Nike Tries to Rehabilitate LeBron James’ Image in New 90-Second Spot

• Does LeBron James really need to rehabilitate his image? Nike seems to think so, or at least it wants to make sure basketball-shoe-loving consumers haven’t deserted the NBA star, who this summer famously (or infamously) deserted the Cleveland Cavaliers to take his talents to South Beach and play with fellow All-Stars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosch.
• Nike and its longtime agency Wieden & Kennedy have rolled out a new campaign, “Rise,” that lets LeBron address “his off-season controversy head-on,” as Nike said as it announced the effort.
• This 90-second spot broke today on YouTube and will appear on TNT Tuesday as the NBA season kicks off with a game between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics. (www.adage.com)

Dell Unveils Global Push

• Dell today launches a global advertising campaign from Wunderman featuring new products that are designed to appeal to different consumer segments.
• In a preview of the effort, Dell’s Paul-Henri Ferrand last week showed examples of new print ads bearing the theme line, “You can tell it’s Dell.” Each ad had a headline, a few lines of copy and an image of a product—be it a desktop, laptop or tablet.
• “Perfect day for a convertible,” said the headline in one ad, which centered on a tablet that opens into a small laptop with a keyboard. (www.brandweek.com)

Kodak Champions The Role Of Women As The Chief Memory Officer

• Eastman Kodak Company announced today that it will be a presenting sponsor of The Women’s Conference (TWC) 2010, the nation’s premier forum for women, continuing its role as a champion of women by developing products and services that increase productivity and enhance women’s lives. Kodak Products are designed with sharing in mind, making it easy for consumers to share key moments in their lives with those who are most important to them.
• “The tremendous work ethic of our founder, George Eastman, was inspired by his mother as she instilled in him the core values that have become our company’s foundation,” said Leslie Dance, Vice President of Brand Marketing & Communications. “At Kodak, women have really been our core customer for more than 125 years. We have long championed the role of women as the Chief Memory Officer.”
• As a Presenting Sponsor of TWC, Kodak will be on site throughout the conference beginning with First Lady of California Maria Shriver’s March on Alzheimer’s on Sunday, October 24 and running through The Main Event on Tuesday, October 26. Photographers will capture highlights from the conference and share those images on the Kodak Times Square Digital Display in New York City on Seventh Avenue as well as a photo of the day on Kodak.com. Attendees can choose from a select collection of photos taken during the walk for printing via a Kodak Picture Kiosk or Kodak Inkjet Printer at the Kodak booth. (www.sponsorship.com)

Tequila Brands Take Shots At Sports And Event Sponsorships

Lime and salt are not the only things that go well with tequila: Brand marketers in the category have made it the most active spirits segment recently, outpacing new deals from their vodka, whiskey and other counterparts. Fueled in large part by increased competition, tequila marketers have been partnering with pro sports teams, festivals, motorsports properties and other types of rightsholders. (www.sponsorship.com)

Marquis Jet And The College Squash Association Announce New Sponsorship Agreement

• The College Squash Association (CSA), the governing body for men’s and women’s intercollegiate squash in the United States, and Marquis Jet, the leader in private jet cards, officially announced a fifteen-month sponsorship agreement today.
• The sponsorship agreement will raise awareness of the category-leading Marquis Jet Card program — NetJets 25 hours at a time — amongst parents, fans, and players in this rapidly growing sport. Squash, a racquet sport played in over 140 countries, is one of the fastest growing intercollegiate sports in the United States. Over the past decade, college squash has expanded from its New England roots and now includes approximately 60 men’s and 40 women’s teams throughout the United States. Thanks to the partnership with Marquis Jet, college squash is set to take off and continue its growth. (www.sponsorship.com)

Don’t Call Them Sponsorships: The Strategy Behind Sprint Prepaid’s “Brand Pillars”

Much of the attention on sponsorships from Sprint Nextel Corp.’s prepaid wireless services has been focused on the Virgin Mobile brand, but sibling Boost Mobile last week announced a major new partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship. Meanwhile, Virgin Mobile has renewed its presenting status of Lady Gaga’s The Monster Ball Tour for the tour’s 2011 extension. (www.sponsorship.com)

Did Quiznos Take A Wrong Turn With Colorado Cycling Race?

