Twitter and ESPN Plan Branded Campaigns Around TV Sports

Twitter is looking to cash in on the sky-high volume of tweets about sports on TV, launching a partnership with ESPN to create custom campaigns for brands around events like the World Series and the Super Bowl.

The two companies are announcing the first program, called GameFace, at ESPN’s upfront Tuesday morning. GameFace will center around the NBA Finals and be promoted on Twitter with the #GameFace hashtag. The social-TV dimension calls for the hashtag and program to be promoted on-screen during ABC’s live broadcasts of the NBA Finals, as well as on ESPN’s “NBA Tonight” show.

The goal of this initial campaign is to get fans to tweet photos of their best “game face” accompanied by the dedicated hashtag. At the end of each game of the finals, “NBA Tonight” studio analysts will display some of the top contest photographs on air. Some photos will also get exposure at ESPN.com/NBA.

Twitter and ESPN will be co-selling the campaign — which includes promoted tweets and trends, as well as plugs on ESPN, ABC and ESPN.com — as a single package for each potential sponsor. It’s the first time Twitter has collaborated with a TV network to build custom sponsorship packages around major events. (www.adage.com)

Pernod Ricard Plans New Cuban Rum

Liquor giant Pernod Ricard today said it will launch a Cuban-made rum called “Havanista” in the States — if the U.S. government ever lifts its Cuban embargo.

What sounds like some serious advance planning is actually Plan B in a long-running trademark battle over the company’s Cuban-made Havana Club brand, which is sold in more than 120 markets. Even though the rum is not allowed in the U.S., Pernod has sought to renew the trademark rights here, but has run into regulatory hurdles. A major blow came today when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a lower-court opinion denying the renewal.

Competitor Bacardi also sells a brand called Havana Club in Florida, but it is made in Puerto Rico. Bacardi obtained the U.S. trademark rights to the name in 1997, purchasing them from Jose Arechabala International, the creator of the brand, according to Bacardi.

Pernod Ricard’s Havana Club is the product of a joint venture between Pernod and Cuba Ron, a Cuban state-owned company. The U.S. trademark issue involves a law called Section 211, which bars the registration or renewal of trademarks confiscated by the Cuban government. (www.adage.com)

Ford Plans to Take ‘Go Further’ Global

Ford Motor Co. plans to convert buzz from a 60-second TV spot in which the Ford name is neither shown nor mentioned into a global marketing campaign to capture consideration from untapped audiences.

“Go Further” will replace “Drive One” and, in Europe, “Feel the Difference,” as Ford pursues a strategy to change consumers’ “preconceived notions” about the brand and its reputation for quality, said Jim Farley, group VP-global marketing, sales and service, during a press conference Monday at the company’s headquarters in Dearborn, Mich.

“We’re not trying to tell people what the brand will be, we’re just documenting what the company already is,” Mr. Farley said about the video, which launched two weeks ago. It was created by Ford’s agency, Team Detroit. (www.adage.com)

Jay-Z Strikes Deal With Budweiser to Stage Annual Concert

Budweiser is reviving its annual tradition via a partnership with hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, who has agreed to curate and headline a summer music festival in Philadelphia, “Made in America.”

The move is a bid to breathe new life into Budweiser Superfest, which between 1979 and 1999 was known for featuring some of the biggest names in music, including Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. Budweiser tried to bring the festival back recently — last year’s show featured songstress Jill Scott — but it didn’t reach the series didn’t seem to match its former glory.

Rebranding the event “Made in America” is a play on words: It underscores the Anheuser-Busch brand’s American heritage, as well as a song featured on Jay-Z’s 2011 album with Kanye West, Watch the Throne.

Company execs say this is part of an effort to target a younger, more multicultural demographic. (www.adage.com)

Financial-Services Firms Crowd Into Olympic Field

Financial-services companies are gearing up to be big players in the 2012 London Summer Olympics. But with companies such as Citigroup, TD Ameritrade and Visa competing for consumers’ attention, who will stand out?

