they're known for making fun of commercials.

"As creator and executive producer of 'Saturday Night Live,' Mr. Michaels also is concerned about the integrity of his long-running program, which regularly skewers Madison Avenue hyperbole with a steady barrage of parody ads. For that reason, he said, the Pepsi work could never run in the program itself. 'It was very clear that it was a commercial, and I thought for our audience it was fun. I don't believe it compromised the integrity of 'MacGruber,'' he said.

But it seems clear that this sort of thing is unorthodox for the man whose program has strong anti-establishment roots. 'These are perilous times,' said Mr. Michaels, who added that he normally has little interaction with NBC's ad-sales department. 'The network is going through transition,' he added. 'I'll do whatever is necessary to support the network.'"

What do you think?

and the best ad goes to...

Alright, kids, so here comes the question of the day (which I'm sure you'll get 100 times): What was your favorite ad from last night?

AdAge has been kind enough to post them all here in case you need your memories refreshed.

The NYTimes seemed less than impressed, citing that everything was sort of just 'meh'. As they put it:

"To paraphrase a line from the movie 'Sabrina,' you could pick some ads out of a hat blindfolded and come up with better ones." Ouch.

Ok, whatever, I'm not sure how many of them really wowed me, but, I have to say, the Hulu ad was my favorite...Alec Baldwin, a 30 Rock clip, REAL humor in an ad...how can you go wrong? I also though (nerd alert) that it was SO COOL how an online video site actually advertised...remember not so long ago when people laughed at Hulu and thought a corporate-owned online video site would never survive? Look who's having the last laugh...

best super bowl ads ever?

MSNBC has picked the 10 best Super Bowl ads of all time. 

Agree? Not so much?

super bowl ad delux.

Usually, Super Bowl ads are done by individual companies, each of which looking to make a major impact and become water cooler buzz the following day. This year, though, DreamWorks Animation and Pepsi's SoBe are making headlines by doing the exact opposite. Partnering with NBC and Intel, they are creating a 3-D ad that will be shown at the end of the second quarter of the game. It looks like they are aiming to pack in maximum content into it...

"This eye-popping commercial interruption will include not only a trailer for the upcoming DreamWorks film 'Monsters vs. Aliens' but also a 60-second ad for SoBe Life Water that features the popular SoBe lizards, which appeared during the game in 2008, alongside NFL stars and characters from the movie."

What do you think? Does bringing together multiple brands make more sense than each brand advertising on it's own? I'd think that the answer would depend on if the integrations made 'sense', and didn't overwhelm you to the point of oversaturation.

ESPN.com to try less for more.

Here is an interesting approach to online:

"ESPN.COM is counting on less clutter and more advertising options to bolster revenue at a time when its sister cable channels are battling rare weakness."

Could less really = more?

"About a year in the making, the overhaul represents at least one significant shift in strategy. Instead of inundating visitors with its intense coverage of every major sport from the get-go — something that the company now believes can drive away certain fans — ESPN.com is moving in a less-is-more direction, at least on the home page.

'If we are frustrating people, they’re not going to spend as much time as we want on the site,' said John Skipper, ESPN’s executive vice president for content. 'There can be a thing as too much.'"

What do you think, especially those who visit ESPN.com? Is this going to work?