#activation

Bubba Watson and sponsor, Oakley, introduce the "BW1," described as the "world's first hovercraft golf cart." The BW1 is capable of traversing all of the typical golf terrains, including grass, sand, and water.

Hat tip: Jared Melzer

#activationstag

#agencies

Add sports representation to Jay-Z's long list of accomplishments. The rapper-turned-team owner is launching a new sports representation agency and his first client is New York Yankees second baseman, Robinson Cano. Cano is leaving Scott Boras in an arrangement that will see Jay-Z's group team up with CAA to represent athletes under the new banner, Roc Nation. CAA Sports’ Brodie Van Wagenen will take the lead.

“Because of my love of sports, it was a natural progression to form a company where we can help top athletes in various sports the same way we have been helping artists in the music industry for years,” Jay-Z said in a statement.

“Jay Z and his team at Roc Nation have successfully orchestrated powerful brand and business-building opportunities for their clients,” said...

#deals

Dubbed "Owlkatraz" after a doomed Florida Atlantic University's $6 million naming rights deal with for-profit prison company, Geo Group, the stadium that hosts the FAU Owls is already in need of a replacment sponsor. Geo Group dropped their sponsorship on Monday, a little over one month after announcing the deal because it has "surprisingly evolved into an ongoing distraction to both of our organizations," according to George Zoley, chairman of the GEO group and a former chairman of the FAU Board of Trustees.

Of course, it didn't help when company officials allegedly edited out negative news from the company Wikipedia page shortly after announcing the sponsorship.

Yesterday's announcement could be marked as win for student protestors, who had taken issue with the company's treat...

#deals

Their cinderella run may have come to an end on Friday, but the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles are still soaring with the school's first shoe deal. FGC, which up until now has paid for its own Nike gear has followed the likes of Notre Dame, UCLA and Michigan in signing the Atlantic Sun's first multi-million dollar shoe deal Monday. The contract begins with the upcoming 2013-14 academic year and extends through the completion of the 2019-20 seasons with the premium apparel brand agreeing to supply all 15 of the school's intercollegiate athletic teams, including the #13 nationally ranked FGC Eagles Sand Volleyball team.

"Could my life get any better right now?," soon-to-be ex FGC coach Andy Enfield said. "These aren't your father's Rockports."

"This is two elite challenger brands teami...

#agencies

You've heard of fast fashion and fast food. Now meet "fast ads." It seems, everything has to be fast these days, even creative... call it quick service advertising (QSA). So it is, that some enterprising agency folks have recently launched the "World's Fastest Agency" that claims to provide creative ideas to clients in 24 hours or less - via Twitter.

Clients pay an agency fee $999 via PayPal, then send a brief via twitter Direct Message to @fastestagency. Within 24 hours, clients get their creative pitch. Sound like a gimmick? You wouldn't be alone. Read some of the comments over here.

Not to be outdone, there's now also an @SecondFastest, an #agencies

#research

The biggest investors in naming rights are financial services, followed by telecommunications, airlines, autos and energy companies. That's according to a new report from IMR Sports Marketing and Sponsorship Intelligence's Sponsorship Today. Global naming rights deals are worth $750 million annually according to the study, which says it looked at 548 deals across 32 countries and found that the United States accounted for 58% ($434 million) of the total annual spend on naming rights.

“If you go through the data, you don’t find many big deals from the likes of Visa, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Hyundai, MasterCard, Samsung, Adidas and Sony etc,” says Sponsorship Today editor, Simon Rines. “You do see a few of the big global sponsoring brands such as Emirates, Barclays and Ford, but on the ...

#awards

British media company, Sky, took home three awards at last night's Hollis Sponsorship Awards, including Sponsorship of the Year for its partnership with British Cycling. Each March, for the past 19 years, the Hollis Sponsorship Awards has come together to honor the best sponsorship campaigns throughout the UK.

Key to the Sky campaign, which has been ongoing since it first partnered with British Cycling in 2008, was the grassroots efforts the media company undertook.

“With Sky’s support, British Cycling reached its target of getting one million more people on bikes a year early, almost two million people are now riding regularly, our membership is booming with over 69,000 members, and over 20,000 people are now taking part in competitive events," British Cycling’s Chief Executiv...

#activation

On the heels of Tiger Woods' Arnold Palmer Invitational win yesterday and his return to the number one ranking, Nike has released this social media ad drawing more than 300 comments in less than 24 hours on Facebook. Some found the Nike ad to be controversial, while others applauded the brand for sticking by its man. Thoughts?

#ooh #activation

Online tutoring company, The Tutor Crowd, recently came up with a brilliant and somewhat hilarious way to get the word out about its test prep services. Working with brand activation agency, Arc London, the firm is going around London and spell-checking graffiti. The corrections are of course accompanied by a subtle sticker promoting the smart-thinking test prep company's website. Check out some of the examples below and for more visit thetutorcrowd.tumblr.com. H/T: psfk.com

#activationstag