The U.S. Open begins today at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., and several sponsors this morning used newspaper ads to highlight their relationships with the tournament (THE DAILY):
| Mercedes-Benz is running a two-page ad in USA Today featuring Roger Federer and touting its new GL-class SUV. |
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| Tennis Channel is running an ad in the Wall Street Journal featuring an image of Federer and promoting its tournament coverage. |
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| Citizen is running an ad in the N.Y. Times featuring an images of Kim Clijsters and timepieces from the 20th Anniversary U.S. Open Limited Edition Watch Collection. |
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| Westin Hotels & Resorts is running ads in the Wall Street Journal and N.Y. Times with an image of a tennis player resting in a hammock made from a tennis net. |
Meanwhile, IBM is set to debut two TV ads targeting CMOs during U.S. Open broadcast coverage. Though the ads do not "explicitly reference CMOs, they touch on topics of specific concern to marketers." The ads, which will run globally under IBM's "Smarter Planet" effort, "are among the first to target marketers in general-market media" (
ADAGE.com, 8/27).
Meanwhile, Grey Goose today announced that it has returned as a promotional partner of the U.S. Open, marking the sixth consecutive year the vodka brand has partnered with the event (Grey Goose).
