Pro Player next week will launch "a regional ad effort
with Foot Locker targeting the urban market," according to
Jeff Jensen of ADVERTISING AGE. The media plan "is
consistent" with Pro Player's "strategy of spending where
popular pro teams play," as the company is "setting itself
apart" by marketing a "more contemporary style." Jensen
adds that Pro Player "eschews low-end pricing and retail
outlets while supporting its retail accounts with exclusives
and multiple styles of key products." Pro Player President
Doug Kelly said that event-oriented products, like the
company's "Can the Tuna" T-shirts during Bill Parcells'
recent return to New England, "account for 15% of sales ...
a figure that's expected to grow" (ADVERTISING AGE, 9/22).
HALFTIME SHOW LOCKOUT: BRANDWEEK's Terry Lefton reports
that agency sources say Pro Player, in tandem with Foot
Locker, was "bidding hard" for the Super Bowl XXXII halftime
show, but "bad blood" from past dealings between Foot Locker
and NBC "killed the deal." Lefton adds that Pro Player "is
expected to go all out" for rights to the Super Bowl XXXIII
halftime show, "pending completion of a new TV deal and
subsequent network assignment" (BRANDWEEK, 9/22).