Citi, the retail-banking sponsor and a first-time U.S. Olympic Committee sponsor, is clearly putting heft behind its “Every Step of the Way” campaign. Breaking May 14, the effort is billed as the largest and most cohesive U.S. sponsorship in the company’s history.

Citi declined to elaborate on outlays, but executives with knowledge of the deal said the company will spend almost $10 million over the course of the three-month campaign. That’s in addition to the $10 million to $15 million it shelled out to become a USOC sponsor for a four-year cycle.

“There’s no question we have to differentiate,” said Dermot Boden, Citi’s chief brand officer. (www.adage.com)

AmEx Adds Personalized Offers to iPhone App

Last year Facebook shuttered its deals business in an apparent forfeit of the market to Groupon among others. But since closing its first day of trading at $26.11 per share, Groupon’s stock has plummeted to $9.90 as of Friday’s close. And the rest of daily deal industry hasn’t fared any better; 798 deal sites didn’t survive the second half of 2011, according to Fast Company. So why is American Express doubling down on its deals business?

“Our goal is not to bombard customers but to give them relevant offers so that you’ll use the offer,” said Ed Gilligan, vice chairman of American Express. “It’ll be meaningful to you, and the merchants will see more business as a result.”

All daily deal providers claim, or at least should claim, to surface relevant offers for consumers, but AmEx’s cardmember data gives the company a leg up. “We know a lot about our cardmembers. We know who they are, where they spend. In effect what we have is a spend graph,” Gilligan said, likening the spend graph to Facebook’s social graph and Foursquare’s location graph. (www.adweek.com)

Burger King And USA Basketball Team Up And Score A New National Promotion

Burger King Corp. and USA Basketball today announced a new marketing partnership that will make Burger King the Official Quick Service Restaurant Partner of USA Basketball.

As part of this partnership Burger King will introduce commemorative cups that celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the USA Basketball Dream Team, available with the purchase of any large drink. This cup series will highlight four of USA Basketball’s memorable teams over the last two decades, including the 1992 Dream Team, and the teams from 1996, 2000, 2008, along with this year’s 2012 USA Basketball team. Each of the cups will feature the unique jersey designs from one of the teams as part of the five cup series.

Burger King and USA Basketball will also engage and empower fans through the “Your Team. Your Voice.” campaign. This initiative will give fans a chance to actively participate in and influence a variety of elements during USA Basketball’s summer exhibition tour. Through digital activations, fans will select which jersey the team will wear during its exhibition game in Las Vegas on July 12, guess which twelve players will make the final team, and a number of other fan interactive elements.

“We know the passion that America has for USA Basketball and are excited to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Dream Team,” said Alex Macedo, Senior Vice President, North America Marketing, Burger King Corp. “We hope everyone in America gets into the game and get to see all five cups at Burger King restaurants.” (www.sponsorship.com)

Bank of the West Sponsors Southern California’s Most Famous Smooth Jazz Festival

Bank of the West is proud to be the presenting sponsor for the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach Jazz Festival, to be held May 18 -20 in Newport Beach.

More than 25 smooth-jazz artists will perform during the three-day event, including three-time Grammy-nominated artist Boney James. The festival attracts over 10,000 music fans, making this venue one of the premier smooth jazz festivals in Southern California.

“Bank of the West has a strong tradition of supporting the music and the arts, as well as education, cultural and sporting events in the communities we serve,” said Rick Davis, Bank of the West’s Southern California Division executive. “This sponsorship is just one way of thanking thousands of customers while also supporting the Southern California music scene that contributes to our vibrant community.” (www.sponsorship.com)

Activision Reaches Back to Rev Up

Activision Blizzard Inc., the world’s biggest videogame maker by market capitalization, is banking its future on games that go back more than a decade.

As it attempts to rev up growth, Activision Blizzard has reached into its game vault and dusted off old titles. On Tuesday, the Santa Monica, Calif., company will debut the latest result of that strategy: “Diablo III,” a new version of the dungeon exploration game that last came out in 2000.

