Sports marketing & entertainment group Octagon
     announced it will merge two of its companies, Washington,
     DC-based Advantage Int'l and London-based The API Group. 
     Octagon, which bought Advantage and 60% of API in May '97,
     acquired the remaining 40% of API to facilitate the merger
     of the two companies.  The new company, which will have over
     500 staff members in 21 offices covering five continents,
     will be led by Advantage co-Founder & Chair Lee Fentress. 
     API Chair Alan Pascoe will leave the company after 15 years.
     It was also announced that API CEO Matthew Wheeler will take
     a Senior Management role with Octagon in London (Octagon).

          The Indianapolis Motor Speedway named Canon U.S.A. the
     official camera of the Indy 500 and the Pep Boys IRL.  Canon
     photo products in 35mm, APS and digital still formats were
     designated with official status (IMS)....In N.Y., Peter
     Vecsey reports that Jazz Owner Larry Miller "does not
     appreciate Greg Ostertag and Jacque Vaughn doing commercials
     for a rival car dealership in Salt Lake City."  Miller:
     "It's a flat-out slap in the face.  I feel like grabbing
     these guys by a combination of their collars and necks and
     slapping them a time or two and asking them to wake up,
     think about what's going on here" (N.Y. POST, 5/19)....AD
     AGE's James Brady reports that former Topps Dir of PR Marty
     Appel has formed his own NY-based PR company, "with Topps
     already on board as a charter client" (AD AGE, 5/18 issue).
     ...Swiss sports-watch maker Tag Heuer will launch a $45M
     world-wide ad campaign this June featuring athletes such as
     Grant Hill and Boris Becker (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/19).
     ...In IN, Nelson Price reports that since the Colts traded
     fan-favorite QB Jim Harbaugh, demand for his merchandise has
     declined.  IN-based Logo-7 said sales of Harbaugh/Colts
     merchandise dropped to $157,000 in '97, down from the
     $272,000 in sales in '96.  Logo-7 VP/Marketing Eddie White:
     "The movement of popular players between cities has become a
     pitfall of our business.  The days of a guy sticking with
     one team for his entire career are gone, expect for a few
     dinosaurs" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR-NEWS, 5/19).

          The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF)
     has passed a bylaw making it illegal for athletes to attempt
     to "sneak a competing sponsor's ads into track-and-field
     meets by getting their bodies tattooed with corporate
     logos," according to James Christie of the Toronto GLOBE &
     MAIL.  Cecil Smith, a Canadian delegate to the IAAF and Exec
     Dir of the Ontario Track and Field Association, said the
     organization is concerned about "athletes decorating
     themselves with a Nike Swoosh or a Tiger logo.  It's the
     latest craze."  Smith said, however, that the new bylaw
     doesn't specifically cover what an athlete does with their
     hairstyle (James Christie, Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 5/19).

          The PGA Tour's latest spot in its "These Guys Are Good"
     campaign, featuring Tour player Phil Mickelson and Spurs C
     David Robinson, aired during last night's Game Two of the
     Lakers-Jazz Western Conference final.  The spot, created by
     TX-based GSD&M, has been running on TNT during its NBA
     Playoff coverage.  The ad opens with the Spurs coming out of
     a timeout trailing the Celtics by a point with 0.7 seconds
     on the clock.  As the Spurs huddle breaks, Mickelson and his
     caddy emerge with the team.  A TV announcer's voice over:
     "This is an impossible situation for the Spurs.  Absolutely
     no time left on the clock.  Is that Phil Mickelson?"  A
     second announcer: "It makes perfect sense to me, Tom, he's
     the king of the lob wedge.  This is his shot."  The spot
     then shows a referee dropping a golf ball on the baseline,
     and Mickelson addresses it.  Announcer voice-over: "A very
     tight lie, even for Phil."  Mickelson swings, taking a large
     divot, and chunks of the floor fly into the air.  The camera
     then follows the ball as it flies the length of the court. 
     Announcer: "It's up!  A long full-court pass!  Looks like an
     alley-oop for Robinson!"  Robinson runs the baseline, jumps,
     catches the golf ball, and dunks it before the buzzer. 
     Announcer: "What a perfect pass!"  Mickelson and Robinson
     then point at each other, acknowledging the play.  Robinson: 
     "Boy, these guys are good!"  The screen fades to the PGA
     Tour logo and the "These Guys Are Good" slogan (THE DAILY).

          Kaleidoscope Sports & Entertainment, a subsidiary of
     The Interpublic Group of Companies, has formed ROI Research,
     a new unit focused on quantifying the value of sports and
     entertainment sponsorships through data analysis.  Based in
     New York, ROI will specialize in sponsorship and consumer
     research, with an emphasis on the measurement of sponsorship
     awareness, brand image, media exposure and return-on-
     investment.  The agency will also provide data on TV
     exposure, publicity, promotions, on-site exposure, revenues
     and costs associated with sponsorship.  Tracy Shoenadel, a
     Founder of the Fox Sports/TMG Poll, has been named Managing
     Dir of ROI Research.  In addition, the company named Joe
     Doyle as ROI Dir of Research and Larry DeBaris as its Senior
     Research Manager (Kaleidoscope Sports & Entertainment).

          Nike Chair Phil Knight is listed among the "Winners" of
     TIME's "Notebook" for announcing the company's new labor
     policy initiatives overseas: "Nike CEO will end child labor
     and improve factories abroad.  Go, Phil -- now hike that
     minimum wage!" (TIME, 5/25 issue).  In Dallas, Kevin
     Blackistone writes on Nike's planned reforms and states that
     wearing Nike products "was becoming increasingly
     uncomfortable, at least for me.  The only reason I hadn't
     yet turned a shoulder to Nike, as I once did consumer
     companies that did business with apartheid South Africa, was
     because Nike did so many good things in the world of sports. 
     It championed women's athletics.  It opened its boardroom to
     minorities.  It stood up for athletes it thought had been
     wronged."  Blackistone adds that the only issue that Knight
     failed to address in his announcement was "pay, which he
     should have.  But, this was a start. ... When the results
     come in, hopefully I'll feel better" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS,
     5/19).  A SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS editorial stated that "as
     the first step to win back consumers' respect, Nike needs to
     show that it can take responsibility for how its products
     are made.  If it can monitor the quality of athletic shoes
     made in Indonesia and Vietnam, it should be able to monitor
     the quality of the air in the factory" (MERCURY NEWS, 5/18).
          AIR QUALITY: Michael Jordan, who earlier this year
     announced offseason plans to visit Nike's Asian plants, on
     the planned reforms: "I'm pretty sure people are going to
     say that there was some pressure put upon (Knight) to make
     those changes.  But if there's a need, then he has to.  I
     don't think that's going to alter my trip at all. ... I've
     still got to go for myself" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/19).
 

          Procter & Gamble has signed a sponsorship of the
     Women's World Cup soccer tournament for its Millstone brand
     of grocery store-vended coffee beans, according to Terry
     Lefton of BRANDWEEK.  P&G will put WWC '99 marks on five
     million bags of Millstone next year and support the deal
     with radio in the seven markets where games will be held:
     San Jose, Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago, L.A., N.Y., and
     Portland, OR.  In its "first major promotional tie-in,"
     Millstone is expected to get "substantial support to
     establish a permanent place on grocer shelves, meaning the
     Women's World Cup link could be the first of a flurry of
     marketing activities" (Terry Lefton, BRANDWEEK, 5/18 issue).