Hasta La Creative!

NASCAR is racing again on Sunday at the legendary track in Darlington, SC. There will be no fans in attendance for the first time in the sport’s history. It’s going to be an interesting thing to see on TV and a clue to the near future of professional sports. In this new edition of Ad […]

The post Ad Chatter No. 4: NASCAR Returns to the Track, Sponsors Get Back to Business appeared first on Adpulp.

Growing up on the Navajo reservation in rural Arizona, Derrick Begay dreamt of making it as a professional rodeo star. Today, he’s living his dream. Begay has made it to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association national finals six times, and his PRCA Career Earnings equal $1,204,435. Unassuming in person, bold in the ring, Begay knows the ropes […]

The post YETI Presents Derrick Begay, Navajo Cowboy appeared first on Adpulp.

Budweiser is raising a cold one to one the most popular drivers in NASCAR history, Dale Earnhardt Jr., with a new tribute video. The video showcases Dale Jr.’s famed Bud car for one last ride down memory lane, just in time for the legendary driver’s final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. Budweiser was the […]

The post Dale Jr., This Bud’s For You appeared first on Adpulp.

Sampling is the oldest play in the book. Sampling works where ads do not, because people often need to “see it to believe it,” or taste it, as the case may be. Take Coke Zero. How can it possibly be as good as full-calorie Coca-Cola? The idea defies logic. It’s a problem that requires new […]

The post You Can Rest Now. O&M Has Integrated Marketing for the Digital Age All Figured Out. appeared first on AdPulp.

In an epic rebranding stunt, Samsung is opening its pocketbooks and will rebrand Heathrow’s Terminal 5 for two weeks. It will be known as “Terminal Samsung Galaxy S5.” I shit you not.

Beginning Monday, the brand will cover the terminal with signage including entry and exits, the security area, boarding gates and baggage claim.

I’ve always hated the rebranding of “public” spaces like sports stadiums and other major landmarks. For example, the Boston Garden getting named the Fleet Center and then TD Garden (at least it can be called the Garden again) or the insanity CandleStick Park underwent.

Thankfully this Samsung sponsorship will be over before most realize it’s even begun.

Oracle is no longer Oracle the tech giant run by an egomaniac. Through the power of sports (and sponsorship)–America’s Cup Sailing, in this instance–Oracle is now much better known as ORACLE TEAM USA. And ORACLE TEAM USA, founded on Aug. 11, 2000 by Larry Ellison, is a much friendlier front for the company.

Forget for a second about Oracle and its products, and look instead at these powerful brand impressions:

Oracle specializes in computer hardware systems and enterprise software products, particularly its own brands of database management systems. But the brand, as we’ve just seen, is on another page. It’s black, sexy and fast.

Add Puma, Tag Heuer and the American flag to the mix, and it’s all the more fashionable. Plus, when you consider the futuristic yacht design at the center of the sport today, and you set the action in San Francisco Bay, what you get is an attractive picture and gratitude to Oracle for providing it.

By the way, Louis Vuitton is the sponsor of America’s Cup, while Oracle is the Sponsor of TEAM USA. Take a look at some of the action, as New Zealand looks to challenge TEAM USA for the cup.

The post Oracle Sails Into Brand Sponsorship History appeared first on AdPulp.

Every company is a media company. No, that meme is incomplete and out of date. This is longer but more accurate: Every company needs media, a.k.a. brand storytelling to create and sustain long-term interest among key constituents.

Whichever angle you prefer, the need for media, a.k.a. content marketing, is a given. The question is “How the hell do we do this?”

For PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew brand, the answer is we outsource content production to a media company.

According to Stuart Elliott of The Times, Complex Media — publisher of Complex.com, Do Androids Dance, Four Pins, Nice Kicks and Sneaker Report — can now add Green-Label.com, to its list of titles and Mountain Dew to its list of clients.

Score another one for the media companies. This is work that could be done by an agency — an agency with journalists on staff. But no.

Elliott helps puts the project into historical (and modern day) context:

Green-Label.com will be billed by Complex Media as “presented by Mountain Dew,” echoing an earlier era of content marketing in which radio and television shows were “brought to you by” sponsors’ brands. Other Web sites in the same vein carry similar designations; for instance, The Adrenalist has articles about adventure sports that are sponsored by the Degree Men antiperspirants sold by Unilever.

