Izod owns a great piece of billboard real estate in New York's Times Square, adjacent to ESPN Zone and NAsdaq and just down to the left of the Naked Cowboy. The brand has been able to effectively leverage the space on a month by month basis to promote events at the nearby Izod Center (the Nets, the WWE, the IFL) with some unique, eye catching pop-up renditions that sets the space apart from all the other eye candy in the “Crossroads of the World.. This past week the brand also caught some great lightning in a bottle…the day they unveiled a mega billboard for Indy Car driver Ryan Hunter-Reay the driver took his first-ever title at (relatively) nearby Watkins GlenSarah Talay's blog in the Florida Sun Sentinel). The smart thinkin.PR folks got the driver to New York to do media with the logo as the backdrop, drawing even more attention to the rising star's first win. Now if the race was not in Watkins Glen and the billboard was a mointh old would it have mattere.? Who cares. The point is the decision makers stuck quickly to take advantage (with a potential victory plan mapped out) which created big ROI for the brand and media exposure for the sport and the driver.?
Some other good reads…while many professional MMA organizations outside the UFC have floundered, the sports grassroots outlets continue to grow…two good articles about the growth of gyms and brands are the San Diego Business Journal's piece on the flourishing gym business, and the Riverside Press Enterprise's piece on the growth of the Tapout brand…the New York Times has done a great job with first person blogs in the last few months, but one of the best that started this week is All-Star Milton Bradley's look inside his leadup to the game…it really provides some good insight into what goes on in the club house, from one of baseball's more “interesting” characters…lastly, great example of jumping on the wave by pro tennis, off an amazing Wimbledon Finals Weekend…Charles Elmore's piece in the Palm Beach Post is a great summary of all the proactive efforts the USTA will make this summer.
