Marketplace Roundup

Portland Businessmen Confront Contractor  Posting Ads For Converse Campaign

In Portland, Brent Hunsberger reports Converse's "My Drive Thru" ad campaign "hit a bump in the road this week in Northeast Portland when a contractor sticking up the shoemaker's ads on walls ran afoul of several graffiti-worn small businessmen." Portland business owner Dale Waagmeester "confronted a man putting up Converse ads on the side of the former Accuracy Grinding Inc.," a vacant building that is "frequently tagged with graffiti." The vacant building's owner said that he "wouldn't have granted permission to ... Converse to post the ads had he been asked" (Portland OREGONIAN, 8/8).

TRAVEL VISA: AMERICAN BANKER's Maria Aspan reported Visa CMO Antonio Lucio is "consolidating Visa's relationships with advertising agencies and has dropped a big-ticket sponsorship, the Rugby World Cup." Still, "big-ticket sponsorships remain a fundamental part of Visa's advertising strategy." The company said that it "expects to have spent about $1[B] on marketing and advertising by the end of this fiscal year." Lucio said that "the job of buying ad time and space for Visa, previously handled by four agencies, was consolidated in Omnicom Group Inc.'s OMD Worldwide, 'and that has provided significant savings that will be reinvested.'" Lucio also said that he "plans to have one firm take over all other aspects of Visa's advertising" (AMERICAN BANKER, 8/5).

ONLY ONE SC: In L.A., Gary Klein reports an administrative tribunal of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office ruled the Univ. of Southern California (USC) "has priority of use when it comes to the 'SC' logo, including the interlocking version." A "battle between" USC and the Univ. of South Carolina "has been quietly raging since 2002, when USC challenged South Carolina's application to federally register a version of the 'SC' trademark for use on clothing and baseball uniforms" (L.A. TIMES, 8/8).

NOTES: Pro Football HOFer Dan Marino Wednesday in Miami was "finishing up the filming on a television commercial" for Ft. Lauderdale-based United Steel. Marino already appears in radio and print ads for the company (SUN-SENTINEL.com, 8/7)....The Hornets and Globalwide Merchandising & Marketing (GMM) Thursday announced a multi-year partnership in which GMM will be the official supplier of Hornets premium and promotional items (Hornets).