Anna Huddleston

It was all about firsts for Mercedes-Benz at this month’s Spring 2011 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center in New York City. It was the first time the automaker and presenting sponsor debuted a vehicle at a fashion show and the first time it extended its sponsorship activation through photo and street experiences outside the tents.

For last week’s Chicago Auto Show, held Feb. 11 to 20 at McCormick Place, General Motors set its sights not just on auto hounds from around the Windy City, but all over the world by deploying a new and innovative 360-degree photo activation at its exhibit. The activity was set up to promote the new convertible Camaro and used 27 cameras, mounted in a sweeping, ascending curve around one side of the car. Attendees jumped, leaped and kicked their legs in the air “Matrix”-style as a photographer took 27 individual stills with one click.

AT&T on Feb. 1 launched 28 Days, an inspirational speaker series, that will be held in five cities throughout Black History Month. The program is one of many events and activities that the telecommunications company sponsors to connect with the African-American, Hispanic and Asian communities, which represent 36 percent of the U.S. population.

Two teams of UCLA students went head-to-head in a game of capture the flag where the goal wasn’t only to get the most flags, but to get the most dollars for heart health, thanks to Diet Coke and its support of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s The Heart Truth campaign. The game on Feb. 1 in Los Angeles was the first in a series of seven more games planned for Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, OH, Seattle, and Washington D.C., in which each team plays for a heart healthy charity. In L.A.

CITGO in January launched its Marketer Round Table Meetings, an annual series of 18 daylong events held across three regions designed to pump up the local marketers and retailers that sell its refined gas and diesel products. This year the hot topic was the company’s redesigned logo, its new retail image and a portfolio of marketing programs designed to help build their businesses.