There were lots of smiles at the August media event in Denver announcing the Quiznos Pro Challenge, a seven-day pro cycling stage race to take place in late August 2011. From cycling greats Lance Armstrong and Davis Phinney to Colorado governor Bill Ritter to the sub-sandwich chain’s top execs, everyone was delighted to be bringing a major race back to a state that for many reasons can claim to be the sport’s U.S. mecca, including that it hosted the Red Zinger/Coors Classic races. (www.sponsorship.com)

Autotrader.com Buys Kelley Blue Book

• Autotrader.com is expected to announce Tuesday the $500 million-plus acquisition of venerable Kelley Blue Book Co., the best-known provider of information about the value of new and used cars.
• The deal will unite two closely held companies in an effort to create the leading player for car buyers using the Internet to research purchases. The companies garner at least 13 million unique visitors each a month, according to the companies. (www.wsj.com)

Social Media Campaign Takes Aim at Obesity

• An organization seeking to address the issue of weight gain among Americans has chosen an agency to handle the social media elements of its efforts to reach consumers.
• The organization, known as the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, selected Saatchi & Saatchi in New York, part of the Publicis Groupe, to develop and put in place the social media aspects of the campaign, to be aimed at families, adults and children.
• Saatchi & Saatchi works for a member of the organization, General Mills, and also was the lead agency for a public service campaign, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control, that sought to encourage children ages 9 to 13 to fight obesity by becoming physically active.
• The decision to hire Saatchi & Saatchi came after an informal review by the foundation. There are more than 120 members of the group, including, in addition to General Mills, marketers like Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, ConAgra, Hershey, Kellogg, Kraft Foods, Mars, PepsiCo, Sara Lee and Unilever. Food retailers like Hy-Vee, IGA and Safeway are also members, as is Darden Restaurants, which owns chains like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. (www.nytimes.com)

Castrol becomes cricket’s official performance partner

• The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Castrol announced a five-year agreement yesterday that will see the lubricant company become the official performance partner of the sport’s world governing body.
• Under the deal Castrol will have a worldwide rights package from 2010 until 2015, a period that includes the Cricket World Cups in 2011 and 2015. The company will also introduce its Castrol Index – a performance rating system updated in real-time, originally created for football – to the stadium audience of ICC’s premier cricket events. (www.sportsbusiness.com)

Samsung sticks oar into rowing

• World rowing’s governing body FISA has secured Samsung Electronics as an official sponsor and technology partner. The deal, announced four days before the start of the 2010 world rowing championships, will see the Korean company support FISA’s major regattas for the next two years. The deal begins with this weekend’s championships on Lake Karapiro in New Zealand.
• Samsung will title sponsor FISA’s annual rowing world cup series as well as being an official sponsor of the 2011 world rowing championships, which will take place in the Slovenian town of Bled. Furthermore Samsung has, according to FISA, ‘acquired a substantial package of rights which includes televised advertising boards and graphic data-inserts in the international television signal of all world rowing regattas”. (www.sportspromedia.com)

Lowes Foods sponsors World of Outlaws World Finals

• Grocery store chain Lowes Foods has been announced by Charlotte Motor Speedway officials as the title sponsor of the World of Outlaws World Finals.
• Held 4th November and running through until the 6th, the World Finals combine dirt racing’s three premier divisions, the World of Outlaws Spring Car Series, the World of Outlaws Late Model Series and the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds. (www.sportspromedia.com)

Korean Air ups commitment to winter sport

• The International Skating Union, the sport’s world governing body, has announced Korean Air as the new title sponsor of its World Cup short track speed skating series. Korean Air has signed a two year deal, which began in the Canadian city of Montreal on Sunday when the new series began.
• “The high-profile World Cup series and short track as a whole will be well-served by this partnerships with Korean Air,” said ISU president Ottavio Cinquanta. (www.sportspromedia.com)