I wonder, will Mountain Dew’s Green-Label.com compete with the best media in existence? The new online magazine covers action sports, style, art and music. That’s a crowded field and it won’t be easy to gain traction. Regardless, my contention is a brand like Mountain Dew can compete, because it has the money to compete. Of course, money alone won’t get the job done. The brand team also needs vision, taste and patience to get it right.

I might add that American Express gets it right with their two newsstand titles, Food & Wine and Travel & Leisure. Red Bull gets it right with RedBulletin.

There’s a lot of room for growth and for greatness here.

The post Are You Down With This Concept Yet? Media Is A Marketing Service. appeared first on AdPulp.

I don’t know how they did it, but Glamour magazine has gathered a massive audience on Google+. With 1.5 million readers on this platform, the door is now wide open to sponsored content opportunities.

According to Mashable, the fashion title is using the Goggle+ Hangout feature in new ways:

Glamour magazine is launching a month-long series of Hangouts featuring staffers, online personalities — and products. Eight of the nine Hangouts are sponsored by a company, whose products are featured centrally in the content. In a Hangout for Unilever-owned Suave, for example, DIY blogger Erica Domesek will show how to make hair accessories for hair styled by Suave stylists. A L’Oreal-sponsored Hangout with Glamour stylist Annabel Tollman will show viewers how to wear ombré hair, as colored by Loreal’s Féria Wild Ombré product.

Some of the Hangouts will invite viewers to converse; others will be closed sessions, during which users will be asked to comment on social media networks using hashtags.

In other Sponsored Content news, The New York Times unveiled some interesting tidbits about Mashable’s successful use of sponsored posts. For one, Mashable sees its sponsored posts as something other than advertorial.

“These are not advertorials,” said Lance Ulanoff, the editor in chief at Mashable. “I know what an advertorial is. These are pure editorial.”

Semantic argument, or no, the price for a sponsored series on Mashable can run close to six figures. A sponsored series of posts on AdPulp, however, is considerably more affordable. So, I ask you — yes YOU — what topic do you want to “own” and consistently present to AdPulp’s sophisticated MarCom readership?

If you run a search firm, we can run a weekly series on SEO. If you’re a headhunter, we can run a weekly series on job hunting. If you’re an editing house, we can run a series on working with directors and editors. And so on.

Unlike banner ads on the site, a sponsored post on AdPulp.com reaches our 6500 RSS subscribers. Inquire within.

The post Glamour Makes Good Use of Google+ Hangouts appeared first on AdPulp.

I couldn’t help but to express my utter annoyance of brands that put all their hard earned money into sponsorship options without that sponsorship/product placement being truly relavent. 

Key example: Watching the NBA Finals you have Gatorade’s “G-thing” plastered all over the bottom of the screen and courtside. I wonder, how much did they pay for that lil’ splish splash?

What was there? Oh, just the logo no deeper relavance to the finals than that. Yeah, yeah, I know your saying well Gatorade’s a “sports” drink and it’s a “sports” playoff, it should be there. I totally agree but that’s Marketing 101, it’s time for brands to go deeper. 

Like EA Sports for instance is present during these same finals but they integrated their brand in a smooth, non-”G”akward way. The commentator was placed virtually onto a court while a computer EA Sports generated Kobe Bryant was playing against commentator as he shows how to play defense against Kobe , gives pointers, things to watch for, etc–all in this virtual world–NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKIN’ BOUT!!! Woohooo imagine that, complete relevance, showing the brand goods, and not pandering to me–it’s no dream world, that’s real branding baby! 

This is the way to integrate brands beyond the mind numbing (in frankenstein voice) “we will repeat…repeat…repeat…repeat…and you will buy…buy…buy !”

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Jinean Robinson is a CCIO (Chief Creative Infections Officer) who has been in the communications industry for over 8 years, specializing in creative strategy and implementation, 360 branding communications, and brand development. Join her at http://twitter.com/germllc or her firm’s website at http://germonline.com/