“Diablo III” is just one of the game franchises that Activision Blizzard has revived and is now riding. (www.wsj.com)

ESPN Doubles Up on ’30 for 30’ Documentary Series

ESPN’s faith in sports documentaries is so deep that on Tuesday it will announce a second go-round for its “30 for 30” series, which made its debut in the fall of 2009.

The first 30 films — produced by independent filmmakers as diverse as Albert Maysles, Barry Levinson and Ice Cube — were meant to celebrate ESPN’s 30th anniversary over a 15-month period. But the network, which began in 1979 and is now owned by Disney, grew so enamored of documentaries that it kept making them under the ESPN Films banner before agreeing to introduce a new “30 for 30.”

“When we embarked on ’30 for 30,’ we always wondered if there would be 30 good stories,” said Connor Schell, vice president and executive producer of ESPN Films. “Now, I think all of us in this group believe that there is an infinite number of stories.”

There are new dimensions to the series, which will return this fall and span two years. The documentaries are being integrated with Grantland.com, the ESPN sports-culture journalism Web site whose editor in chief is Bill Simmons, the popular ESPN columnist and podcaster. Mr. Simmons prodded ESPN to produce “30 for 30,” and is an executive producer. (www.nytimes.com)

Amstel Light Urges Consumers To ‘Savor Complexity’

Amstel Light’s new ad campaign, “Savor Complexity,” highlights the complexities of simple items.

Consumers are encouraged to consider and appreciate things such as the burger, pigeon, dartboard, umbrella and ping pong.

The effort aims to position the brand in a different light by celebrating the unique complexities of both the brand and target consumer, said Belen Pamukoff, brand director, Amstel Light.

“This campaign showcases the overall versatility of our product and its relevance to their lives,” Pamukoff said in a release. (www.mediapost.com)
Allrecipes.com Launches OOH ‘Dinner’ Campaign

The latest trend in mobile marketing aims to help busy commuters get their meal planning and shopping done while they hurry to and from work, using mobile QR codes and billboards displaying enticing food items.

In the most recent version, AllRecipes.com is plastering high-traffic commuter hubs in downtown Los Angeles with out-of-home ads showing the most popular local food items (the most searched-for recipes), alongside QR codes. They lead users to the relevant recipes, allowing them to create a shopping list that can be accessed at the store via smartphone or using the AllRecipes.com Dinner Spinner app.

The “Fix Dinner” campaign — AllRecipes.com’s first venture into out-of-home advertising — includes an eye-catching “station domination” at the 7th St./Metro Center Station. The LACMTA rapid transit system, for which 7th St./Metro Center is a main hub, carries about 350,000 passengers on an average weekday. (www.mediapost.com)
Target’s Little Shop Of Surprises

Just as it’s rolling out its first phase of The Shops at Target, the retailer has unveiled the lineup up for its next round of specialty stores-within-its-stores: This fall, it will introduce four boutiques — New York’s Kirna Zabete and Odin, San Francisco’s The Curiosity Shoppe and Boston’s PATCH NYC — for a limited engagement at all its stores.

Currently, Target shoppers are browsing the store’s inaugural specialty shops, which rolled out last week. Those include The Candy Store, Cos Bar, Polka Dog Bakery, Privet House and The Webster.

In each case, the Minneapolis-based retailer works with the shop owners to “co-create” exclusive apparel, home collections or treats, and is part of the company’s efforts to remind shoppers that it’s not just a discounter, but a chic and quirky one, as well.

“There are fewer and fewer places that have this treasure hunt mentality, where shoppers can browse through the unexpected and still stay within budget,” says Katie Geraty, VP/director of insights and strategy for the Integer Group, tells Marketing Daily. “Like Costco, Target is masterful at sourcing new merchandise and finding new relationships and that creates a sense of urgency.” (www.mediapost.com)