Victoria’s Secret Offers $2 Million Bra

• If you missed out on Neiman Marcus’ $75,000 holiday-edition Camaro convertibles last week, there’s still time to treat someone you love to overpriced luxury this year: Victoria’s Secret says Adriana Lima will model this year’s Bombshell Fantasy Bra, valued at $2 million. The customized boulder-holder contains 60 carats of diamonds and 82 carats of sapphires and topazes, all set in 18-karat white gold.
• While the bra technically doesn’t make its debut until Nov. 30, when Lima will sashay down the runway during The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, catalogs are arriving in mailboxes now, and Victoria’s Secret has even brought it to life with an iPad App. (www.mediapost.com)

Cuervo Promotes Games With Spitzer, MLB

• Diageo’s Jose Cuervo tequila is promoting the national finals of its CuervoGames with tongue-in-cheek PR outreach to former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Major League Baseball officials.
• On Oct. 22, following the news that the Harvard Club had rejected Spitzer’s application for membership (he graduated Harvard Law in 1984), Cuervo sent out a press release/open invitation to Spitzer to be Cuervo’s guest at the CuervoGames, to take place Oct. 30 in Las Vegas.
• Alluding to Spitzer’s 2008 prostitution scandal, the release assures Spitzer that Cuervo will treat him “like a VIP, not an outcast,” if he accepts the all-expenses-paid weekend invite. (www.mediapost.com)

Nationwide Groupon Features The Body Shop

• Groupon has scored another nationwide retailer with a deal on Monday featuring L’Oreal’s natural cosmetic franchise, The Body Shop.
• The Body Shop sent out an email blast Monday morning to its loyalty customer list members, alerting them to the deal, which offers $40 in merchandise for $20 and is set to expire at midnight. The email offers a hyperlink to the main Groupon site and also includes information about the terms and conditions of the deal, which must be redeemed by Feb. 25.
• This is the first time The Body Shop has partnered with Groupon, according to Shelley Simmons, The Body Shop’s director of brand communications and values. “We commit ourselves to providing a great customer experience through a variety of channels,” Simmons tells Marketing Daily. “And so, as a retail brand, it’s our job to keep a keen eye on how our consumer shops, where she shops and what she is looking for when she’s making her purchasing decisions. Groupon is a fascinating concept and we are excited to explore the possibilities of this collaboration.” (www.mediapost.com)

adidas: Danger Makes Legend

• adidas has launched a global sport marketing campaign dubbed “Danger Makes Legend” and is now inviting football fans to put their stills to a test by playing an online territorial and map-based game against their friends from Facebook or sport celebrities. The players from all around the globe are invited to the digital space where they can choose what city they are going to take over by using well-known football techniques.
• To start the game, developed at 180 Amsterdam, the participant is to the dedicated online-platform, connect through Facebook and choose one of the twelve European Champion’s League cities, including London, Madrid, Milan and Barcelona (each of them is represented by one football legend). Then they are directed to the selected city, which is divided into hundred of segments for players to claim step by step. Each player can use three skills to take the territory and the same number of blocking movements to protect his or her segment from attacks. The chances are equal, but the player who wins three challenges in a row, can have a golden boot, which defeats every move and can be used just once per one game. (www.popsop.com)

Smirnoff Unveils Details of The Nightlife Exchange Project

• Smirnoff announces that on November 27, Miami will receive the best of London’s nightlife culture as part of The Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project—a one-of-a-kind global experience in which 14 countries pair up to exchange crates containing the best of each country’s nightlife. In turn, London will receive the best of Miami’s homegrown nightlife.
• The project has uncovered the best of global nightlife, and will now celebrate the outcome when two very different cultures collide to create something extraordinary. A community of more than 125,000 people from across the country submitted suggestions for what best characterizes nightlife in the U.S.—from fashion trends and musical styles to locally inspired cocktails—via Facebook. Once all of the suggestions were in, DJ Irie, the U.S. curator and Miami Nightlife expert, selected the ones that best represented Miami’s vibrant and varied nightlife. (www.popsop.com)