| NEWS 09.29.09 4:46 PM |
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DineLA Restaurant Week Makes First Fall Appearance, Adds Food Truck
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DineLA—a restaurant week-style marketing initiative between LA Inc., American Express, and the local restaurant community—will kick off for its first fall appearance, October 4 through 9 and 11 through 16. To mark the start of the program, Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill at L.A. Live hosted a kickoff press conference on September 25 with L.A. chefs, restaurateurs, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and other V.I.P.s.
"This fall event will truly showcase L.A.'s chefs and restaurants like never before," the mayor said. "DineLA Restaurant Week is a proven economic engine for the city of Los Angeles, with 84 percent of restaurants that previously participated reporting a positive impact on their business."
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DineLA, Antonio Villaraigosa, American Express, LA Inc. |
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| NEWS 06.23.09 1:00 PM |
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Facing Severe Sponsorship Drop, Gen Art Brings Back Benefit to Raise Funds
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 | Acura's display at the 2009 Gen Art Film Festival in New York
Photo: Alice and Chris for BizBash |
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FROM NEW YORK
Gen Art, the frequent event host that matches up emerging creative talent with corporate sponsors, has seen a 70 percent drop in sponsorship dollars from 2008 to 2009. So after relying on money from marketers to fund both its for-profit event production company and its nonprofit wing during most of its 15-year history, Gen Art has made drastic cutbacks and will put on its first benefit in nearly 10 years this week in New York.
"If the recession had hit three months later, it would have been a completely different story," said Gen Art C.E.O. and founder Ian Gerard, thinking back to last October, "but because it all happened before the 2009 fiscal year came, everyone drastically cut back their marketing budgets from the start."
Those cutbacks affected ongoing initiatives with Gen Art. Despite having yearlong deals in the works, official partners such as Acura, American Express, and Citibank all pulled back. "We're still working with all of those companies," Gerard said. "It's just been at such a reduced amount. It's more event-by-event versus an annual deal across all of our events or a large number of them."
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Gen Art, Citibank, Acura, American Express |
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| TED KRUCKEL 06.19.09 11:21 AM |
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The U.S. Open Is All About Getting Close to Tiger, and the Sponsors
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 | It's a breathtaking view from the first tee at Bethpage State Park, once you get there.
Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images |
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FROM NEW YORK
It’s just like standing in the square at St. Peter’s. He’s far away, but unmistakable. There’s his little hat. Everyone is oohing and aahing. And taking cell phone pictures, which is so against the rules. While some may think it sacrilege to compare the Pope to Tiger Woods, for this lifelong, reluctant attendee to both houses of worship, it is exactly the same thing.
Everyone is quiet. Well, quiet except that they’re whispering all the time, always whispering the same things. Here are the top ten musings that everyone is murmuring at the 109th U.S. Open, held at Bethpage State Park on Long Island.
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U.S. Open, United States Golf Association, American Express, Lexus, Tiger Woods, Real Housewives of New York City |
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| NEWS 06.10.09 3:59 PM |
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In the News: 10 Banks Buy Out of TARP Scrutiny, Verizon Comps Taxi Rides in Marketing Stunt
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Companies Under TARP Watch Shrink: Bank holding companies such as American Express, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley no longer have to worry about taxpayer scrutiny when planning corporate meetings and events. They're among the 10 large firms that the Obama administration allowed to repay the federal aid they received during the beginning of the financial crisis. Under the watch of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) for the better part of 2009, the banks' travel expenses, bonuses, and sponsored events came under fire for the perceived misuse of public funds. [NYT]
Walmart Shareholder Meeting Still a Production: An ability to healthily navigate the recession thus far allowed Walmart to keep up appearances at its annual shareholder meeting earlier last week. A crowd of 15,000 gathered at the Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Arkansas, bright and early last Friday for a Ben Stiller-hosted show that included performances by Miley Cyrus and recent American Idol winner Kris Allen. [AdAge]
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TARP, American Express, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Walmart, Verizon |
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| EVENT REPORT 10.16.08 12:32 PM |
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Fashion Week Sponsors Hawk Wares With Focus on Causes, Style
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 | The scene at Smashbox
Photo: BizBash |
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The five-day swirl of shows and parties that is Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles kicked off on Sunday at Smashbox Studios in Culver City. And although L.A. Fashion Week is in danger of phasing out in its current capacity if Smashbox co-owner Davis Factor cannot continue to generate the sponsorship dollars necessary to keep it going during the economic downturn, this season's sponsors are still working hard to impress showgoers at the tents. This time around, the bounty of product and service offerings is largely focused on environmental or philanthropic messages, plus—bien sur—stylish presentation.
