One would have thought..

February 18, 2010 1 Comment

Sports sponsorships, typically bring to mind large corporations selling premium brands and products, esp because of the big-ticket expenses in purchasing and maintaining sports properties and the celebrities.

This poor cousin then surely has us foxed. Dollar General, with $6 billion in sales and 6000 stores went private in 2007 to KKR, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs’ GS Capital Partners for all of $7.5 billion, going public again last year for 30% premium over that. It may sound a big amount but it really represents a pretty small value in an Industry of Nordstrom and if you count Home self-help retail, much more. It still serves small footfall towns which are not eligible for a Wal-Mart in their area with many price points to the dollar. However Dollar General sells high quality goods and brands.

Carl Banks Teams With P & G To Officially Open Three Dollar General Stores

For several years, Dollar General has had a connection with Motorsports, particularly in NASCAR. The company is currently the primary sponsor for the #32 Braun Racing Nationwide Series team, which for 2009 is being shared by several drivers including Sprint Cup regulars Brian Vickers and David Reutimann. Dollar General and Braun have been partnered together since 2008, with the team previously sponsoring cars for Frank Cicci Racing and Kevin Harvick Incorporated. Dollar General is also active in the IZOD IndyCar Series since 2008, serving as the primary sponsor for owner/driver Sarah Fisher’s Sarah Fisher Racing team, and is the title sponsor for a Nationwide Series race held in Concord, North Carolina every fall.

via Wikipedia

It’s great to hear that and it’s a nice idea too. Maybe it’s true for NASCAR only yet, but it would be great to see sports unaffected by Companies going thru these ups and downs of the cycle as they come.

Filed under F1, Sports, Sports Marketing Tagged with , , ,

IPL on Steroids | Advantage Sports

February 15, 2010 1 Comment

With so much going on, it’s a wonder I still need to say that. Sorry Shane Warne, the title is not directed at you.

Here’s the hotlist of suitors for IPL’s new teams going under the hammer in a month and our Delhi Darling and mint publisher’s mainstay hindustan times is the one being quoted with this piece of big time noose::

A. ADA Reliance, Anil Ambani is going to float another company. For the Ahmedabad team
B. Cyrus Poonawalla, a local Vaccine tycoon from the race horse city of Estreet and now the North Main street..let’s say his first preference is Pune (His organization is Serum Institute)
C. Sahara’s Su’brat’o Roy who also has the Team India’s Title sponsorship – let’s say then Kanpur would be next on the radar
D. Hero Honda group, which did not buy the Punjab Kings Xi have also denied direct interest in buying a team. Their current sponsorship of the Hockey World Cup has seen them getting a range of Olympic athletes and celebrities to promote Hockey on the mind again. However, Pawan Munjal is looking to get the team under a brand of his own. He has even been linked to a Dharamsala edition.

Whichever be the second city, the Ahmedabad team would definitely roll out in a months time and with a reserve price of $225 million or INR 1000 Crores would outstrip the Mumbai Indians 2007 price tag by a factor of 2. The reserve price itself is a build of 4.5 times over the $50 million for the 2007 edition. Season Five would again see two new teams being added, and there do not seem to be speculations in the final round from more Bollywood stars this time. Patriarchal Crowd sourcing from India’s armchair tribes?

Filed under IPL, Sports, Sports Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you been immortalised in Wax?

February 11, 2010 Leave a comment

Wax museums are a cerebral concept. Especially when you want to say to your personal brand – “I’m there”. Madame Tussaud’s uses it well to sign up new celebrity faces including Shahrukh, Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan from the East, Harry Potter and Britney Spears from closer home and Brad Pitt & Barack Obama. Madame Tussauds has locations in New York and Washington DC as well.


Are you sure he has a twin brother?

Bangalore has its own Wax works at the Innovative Film City from Luis Tussads along with the Ripleys Believe it or Not stuff at the Innovative Film City

Filed under Bollywood, Hollywood, Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Rihanna comes to Asia

February 11, 2010 1 Comment

Isn’t South Korea a new starting point? It’s a wonder why music does not send talent to Asia before the tired 4th album…

Filed under Bollywood, Hollywood, Marketing Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Will the Sports gravy train ever stop? | Advantage Sports

February 9, 2010 Leave a comment

South Africa 2010, London 2012, Rio 2014, Superbowl XLIV, FIH Hockey World Cup, IPL, NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, Rugby Union, Vancouver (Winter Olympics) 2010, F1, Barclays Premier League, Bundesliga, Spanish Liga, Barca, Liverpool, Manchester United, Beijing 2008 – And some of them are seriously overdrawn, Man Utd debt of GBP 452 M however is just 1% of the Greek ship going down as we speak..Oil seems to like soccer yet!

Transport for London, Swedish Local Government , would these be comparable brands in the next two years? How about Field Hockey? Will the Indian consumer catch the Kraft bait? Will Bollywood sponsor another game? Banks are still in the game. In fact ING and HDFC Bank had just started in Asia. HDFC Bank is around with Fatafat Cash too..but no ING, no Citi, no BofA after the Mets game or the Mariners , take your pick.

