LAST WEEK TODAY: TRENDING NOW
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 April 30-May 6, 2018.
You don't necessarily have to be a trendsetter to succeed in sponsorship (though if you are, we are definitely not telling you to change your ways). But you do have to follow the industry closely to find what works now. How does sponsorship marketing activation change year over year? If you're not following the big events - Coachella, SXSW, Lollapalooza, Super Bowl, etc - it will be difficult to keep up. And once you find something that could work for you, don't be afraid to tweak it. Differentiate enough to stand out while giving your audience what they're looking for.
- Have you been stuck in traffic on your way to an AS Roma match? New partner Waze can help you avoid the trouble spots.
- Esports continued its significant portion of #sportsbiz news stories over the past week:
- "Energy drink" company Red Bull opened an underground esports haven in London to follow the one already located in Tokyo.
- Immortals continued making the news, this time for it's sponsorship with Microsoft. The software company will also be sponsoring Team Valiant.
- Nighthawk Pro Gaming announced a deal with NRG esports teams.
- HyperX signed on for the inaugural season of the NBA 2K League, and Wizards District Gaming signed Events DC as a sponsor for the team's inaugural NBA 2K season.
- What's your favorite snack at a baseball game? MLB will be pushing UTZ as the league's new Official Salty Snack.
- We'll stop talking about the amazing activations at Coachella soon. But not today. We're still busy deciding if HP's Antarctic Dome or Google's behind the scenes VR (and its handy assistant) were tops.
- Two fun stories in non-sports sponsorship (in fact, we can almost consider each to be cause marketing) came out this past week:
- ANA is now working with Biki (Bikeshare Hawaii) to provide "healthy, clean and affordable" transportation on the islands.
- Bulleit Frontier Whiskey is working with Frieze New York 2018 on its eponymous "Bulleit Frontier Works" project showcasing art inspired by the Bulleit bottle.
- The upcoming European Championships in Glasgow (and Berlin, at a smaller scale) has found a new partner in safety company Arco. The 2018 European Championships is the first version of an all-sports continental championship in Europe. We'll be watching closely to see how the inaugural version goes (and future opportunities!)
Did we miss any? Tweet @be_tandem - we hate being behind the times just as much as you do.
Look out next Monday for this week's game-changers.