Boxing, Media Post, Mixed Martial Arts, Olympics, SI.com, WNBA

Tracking Awareness For Brand Success In The Concrete Jungle…

PR Move of the Day:  With the landscape always crowded in a major market like New York, finding a spot for niche sports to break through and grab recognition is always very challenging, and we have documented a series of successes and some failures since we started the blog in November.  The latest success surfaced in the last few days, as the Reebok Track and Field Championships looked for  angles to not just promote athletes but also drive interest in event attendance in a sport that has faded from the lexicon, even with the Olympics on the horizon.  The promoters took a world class story with both political and athletic overtones, the presence of Chinese Olympian Liu Xiang, and put him on a perfect weather day on top of the Empire State Building for a presser that combined all the elements of the city, the Olympics and the political issues and the event this weekend.  The move gave journalists, the event and the sponsors much more than a tired press event.  The result built good will for all involved and created an unmistakable photo op for NYC Tourism in addition to the event…Rich Deitsch’s piece on si.com probably summed up the success of the event best.  Great non traditional exposure, great way to spin the tried and true and take it to another level.   

Some other good reads heading into a weekend…also on the Olympic side, Ad Age has a good piece on the way sponsors are now looking at the humanitarian side of Beijing in light of the earthquake tragedy…with MMA grabbing the prime time spotlight this weekend, legendary boxing writer Tom Hauser has a great piece giving insight into the issues that, even in a good year, boxing still needs to overcome to be successful…good insight into a sport many don’t understand from the business side…another good piece on how digital marketing fits together was offered up by Karl Greenberg on Media Daily today…again not sports but great insight by experts into how this all works for those looking to learn where ROI can happen online…lastly, another great boost on the digital side for the WNBA, teaming with partner adidas to have fans design their own shooting shirts online…nice activation and added value, with great potential to have a practical application for the best of the best designs down the line.