AZ-based Insight Enterprises "has absorbed its share of
     barbs in the media, and jabs from the public" for renaming
     the Copper Bowl the Insight.com Bowl, according to Russ
     Wiles of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC.  But Insight Chair Eric Crown
     defended the deal and said his company's sponsorship keeps
     the bowl "financially viable beyond 2000," as Insight will
     pay "roughly" $1M a year for approximately five years.  With
     the deal, Insight has two goals: increase its brand-name
     exposure on a national scale and to boost awareness of its
     Internet retailing channel (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 12/27).

          Among BUSINESS WEEK's "Products to Watch" in '98 is
     Tiger Woods' new Nike golf apparel line, with shirts, shorts
     and hats to roll out this spring.  A national campaign
     begins in March (BUSINESS WEEK, 1/12 issue)....At the FedEx
     Orange Bowl, Terry Pledger won $1M in a Gillette-sponsored
     pregame contest by throwing a football ten yards through a
     30-inch circular target.  Pledger became Gillette's first
     winner in 16 competitions since '93 (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES,
     1/3)....Emmitt Smith is featured in a new Right Guard ad
     campaign which debuted during the Orange Bowl.  Smith, on
     using the deodorant: "There were times when we (the Cowboys)
     stunk up the field so bad we needed something to get rid of
     the odor" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/1)....USA TODAY's
     Elizabeth Snead looked at "what's truly hip and happening
     for '98."  Among what's "Out" for '98 was Nike and women's
     basketball, while adidas and women's soccer were "In" for
     '98 (Elizabeth Snead, USA TODAY, 12/31).

          On January 1, Nike debuted its new ad campaign, "I
     Can," created by Wieden & Kennedy.  Nike VP/USA Marketing
     Bob Wood, on "I Can": "At a time when cynicism in sports is
     at an all-time high, 'I Can' is an effort to return to a
     focus on the positive.  It reflects the deep emotional
     connection that people have with sports" (Nike).  AD AGE's
     Jeff Jensen reports that W&K currently is at work on a
     different "I Can" execution, "featuring high-profile Nike
     endorsers talking about what sports mean to them."  Goodby,
     Silverstein & Partners will also "contribute creative work"
     on the new slogan, but Jensen adds Nike "didn't indicate
     when Goodby's first 'I Can' work will break" (AD AGE, 1/4).
          TAKING THE EDGE OFF? In Portland, Jeff Manning called
     the new campaign "an enormous gamble" since Nike advertising
     "is consistently ranked among the most effective and popular
     in the country."  Manning added that with the new spots,
     Nike "is in the odd position of attempting to focus
     attention away from many of the problems in sports that the
     shoe companies are seen as having helped create," and that
     Nike hopes its new campaign "will remind consumers of all
     that is good about sports" (OREGONIAN, 12/30).  On CNN's
     "Moneyline," Jan Hopkins said, "Nike says the message aims
     to play down the growing view that athletes are spoiled, an
     image that Nike helped create by lavishing multimillion
     dollar shoe contracts on pro athletes" (CNN, 12/30).  In
     N.Y., Richard Wilner wrote that while "'Just Do It' will go
     down in ad history as one of the all-time greats, experts
     say it was time to hang it up."  Wall Street analysts also
     "applauded the move."  Avrett, Free & Ginsberg Chair Frank
     Ginsberg said Nike "needed something less aggressive." 
     Black & Co.'s Jennifer Black Groves said the new TV spots
     "will strive to forge a new closeness between the company,
     athletes and wannabe athletes" (N.Y. POST, 12/31).  The AP's
     Bob Baum wrote the new slogan "is partly an attempt to
     offset a rather glum year for Nike" (AP, 12/31).  Nike USA
     Marketing Ad Dir Chris Zimmerman: "Obviously, the market has
     slowed.  That's a time when we look to advertising to play a
     bigger role in driving sales" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/31). 
          END OF AN ERA: In Chicago, Jim Kirk wrote that after
     nine years of using "Just Do It," a phrase "that has become
     a part of American popular culture," Nike changed "one of
     the most enduring -- and at one time most successful --
     marketing slogans of the decade" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 12/31). 
     "Just Do It" will not "completely disappear" and "will
     continue" as Nike's theme overseas (N.Y. TIMES, 12/31).  

          The Knicks, Rangers and Mets "all expressed concern"
     about the "roughly" $10M in advertising that "could go up in
     smoke because of the financial troubles" at NJ-based Nobody
     Beats the Wiz, according to Richard Wilner of the N.Y. POST.

     Wilner wrote that the teams "sought some reassurance from
     the troubled" chain about its sponsor deals, "but came away
     empty-handed."  Nobody Beats the Wiz's Restructuring Officer
     Richard Sebastio: "We have an extremely limited budget for
     advertising over the next four weeks and no commitments or
     decisions have been made."  Wilner added that the area teams
     are "mobilizing to line up possible replacement advertisers"
     should the Wiz, not return (N.Y. POST, 12/23).

          U.S. Olympic speedskating coach Gerard Kemkers said his
     team "doesn't have any cash-paying sponsors," according to
     USA TODAY's Tom Weir.  Kemkers: "We would be happy with
     $100,000."  Weir added the U.S. Speedskating Federation has
     "deals for apparel, equipment, engineering and health
     services, but none that gives hard cash directly to
     athletes."  Some speedskaters get money from USOC "funding
     and connections to in-line skating" (USA TODAY, 1/2).

          Reebok has "further expanded" its ad agency roster by
     naming NY-based Berlin Cameron & Partners to handle its
     running category, which includes shoes, apparel and
     equipment, according to the N.Y. TIMES.  The assignment,
     with billings estimated "as much as" $30M, was most recently
     inactive.  Berlin Cameron joins Reebok's "lead creative
     agency," MA-based Heater Advertising (N.Y. TIMES, 1/2).