• Forbes CMO Network, Wednesday, September 9, 2009 10:44 AM

Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates, says the only thing as exciting as watching young Melanie Oudin's upset victories at the U.S. Open this week is keeping tabs on the competition among corporate sponsors such as Lexus, Olympus and IBM for consumer attention.

Although corporate sponsorships are nothing new, digital technology has significantly increased the number of places consumers hang out and pick up branding cues, he writes. "Today, the challenge of identifying where a marketer can play to win -- getting the message, the medium, the moment and the money to line up -- is one of the toughest games in town," he says.

While the aforementioned brands are on the mark, in Adamson's estimation, he wonders what the heck SpongeTech is doing at the venue. And the "esteemed" New York Times also makes his "What's your point" list. "To begin with, I'd guess that at least 80% of those watching the games are already subscribers to the paper. Then what does handing out free giant tennis balls have to do with reading 'All the news that's fit to print?'" he writes.

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