Title sponsor Mercedes-Benz brought three of its cars to the tent lobby, including a new clean-diesel BlueTEC SUV, next to which a techy touchscreen display allowed guests to visualize their dream cars by personalizing the available options. A hedgerow backed the vehicle. The brand also brought the GLK, which appeared in Sex and the City: The Movie and will be available for sale in January. A film loop showing behind the car showed it traveling through photogenic Southern California locations. Key to the Cure logos and signage surrounded a third car, an example of the vehicle one woman drove across the country to promote breast cancer awareness. "The cars represent talking points, which speak to causes and show our philanthropic side," said Mercedes' western regional PR manager, Larkin Hill. "Stylish people who set the trends [are] our target audience, and we want to show them we have a conscience."
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Fashion Week, Mercedes-Benz, Key to the Cure, American Express, Rose's, Ultra HD, Flor de Caña, Domino Magazine, BlackBerry, T-Mobile, Sponsorships |
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| EVENT INTELLIGENCE 04.11.08 10:30 AM |
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Building Buzz With Videos: IMG's Fashion Week Series
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 | A model getting primped in one of IMG's behind-the-scenes Fashion Week videos.
Photo: Courtesy of IMG Fashion |
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This story is part of our series on building event buzz with online videos.
Not every successful online video is made by event attendees with handheld cameras. Marketers who realize the potential of Web video for enhancing an event experience are also producing professional, high-quality videos to complement their events.
In 2007, IMG Fashion launched a YouTube channel to display videos from Fashion Week events throughout the world. Each video is a one- to four-minute clip focused on a specific runway show, collection, or after-party, featuring interviews with designers and celebrity attendees. Produced and edited by IMG and Smashbox Studios, the videos capture both the glamour of the runway shows and the frenetic energy behind the scenes.
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Building Buzz With Online Videos, YouTube, IMG, IMG Fashion, Fashion Week, Imitation of Christ, American Express |
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| EVENT REPORT 03.14.08 6:56 PM |
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Eco-Themed Fashion Week Wraps With Snow and Skin on the Runways
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 | The Fashion Week scene at Smashbox Studios
Photo: BizBash |
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Sure, IMG’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Los Angeles is not known for the high-fashion drama that fashion weeks in other cities like New York and Paris supply, and it's gotten some unfavorable press in recent days for its relatively lackluster appeal and reliance on skin exposure and B-list (or worse) celebrity for punch. Nevertheless, the local happenings, which officially ran from Sunday until yesterday at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, did include a handful of attention-getting entertainment, decor, and gift offerings in an environment packed with earth-minded ideas.
For its production, IMG focused on eco-friendly objectives along the themes of reduce, reuse, and recycle. A fuel-efficient locomotive transported production materials to Culver City, the production team built the tents at Smashbox using materials and staging structures that will be reused for future events, and organizers will donate the vinyl signage to the William Good Company, which will turn it into accessories to benefit Goodwill.
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Fashion Week, Mercedes-Benz, IMG Fashion, DHL, Sea Bags, Smartwater, Green Initiative, Gallery L.A., Going Green, American Express, Monarchy, Pussycat Dolls |
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| EVENT REPORT 02.20.08 12:14 PM |
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TNT, Wrigley's, Playboy Flock to NBA All-Star Weekend
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 | Common performed at ESPN the Magazine's party.
Photo: Steve Kashishian |
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Dubbed by "a mini Super Bowl" by more than one planner, the NBA All-Star Game and its surrounding festivities descended upon New Orleans last weekend, bringing along an entourage of piggybacking events. Catering to the bevy of athletes in town (who weren’t nearly as stressed as, say, the Giants or the Patriots were in Arizona), planners from entities such as Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, and Wrigley’s enticed with big-name performances, high-profile guests, and intimate late-night parties.
Turner Sports vice president of event marketing Janet Abbazia bucked the Super Bowl's trend of booking rappers, instead booking Barenaked Ladies to perform at the annual NBA on TNT Celebration Party, held at House of Blues on Saturday. “We always look at our audience, and while the NBA demographic may be different, the people attending our event are businesspeople covering a wide range of ages, so we tried to find a band that appealed to everyone,” she said, adding that the event grew this year, hosting some 1,600 guests (compared with last year’s 1,200).
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N.B.A., Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, Jordan Brand, Nike, Crown Royal, Wrigley's Doublemint, Miller Beer, Old Spice, Gatorade, American Express, BET Networks |
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