MARKETING magazine’s John Reynolds reports Cadbury is “shifting the focus” of its ’12 London Games marketing with a US$12.5M music-themed ad drive. Cadbury is a tier-two sponsor and is “rolling out a campaign to support British athletes in the build-up to next year's Games.” The ads, via Fallon, will carry the tagline “Keep singing, keep Team GB pumped”' and will “star several athletes, including long-jumper Chris Tomlinson.” TV ads will break on Oct. 3 “featuring pop anthems such as Tina Turner's 'Simply the Best.'” The campaign includes “radio, digital, on-pack and experiential activity, as well as sponsorship of the latest series of 'Glee' on Sky” (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 9/27).
NOT KIDDING AROUND WITH AMBUSH MARKETERS: MARKETING magazine’s Reynolds also reports marketers “face a heightened risk of gaining a criminal conviction if their brand appears in ambush marketing" during the London Games. A proposed amendment to the Olympics Act 2006, due to come before the British Parliament “by the end of this year, will reverse the customary burden of proof in criminal cases.” Senior marketers could therefore “be found guilty of an offence unless they can prove that ambush activity for their brand took place without their knowledge, or that they took reasonable steps to prevent it” (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 9/27).
NOTES: U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay has signed a deal to become an ambassador for EAS Sports Nutrition's 100% Certified program. Gay joins fellow EAS endorsers Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald and Pacers F Danny Granger (EAS)….USA Water Polo and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) today announced a multiyear partnership that makes IHG an official hotel partner of the NGB (USA Water Polo)....USA Triathlon announced it renewed its partnership as the official supplier of Athletes for a Fit Planet (USA Triathlon)….The U.S. Bobsled & Skeleton Federation announced the U.S. Army National Guard will serve as a sponsor for the NGB for the ’11-12 season (USBSF).
