LAST WEEK TODAY: CATEGORY UPDATES
MISSING SPONSORSHIP NEWS?
Check out the blog every Monday for a weekly roundup of the past week's most exciting and industry-altering news. These stories cover January 29 - February 4, 2019.
Lots of new category and event updates this week: we saw new deals in the Olympic sphere (including one in the auto category), an extension to an apparel deal, and an all-new Event Analysis. In the Olympic/auto sphere, Toyota continues its run while Formula 1 struggles to reach sponsorship targets. One of the sponsors we work with at Tandem - Big O Tires - has been named a major partner at Sonoma Raceway, and the new LEGO movie is going to include a pretty sweet new ride.
- Looking to get into esports as a brand? Lagardère Sports' André Fläckel wrote an introduction for beginners wanting to step up involvement.
- Amy Poehler partnered with Xfinity over the past year on a number of advertisements. In case you're still unclear about the difference between sponsorship and endorsement, check out this blog. Let us know if you'd like to see an update contrasting advertising as well.
- Two stories, two versions of auto racing:
- In not-so-great news, Forbes has reported that F1 has been having more difficulty than expecting increasing its sponsorship revenues.
- But local track Sonoma Raceway has negotiated a deal to name Big O Tires (also an Alameda County Fair sponsor) as the upcoming Season Sponsor. Nice.
- In one of the least surprising news stories of the week, Toyota continues to sign NGBs after cementing its ties with the IOC/IPC and the USOC in the past few years. This time, it's USA Curling.
- Pro golfers Ryan Palmer and Kevin Dougherty have new deals with sponsor Unisys. Palmer's is an extension to last year's contract, while Dougherty is a new sign.
- During our Category Analysis: Apparel, we touched on New Balance' strategy. Continuing to use much the same plan, the brand has signed an extension with Cricket South Africa.
- Did you notice the Super Bowl yesterday? While many fans were excited in the lead up, the game itself turned out to be more of a napping opportunity (assuming you were okay missing the ads). Speaking of: here's Adweek's piece on making the Big Game more inclusive.
- Weekly Tandem features included:
- LEGO, the 1/31 #SponsorSpotlight brand, has partnered with Chevy. And yes, it's cool.
- The newest Event Analysis is up and timely: we're discussing the Grand Slams and their sponsors.
Did we miss any? Tweet @be_tandem to let us know - we hate being behind the times just as much as you do.
Look out next Monday for the usual round-up on sponsorship news.