Harley Davidson continues to expand its sports maketing base toward the mainstream while looking to find new ways to activate their brand away from the hardcore biker.partnership with the UFC gave Harley a solid place with a core audience…now a branded in-arena partnerhip with the Milwaukee Brewers putsHarley in another very unique mainstream spot. The partnership will brand a Harley section, get a special H-D gate entrance, create platforms for showing off product and memberships to a Harley club, as well as the dealer, online and onair activation opportunities. It is a good choice with an emerging team in a blue collar town, and gives Harley a great opportunity to test market another facet of their sports marketing platform with the hope of taking a best practice to other MLB markets where their demo is strong. The opportunity for unique giveaways, mascot integration and offseason promotional oppts with Brewers players and fans is also very strong, making the partnership a great platform in a sport where the auto has always been king.Dempsey in Variety has a good sneak peek at the first films to be selected for the US Sports Film Festival in late October in Philadelphia…Matt Futterman had a solid q and a with Fox's David Hill in the WSJ this past week…Sam Caplan's Five Ounces of Pain blog has a good look into the entrance of Golden Boy into the MMA world, in a partnership with Affliction…Media Life has a great look at sports demos and how they are broken down these days…Jack Bell in the New York Times has a great piece on how a limo company brings together soccer player/drivers from a host of nations to play on their corporate soccer team…and Richard Justice has a great piece in today's Houston Chronicle on how sports can and will be a salve in Texas following Hurricane Ike.
