O, Ellsbury: Red Sox CF Promotes Owater, Gets Ownership Stake
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| Ellsbury (r) With Owater Founder Tom First |
Massachusetts-based owater has signed Red Sox CF Jacoby Ellsbury to a two-year endorsement deal for its line of all-natural sports drinks. Ellsbury will be featured in the company's radio campaign, POS and other marketing efforts. The radio spots will begin to air this spring on New England radio stations. This marks Ellsbury's first partnership with a beverage company (owater). owater VP/Marketing Kim Stewart said that the company is "mulling some other marketing events for him to help 'maximize Jacoby's stuff.'" In a special to the BOSTON GLOBE, Ad Age's Brian Steinberg reports Ellsbury will receive a small, undisclosed ownership stake in the company. Ellsbury said that he signed with owater because he "sees himself as a role model and wants to put 'something positive out there on the shelf.'" owater President & CEO Tom First "got in touch with Ellsbury's representatives and got owater to [him] during spring training." On Tuesday, Ellsbury recorded a radio spot for the brand in the "make-it-up-as-you-go-along style." Ellsbury: "It's not scripted, so it's from the heart." Steinberg notes advertisers are increasingly taking the idea of aligning themselves with an athlete or celebrity "a step further" by "offering ownership stakes to their marketing partners." The partnerships give the "celebrities more of a sense of being involved in the product, rather than just having their names or likenesses used" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/1).
PEPSICO'S EURO TRIP: In Atlanta, Joe Guy Collier reports PepsiCo has acquired London-based V Water, giving it a "direct European competitor" to Coca-Cola's Vitaminwater. Guy Collier notes V Water and Vitaminwater are "strikingly similar in name, appearance and description" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/1).
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