Several Sports Brands Featured In Ad Age's "Marketing 50"

Speedo Estimates It Will Sell 80,000 LZR Racer Suits Within The First 12 Months Of Retail

AD AGE released its annual "Marketing 50," which ranks the top brands of the year, and several sports-related items were on the list, including Speedo's LZR Racer swimsuit, Gatorade's G2, Under Armour's New Prototype cross-trainer and the NBA's "There Can Be Only One" playoff ad campaign. AD AGE's Jeremy Mullman notes 91% of the swimmers who won Gold Medals at this summer's Beijing Games wore the LZR suit, including U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, who set an Olympic record by capturing eight Gold Medals. Since March, Speedo has sold 15,000 LZR suits, which retail for $550 apiece, and Speedo VP/Marketing Craig Brommers projects that the total "will hit 80,000 within 12 months." AD AGE's Natalie Zmuda writes the "flashy introduction" of G2 during Super Bowl XLII was the "biggest launch in Gatorade's 40-year history." Gatorade Dir of Marketing Carla Hassan said that G2 helped "reshape the Gatorade platform" and also "broke marketing ground for the brand." Meanwhile, AD AGE's Mullman notes Under Armour also aired a 60-second spot during the Super Bowl to promote its New Prototype shoe, even though it did not launch until May. To allocate a "significant amount of your ad budget" for a Super Bowl ad promoting a product months from debuting "takes guts." But the risk "wound up working pretty well." In addition, AD AGE's Tiffany Meyers notes the NBA's playoff campaign, via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, S.F., was designed to "build excitement" throughout the postseason, and NBA Senior VP/Marketing Carol Albert said GSP "delivered on that brilliantly." Nielsen data indicates that NBA playoff viewership last season on ESPN among men 18-34 rose 55% from '07, while TNT and ABC saw gains of 30% and 41%, respectively, in the same demo (AD AGE, 11/17 issue).