The National Basketball Association has chosen Sirius Satellite Radio as an official marketing partner. In a new, multiyear deal that expands on a similar one inked in 2003, the pay-radio service will broadcast a multi-tiered package of NBA-related content including NBA Radio on Sirius, a 24/7 channel devoted to the NBA featuring content from NBA TV, as well as specialized programming heard only on Sirius. Sirius will also conduct NBA-themed advertising and promotions with the NBA logo, NBA Radio on Sirius logo, and 30 team logos through NBA media assets and at the NBA store in New York and the …

Everyone knows that the needs and goals of small businesses differ greatly from those of their much larger brethren, especially when it comes to marketing As such, smaller companies need to be reminded that in order to compete and succeed, they need to act differently. Here are seven marketing tips for small businesses on how to develop marketing plans that fit their special needs. Each one is expanded upon in the article and provides a simple, low-cost way for any small business to find customers and generate sales quickly: 1. Don't Advertise Like a Big Business 2. Offer a Cheaper …

We've heard of energy drinks, but this is taking things to a whole new level. There is news out of Bogota, Colombia, that a soft drink marketer there plans to launch an alternative to the ubiquitous Coca-Cola that contains a certain ingredient particularly indigenous to that nation. The drink, called Coca Sek, is a golden, carbonated drink made from coca leaf extract, the plant from which cocaine is refined. The product goes on sale this week in parts of Colombia, but its makers said they probably won't be able to export to the United States or most other countries, due …

McDonald's Corp., is once again teaming up with soccer in a global sponsorship deal focusing on the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The deal includes ticket giveaways, online games, new product offerings, and the McDonald's Player Escort Program, in which kids from around the globe will get a chance to actually get on the field and kick the ball around with some of the world's best players. The deal calls for the fast-food marketer to give away World Cup tickets through in-restaurant promotions, media tie-ins and employee incentives. McDonald's will offer special food-themed soccer products at the time the tournament is …

At least two major marketers who traditionally advertise on the Super Bowl are taking a pass on the big game this year. At the same time, some marketers are switching ad dollars from the game to the upcoming Olympics while also considering alternate media like the Internet. McDonald's Corp. and Visa, both perennial Super Bowl advertisers, will not support this year's contest, where a 30-second spot is fetching $2.4 million. That price tag is the same as last year's, marking the third time in five years that the cost of a 30-second commercial was flat compared to the previous …

If there's one thing the struggling Interpublic Groups of Companies doesn't need right now, it's Frank Lowe. The maverick British adman who sold his eponymous agency to IPG in 1990 has resurfaced with a vengeance, and is placing a thorn directly in the side of his previous benefactors. Lowe recently announced he was starting a new agency in London and that its first client would be U.K. retailer Tesco, whose previous agency had been IPG's Lowe Worldwide. To make matters worse, the executive who handled the account, Paul Weinberger, also defected to Lowe's new, as yet-unnamed agency. It's all bad …

Dunkin' Brands, which includes the Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin-Robbins and Togo's chains, is about to get bigger. The company was recently bought by three private equity firms for more than $2.4 billion in cash, and the group said it is planning "an aggressive expansion program across the U.S. and throughout the world." There are currently more than 12,000 Dunkin' franchise restaurants worldwide, with some 6,500 Dunkin' Donuts shops in 29 countries, 5,600 Baskin-Robbins worldwide and 400 Togo's in the U.S. The coffee and donut chain has 4,400 stores in 36 states, mainly clustered in New England, its stronghold. But now …

If TV advertising is at the core of your marketing strategy, then be warned: negotiations with the actors' unions are less than a year away and are facing major challenges that could disrupt your best laid plans. In a wide-ranging Q&A interview on the subject, Association of National Advertisers President-CEO Bob Liodice talks with attorney Douglas Wood, who will represent the ad industry at the upcoming negotiations, which begin this spring. Wood says problems lie ahead. "We've reached a critical crossroads," he says. "The current contracts are based upon a model first established in the 1950s when there were three …

Are your brands safe? Chief marketing officers need to ask themselves that question in an age when counterfeiting of brand-name products has skyrocketed. Once relegated to the Rolex knockoffs found at flea markets, counterfeiting has grown up and become big business--so big, in fact, that counterfeiters are getting better at moving goods through traditional distribution chains and onto the shelves of legitimate retailers. Also, overseas factories are turning out products so closely approaching the originals as to fool even seasoned wholesale and retail buyers. The IPR Center, a group that coordinates the U.S. government's efforts to protect intellectual property rights, …

In a brilliant example of how effective a global marketing strategy can be, the Walt Disney Company turned a line of dolls that generated just $100 million in revenue five years ago into a machine that is projected to hit $3 billion next year. The dolls are part of Disney's Princess brand, which worldwide consists of about 25,000 different Princess products, including dolls, sticker books, pajamas, sleeping bags, toothbrushes, vanity tables, digital cameras, cell phones and multi-level Nintendo video games. The line's success can be attributed to Disney consumer products chief Andy Mooney, who came to the company from …