When it comes to our workplaces, we encourage individuals to speak up. Yet many of us are bystanders watching things happen. The bystander effect can also be true of brands. When systems and processes are broken, there is a huge opportunity for brands to step up as diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) advocates. With the…
Twitter recognized U.S. Olympic gymnast Simone Biles as the greatest of all time. Biles became the first Olympic athlete and the first woman athlete to receive a custom hashtag-triggered emoji, which will appear on tweets containing #SimoneBiles or #Simone throughout the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The GOAT emoji was the one that appeared…
The pandemic and lockdown changed how a lot of people work out, leading some consumers to reassess their home exercise options. For Peloton, the fitness app’s virtual community, which has grown tremendously since the start of quarantine, takes the spotlight in a new, celebratory campaign. Peloton is emphasizing how a shared passion for fitness brings…
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have finally arrived after a year’s delay, and thanks to Peacock and the rapidly expanding connected TV space, there are more ways to watch the Games than ever before. NBCUniversal will offer 5,500 hours of streaming coverage via its NBC Sports apps and upstart streamer Peacock, which will factor into its…
Beats by Dre dropped a new commercial during the NBA Finals on Tuesday night, shaking up the music and sports worlds by announcing an upcoming Kanye West album and featuring decorated runner Sha’Carri Richardson as the ad’s star. West, who has hosted several recent listening parties in cities like Las Vegas, teased the ad campaign…
Given this year’s enormously challenging circumstances, it’s clear that the Olympics needed an injection of excitement like the inclusion of skateboarding, not the other way around. As one of five new sports making their first appearance at the Tokyo Games this week, the question is will skateboarding–and its potential stars–benefit from marketers’ attention? The skateboard…
Football took Julian Duncan to Dusseldorf and Saskatchewan. Nike and Under Armor brought him into sports marketing. The Jacksonville Jaguars placed him in the C-suite. Now, the Houston Rockets are bringing him home. The Rockets hired Duncan, a Houston native, as their Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer. He’ll be in charge of marketing, promotion, branding,…
When he was 12 years old, Muhammad Ali–known then as Cassius Clay–was robbed of his treasured red Schwinn bicycle. When he reported the theft to the police, he told the officer that he wanted to “whup” the criminal in retaliation. That officer was Sergeant Joe Martin, who professionally trained boxers in a private gym. Young…
Be sure to tune in this week to the latest episode of Adweek Presents: Most Powerful Women in Sports video series, featuring Melissa Proctor, chief marketing officer of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team. Beginning as the NBA’s first female ball attendant for the Miami Heat at the age of 17, Proctor invested time and effort…
Simone Biles isn’t only the most decorated gymnast in history. Leading up to the Tokyo Olympics’ opening ceremony on Friday, the athlete has been serving as a heavy-hitting presence in much of NBCUniversal’s marketing material for the event. A slow-motion video of Biles’ gravity-defying gymnastic skills, filmed from 10 different camera angles, began running on…
World Wrestling Entertainment is turning to TikTok to find a ring announcer for its SummerSlam event Saturday, Aug. 21, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Pure Life Purified Water is presenting the contest, in which TikTok users are encouraged to upload their most entertaining videos with the #WWEAnnouncerContest hashtag. The two best performers–who will be…
Toyota, a top Olympics sponsor, has pulled its Games-related TV ads for Japanese television just days before the Tokyo Olympics begin amid a Covid-19 surge in Japan–but NBCUniversal said all of its U.S. advertising partners, including Toyota, remain committed to the event. On Monday morning, Toyota said it would no longer air any Summer Games-related…
The U.S. is No. 1 in a lot of arenas, but it isn’t first when it comes to health. In light of newfound public health concerns brought on by the pandemic, American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is asking consumers to engage in dialogue about the country’s overall well-being. In Lilly’s first corporate campaign, the brand…
The sport of skateboarding is making its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo–which, contrary to their name, actually kick off July 23, 2021–and it is also the backbone of Facebook’s new cross-application global ad campaign, which will run during NBC’s coverage of the games. “We Change the Game When We Find…
As a company founded by four Olympians, it should come as no surprise that the sports media brand Togethxr has oriented much of its most anticipated new content around the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo. And given the early appetite from advertisers, expectations are high. The publisher, which launched officially in early March, is using…
Ahead of the Uefa Euro 2020, U.K. telecoms giant BT took the step of commissioning its advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi to produce a campaign that would highlight its sponsorship of the home nations soccer teams: England, Scotland and Wales. It would also tackle the collective distress that the modern athlete now endures, particularly around…
Interest in women’s sports has seen explosive growth in the last several years, and leaders in the space believe the momentum is only just beginning. “I think we’re at an inflection point,” Lisa Baird, commissioner of the National Women’s Soccer League, said during a panel at Adweek’s Women’s Trailblazers event. “With our message about the…
As pandemic restrictions are eased and more fans are permitted to attend sporting events, Snap Inc. said its Snapchat application is home to every type of fan: casual, hometown, super and tight on time. The company wrote in a blog post, “Let’s take a moment to remember what it is like to be in an…
Precisely one year after the Washington Football Team announced it would retire its name and logo, team president Jason Wright confirmed Washington’s NFL franchise will choose a new identity “that unequivocally departs from any use of or approximate linkage to Native American imagery.” Wright did not, however, provide a timeline. Instead, he noted the team…
National Basketball Association legend Kevin Garnett pokes fun at fans’ weak internet connections in a new campaign for AT&T Fiber, the official fiber internet partner of the NBA and the Women’s National Basketball Association. The campaign, created with digital experience design agency Critical Mass and ad agency BBDO LA, plays off the fact that streaming…
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