Skechers Thursday announced that it has signed Patriots RB Danny Woodhead to a two-year endorsement deal. Woodhead will appear in a worldwide multiplatform marketing campaign for the Skechers Fitness footwear collection. The endorsement includes two product lines: the Resistance ProSpeed running shoes and ProTR training shoes. The campaign is scheduled to launch during the '11 holiday season. Woodhead joins HOFers Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana and Karl Malone as endorsers of the company (THE DAILY).
THE KING AND I: HP launched its "Everybody On" campaign Thursday, and the company is "planning television commercials this month" with Jay-Z and Heat F LeBron James, perhaps appearing together, "to use in a major back-to-school push for its new devices." HP also hired boxer Manny Pacquiao "to advertise its compact Veer smartphone and its multitouch tablet," called the TouchPad (N.Y. TIMES, 7/8).
STILL ON TOP OF HIS GAME: MARKETING magazine's Alex Brownsell reports a consumer poll shows tennis player Roger Federer "remains the sport's best brand ambassador." Of the 1,000 U.K. respondents, almost 31% cited Federer "as the best ambassador for brands." Federer represents Gillette, Credit Suisse and coffee maker Jura brands, among others. Andy Murray ranked No. 2, "with slightly more than 17% of the vote," followed by Rafael Nadal at 14%. Among female tennis players, Maria Sharapova "was considered the most attractive prospect for brands" (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 7/8).
PUT A LID ON IT: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes, "Does anyone else think young PGAer Rickie Fowler's outfits -- oversized orange cap, orange shirt, orange pants, orange shoes, for example -- don't look cool at all, but look kinda stupid? He's like watching a walking, far-too-obvious and far-too-forced marketing plan" (N.Y. POST, 7/8).