Filed under Sports, Sports Marketing Tagged with , , , ,

Gator takes you down that road… | The Brand Bowl

February 7, 2010 Leave a comment

There is Coke, but no Pepsi

Meanwhile, the others we didn’t let you know and The Big Kahuna who has it all on a chart Look out for the fangle dangle on the right listing all the fan sites for the ads..( A few Facebook pages too)

MCDONALDS: The Ads again a Basketball biggie, with Dwight Howard and LeBron James

Get in the game

McDonald’s has signed LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers to a multi-year deal that includes promotional and fundraising efforts.

BOOST MOBILE: The 1985 Chicago Bears reunite to perform a new version of the Super Bowl Shuffle, this time pitching the prepaid wireless carrier.

Coke, Mr Burns? No Pepsi arnd this time, but there's Gator, duh

Coke, Mr Burns?

COCA-COLA: Mr. Burns, the richest man on “The Simpsons,” loses his fortune but finds happiness. In another, a man goes sleepwalking through an African safari.

DENNY’S: The restaurant chain is giving out free Grand Slams again and shows what the announcement will mean for chickens. (And if you don’t know about the DEnny’s Grand Slam breakfast, write to us & we’ll fill you in)

DOCKERS: Men march across a hillside, singing happily about not wearing pants.

KIA: Children’s toys joyride in the Sorrento SUV. They go bowling, get a tattoo, and party in Las Vegas, set to rock tune “How do you like me now?” by British band The Heavy.

HOMEAWAY.COM: Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as the quirky, traveling Griswold family, sends viewers to a 15-minute film on the company’s Web site.

SNICKERS: Actress Betty White plays football actor Abe Vigoda also appears.

VOLKSWAGEN: The car brand reinvents the game of “Punch Dub” to acquaint Americans with its lineup. Comedian Tracy Morgan appears. The ‘Ouch Dub’ is a hard punch on the face, Don’t drive if you get one.

TACO BELL:Charles Barkley rhymes about the NBA 5 Buck Box. Two Tacos, a Burrito, Cinna Twists and a Drink. Barkley is a well known commentator who played for the ‘Pho’ suns

Yup, i’m hungry..for the game.

Filed under Marketing, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with , , , , ,

Who gets the money?

February 5, 2010 Leave a comment

Hockey as in the National Hockey League, just about to finish a season even as Hockey India jumps over last minute hiccups to get on with the IHF Hockey World Cup in the plains..The game was pretty famous as the poor cousin of Cricket and is popular in both the World’s fastest growing economies and Europe, Malaysia, Korea and Australia. Some Latam nations play the game fine. The money in the game is up for grabs for any discerning global brand that wants to make a global impression, just like American Hockey

In a rare gesture, the Cricket body BCCI lent a big hand to the Hockey game this year.

Filed under Marketing, Premier League, Sports, Sports Marketing Tagged with , , , , , ,

Samba? Just more Superbowl in Asia!

February 4, 2010 1 Comment

NFL Cheerleaders promote the NFL Superbowl in Shanghai. Did you also notice the World Series Baseball is as popular in Japan and Korea as the homeland? Of course we export Cricket and esp npow the $3 billion IPL ( Valuation likely to go up by 50% by the time March ends! And Superbowl was sold cheaper this time..:lol

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The Audi Spyder 2011 is here

February 4, 2010 Leave a comment

Those space frames look awesome. Again the adverts look stunning and might even be mandatory viewing during the Superbowl. Nah! just sayin’ To watch the video , go on to our Advantage Brands site 82000 cars in the US, 1000 in India..sure is a long way from home :(

Filed under Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with , , , , ,

The NFL Web: Videos, Audio streaming and Franchise

February 3, 2010 Leave a comment

After spending every Sunday at the site for the last three years during the season, I can definitely say the American game is a visual rich phenomenon

The #1 in Sports, NFL has been pretty up to it with Videos on the web as well. Though the audio streaming is what is made available for live games, it has done well commercially with the prodyucts and the quality of time delayed Video snips available has been able to let them make a boast about their online business and their network. The live score trackers would be an amazing model to replicate for IPL and others in the Soccer world that want to compete for the game.

The range of videos on the home page cover previews, controversies and coach points of view on the game among others. No riff raff.
The Game Center tracks all the 16 games in a season weekend live, with the game interface allowing you to trace all game drives and getting you special live treats in the red zone ( when the ball is in for a score) The F1 web is a sight too. But NFL is good.

The PEPSI sponsored fantasy tidbits and the full fledged fantasy game for example definitely should be beating the bezezes out of CBS and ESPN. Why it hasn’t translated to the NFL network making a grander statement on TV is another matter

The infamous You Tube is getting on the bandwagon with the latest hot button games from India. The $2 billion IPL franchise has given exclusive rights to You Tube to get its matches telecast live to millions across the globe.

Filed under NFL, Premier League, Sports, Sports Marketing, Superbowl Tagged with , , , , , ,

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