It’s all fun and games until somebody loses the series—or fails a drug test or wrecks that shiny new race car or gets arrested or burns a house down or well you catch our drift.
Can your sports sponsorship stand on its own if your team (or its marquee athlete) doesn’t perform? As any experienced sponsorship exec can tell you it pays to strategize for the best while planning for the worst. Six tips for moving ahead when the team’s main attraction runs into trouble.

When the Cartoon Network set out to promote “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” with a 10-market guerrilla marketing effort the company never could have imagined the publicity the stunt would get.

Any brand with enough money can attach itself to the biggest music acts in the world. But finding a lesser-known band—one that hasn’t hit iTunes or the Billboard charts yet—can be more difficult. Hooking on with an up-and-coming band that has a following in a given market can give a brand instant credibility among the target audience.
When you’re on the outside of a market looking in it might be difficult to separate the next My Morning Jacket from the group that’s destined for the bar mitzvah circuit. Three tips:

It might seem counterintuitive but letting someone else put their mark on your product might be the hook you need to connect with certain consumers. That’s why marketers are signing deals with street-style artists—letting them create distinctive looks for otherwise mass-produced goods. Sneaker companies are leading the movement but the trend clearly has legs outside of athletic footwear.

Using materials that give your trade show exhibit an upscale polished appearance can be an easy way to communicate the sophistication of the brand. Now brands are tapping into the latest trend in upscale looks: architectural materials that would look at home in a permanent environment like a high-end office or retail space.
The materials are substantial enough to make attendees forget that they’re walking the trade-show floor but flexible enough to install and pack up easily for the next show on the circuit.