NCAA HOOPS MARKETING: SEC IS SIGN CONSCIOUS; NIKE'S "GENIUS"

          All of the "beer and lottery signs in the Georgia Dome"
     were "darkened" for the SEC's men's basketball tournament,
     as the conference "insists on this policy at any venue they
     play in."  But "one of the most prominent signs" at the
     venue was a Coke sign on the scoreboard, which remained
     "illuminated despite the fact Pepsi" is the SEC's Official
     Soft Drink (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 3/11)....In Boston, Howard
     Manly wrote that the "genius of Nike's new NCAA tournament
     ad campaign," titled "Bracketville," lies "in its
     simplicity," as the "most enduring image of the tournament
     is the bracket" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/12)....AD AGE reports that
     Bass Hotels & Resorts will break four new spots from Fallon
     McElligott, MN, for its Holiday Inn brand during CBS'
     opening round coverage of the NCAA men's basketball
     tournament.  Holiday Inn is the title sponsor of CBS' "Road
     to the Final Four" segment (AD AGE, 3/13).