After spotting New York Yankeescenter fielder
Johnny Damon at
Pepsi’s Rookie of the Year Partyin Miami during Super Bowl week, we got a little suspicious. Sure enough, oursuspicions were confirmed.
The lights were barelydim from Super Bowl XLI when Pepsi and its longtime creative shop, BBDO, NewYork, shot its annual MLB ad in and around Orlando with Damon and MinnesotaTwins catcher Joe Mauer.
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Johnny Damon made the cut for Pepsi creative
despite missing the “All Clutch” team. |
Details on the creativeare sketchy, but we’re told the ad will tie into Pepsi’s “All Clutch” MLBmarketing platform.
Mauer made the starting“All Clutch” team last year, but Damon did not.
While it is Mauer’sfirst national ad, with an American League battling title in his back pocket,we’re thinking it’s probably not his last.
MLB sponsor Pepsitypically puts as much weight behind its baseball-themed ad as any of theleague’s corporate partners.
The ad is scheduled todebut in May.
In related news, we’retold Pepsi did not renew its two-year-old deal with New York Yankees thirdbaseman Alex Rodriguez, which leaves one of the game’s biggest nameswithout a beverage deal. We’ll be interested to see if he ends up with Glaceau’sVitamin Water, which has been collecting an impressive array ofindividual athletes as endorsers (see below).
PAPI-INGOFF: Boston Red Sox designatedhitter David Ortiz has renewed with Glaceau’s Vitamin Water by addingtwo more years to his endorsement deal.
The brand just awardedits advertising account to Berlin Cameron. It now is looking at itsfirst TV advertising, financed by a 30 percent equity stake purchased by India’sTata Group last year for more than $600 million.
We’re told Big Papi willbe included in that campaign, but Rohan Oza, senior vice president ofmarketing, wouldn’t come to the phone to tell us about it. Other Vitamin Waterendorsers are Tracy McGrady, Donovan McNabb, LaDainianTomlinson and David Wright.
Other than VitaminWater, Ortiz’s book, “Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits,” will hitbookstores in April from St. Martin’s Press to coincide with the newseason.
Ortiz also has signedwith Hallmark, which will figure him as its annual MLB holiday ornament.Maybe that will produce a new nickname: Papi Christmas?
Alex Radetsky at SFX Baseball handles marketing for theRed Sox slugger.
SUBWAYTO FAME: Add San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker to Subway’sroster of athlete pitchmen. Parker shot a spot under the aegis of Subwaycreative agency McCarthy Mambro Bertino, Boston, recently that shouldbreak in April. Kim Hennig, Subway’s director of brand management, saidthat while Parker has achieved star status as an NBA athlete, the incrementalfame he’s garnered as the fiance of “Desperate Housewives” celeb EvaLongoria is what really convinced them that Parker had a national profile.
“He’s in the sports pages and the entertainment pages, andnot many athletes can say that,” Hennig said.
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Fiancee Eva Longoria’s star power
has helped nudge Tony Parker onto
the A-list. |
Marc Fleischer, who represents Parker, noted thateven before his engagement, Parker was named one of People magazine’s 50Most Beautiful people in 2003.
“He’s got game, he’s global and he’s on a team everyoneknows, so maybe his engagement has taken him up a notch or two,” Fleischersaid.
Parker’s other endorsements are with Nike, FedExand AT&T, along with some in his native France.
BACK AT BAT: Nike, an MLBsponsor since 1998, is close to completing a five-year extension of its MLBdeal, which allows it to use the league’s intellectual property rights inadvertising. While it’s not an important part of MLB’s roster of apparellicensees, Nike has used its rights in many memorable ad campaigns. Complementingits league rights, Nike also re-upped many of its premier MLB players duringthe offseason, including the St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols and theNew York Mets’ David Wright.
RELAYSIGNAL: Relay Sponsorship& Event Marketing won an agency shootout to take over the sportsmarketing duties for Sharp Electronics. Sources said others in the fieldincluded IMG, Velocity and Octagon.
Sharp has sponsorshipswith close to 30 teams, mostly MLB, NHL and NBA squads.
New York’s Strategichad handled the account since 2004 but resigned the account earlier this year.
CAL COINS: Activa ConsumerPromotions has made noise over the past few years with its newspaperpremiums featuring big league teams. Now, it is looking to make the transitionto individual athletes.
Looking to capitalize onthe upcoming induction of Baltimore Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken Jr.into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Activa is running a program with TheBaltimore Sun that will see it issue six oversized medallions on successiveSundays, beginning in April.
The $6.99 premiums,available at gas, convenience and other retailers that sell The Sun, willdepict Ripken during various highlights in his career. Cards backing themedallions feature The Sun’s front page coverage of various Ripken careermilestones.
Terry Lefton canbe reached at tlefton@sportsbusinessjournal.com.
