• by John Gaffney , May 15, 2002

Sponsor this riff: Some of the most creative media planning and buying comes in the form of sponsorships. To me, it’s a ticket to unpredictability and strong emotional consumer connection. I’m not talking about old-fashioned sponsorships. You know, like sticking a financial services client on a PGA event. I’m talking about tying in with personalities and events that can push the edges a bit. The big news about Microsoft these days has nothing to do with courtrooms or slashing the prices on XboX. It has a lot to do with the XboX division showing the rest of the Redmond campus how to market to young consumers. Its spring and summer marketing campaign is all about sponsorships. It’s tying in with rock tours, beach volleyball events and drag races. That tells kids that XboX is out there with you, being active, being excited. Hopefully, kids take that attitude back to the den when the weather turns back to video games 24/7. Check out Pony Sneakers these days. The old 80s brand is being resurrected by signing sponsor deals with Jack Tatum, Ken Stabler and Pete Rose. I guess Jim McMahon wasn’t available. You know Pete Rose bet on baseball. You might not know former Raiders QB Stabler was accused once of gambling on sports and generally tore up as many bars as he did defenses. Raider’s defensive back Tatum’s autobiography was called: They Call Me Assassin. ‘Nuff said. Pony wants to be the anti-Nike. They want kids to think they’re badasses, not athletes. Good start, Pony. The bottom line is that sponsorships communicate very effectively when they push the edge. I was surprised to see The Rolling Stones announce their tour without a sponsor. But there’s time for that, all you planners and buyers for beer, pharmaceuticals and retirement plans……….

Upfront riffs: CBS announced its schedule today, but you know what? I’m more tired of writing about it than you are reading about it. Is this week over soon?……….

Soup Riffs: Campbell’s Soup announced some less than stellar earnings results yesterday, partially because of increased marketing expenditures. But I like Campbell’s marketing approach. Here’s a company, whose CEO admitted last summer that his brand was “broken.” He allocated more money than ever toward research and marketing development. I don’t think you’ve seen the new Campbell’s Soup yet. But I think you will before the year is out.