#agencies

While CAA, Wasserman, Lagardère and other upstarts have created a more fragmented sports agency landscape in recent years, two of the oldest rivals are Octagon and IMG. Now that the latter is officially on the block, could they join forces? Here's what the CEO of Octagon's parent company, IPG, had to say about that possibility last Friday in a Q&A with analysts...

Q (Daniel Salmon, BMO):You always take a lot of pride in Interpublic's role in sports marketing in Octagon. Would you ever have any interest in any of the assets at IMG?

A (Michael Roth, CEO):
I think we are well represented by Octagon. They're doing a great job. They are certainly a force in the marketplace, and we're comfortable with the work that they're doing and their size.

No indication of interest, but not an...

By now, you've undoubtedly heard the incredibly tragic news from today's Boston Marathon. Throughout the day, Marathon sponsors have been speaking up through social media. Clearly sponsorship is not the story here, but here's a rundown of what some of their responses and crisis management efforts looked like in the aftermath of today's tragedy.

#activation

As he made his historic run through The Masters, Adam Scott not surprisingly stirred up a lot of traffic for not only himself, but his sponsors too. The graph below shows how Google searches coming to SponsorPitch spiked using the keyword "Adam Scott sponsors" as the weekend progressed going from virtually nil when the tournament started and steadily increasing throughout the weekend to more than 10 per minute yesterday afternoon as Scott sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to win golf's biggest prize.

Perhaps no sponsor benefited more than Japanese retailing giant, UNIQLO, which only last week signed Australia's first Masters champion to an endorsement deal, the company's first in the sport of golf.

"I am [also] very happy to have won so soon after I be...

#strategy

Guan Tianlang has been the talk of the 2013 Masters Golf Tournament. The 14 year-old from China shot a 1-over-par 73 in his first round playing the Augusta National Golf Club. For many people, the fact that an eighth grader can shoot under 80 at this difficult course is unbelievable.

What may be more surprising, however, is how Tianlang qualified for the Masters. The tournament allows only 93 competitors – mostly highly ranked professional golfers. Yet, Tianlang earned his way into the tournament by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (APGC). Why would the Masters, a tournament so heavily invested in tradition, allow the winner of an amateur tournament that was started in 2009 to play in the event?

Because the Masters is a Founding Partner of the APGC, and the winner of ...

#strategy

Last night, SeaWorld Entertainment finalized plans for its anticipated $540 million IPO coming later this week. Below is the most relevant bit on corporate sponsorships from the company's S-1 filed back in December. In particular, it's interesting to note the emphasis with which the company places on not only maximizing short-term revenue from sponsors, but also finding partners that can use their own, existing distribution channels to extend SeaWorld's consumer promotions to a wider range of retail points. In essence, finding partners that can work on its behalf. Though the resulting increase in awareness, ticket sales and such isn't always a direct line to the sponsorship and licensing P&L, the holistic approach to generating consumer demand has been paying off handsomely for the over...

#?

Somehow invitations made it out recently for this Smashbox Studios and True Religion-sponsored Coachella after party. Both sponsors have since backed out of the event, stating that they didn't know about the party's controversial theme, which has since been changed by the organizer, Flaunt Magazine, after considerable negative feedback. Refinery 29 has the story.

#activation

The Knicks' Iman Shumpert showed unprecedented support for his endorsement deal with Adidas, showing up with this to last Friday's game with Milwaukee. Alas, after the NBA caught wind of the haircut, it was reduced to a sad empty triangle before Sunday's nationally televised match-up with OKC. Shumpert also apologized on Twitter with this before and after shot. Adidas has been the league's official uniform and apparel supplier since 2006.

Photo credit: New York Daily News, @I_AM_IMAN

#activationstag

#deals

Last week, we took a look at Bubba Watson's new "Bubba Hover" viral video. On Friday, the Masters champion added some detail on CNBC. He says before you customize it, the standard Bubba hovercraft will set you back $16,000 and several golf courses have already placed pre-orders! In other news, Bubba says he's on the prowl for an automobile partner.

#dealstag

#activation

Having recently signed on as the first-ever title sponsor of the Paris Marathon, Schneider Electric will be installing energy harvesting Pavegen tiles all along the 26.2 mile route and spectator paths at this weekend's race. With over 50,000 runners, the company says that the sponsorship activation will be the largest ever installation of the Pavegen technology.

“Imagine if your run or walk to work could help to power the lights for your return journey home in the evening,” Pavegen Chief Executive Officer Laurence Kemball-Cook, told Bloomberg.

On Schneider's Facebook page, fans can also predict how much off-grid power the Pavegen tiles will harvest during the marathon to win VIP access at next year’s race.

This isn't the first major event Pavegen has attended. Check out h...