| EVENT REPORT 02.17.09 4:48 PM |
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T-Mobile Stages Celebrity Shootout During NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix
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 | Katy Perry performing at the T-Mobile Celebrity Shootout
Photo: Chris Polk/Film Magic |
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While a handful of marketers flew to Phoenix over the weekend to host events around the NBA All-Star Game—among them ESPN, House of Jordan, 944 Magazine, EA Sports, and Sprite—many brands followed the precedent set at the the Super Bowl this year and opted out, or ran with scaled-back (read: cheaper) versions of what they're typically known for. New to the scene, however, was T-Mobile's Celebrity Shootout, a charitable game of horse between Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade and celebrities like actress Eliza Dushku and Scrubs star Donald Faison.
Held Friday night in and around the Hotel Valley Ho's pool deck, the event was a multipurpose party that T-Mobile used to both promote its new G1 phone and launch its myFave's Shot of a Lifetime, a national sweepstakes that offers the winner and their "fave five" the chance to play horse with Wade at the Eastern Conference NBA Finals and to win $50,000. (For non-basketball fans: Horse is a game where two players take turns at trick shots; the player unable to duplicate a shot gets a letter in the word horse until one player spells the whole word and loses.)
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N.B.A., T-Mobile |
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| NEWS 01.14.09 8:00 AM |
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Playboy Nixes Super Bowl Party
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 | Bunnies at Playboy's 2008 Super Bowl party in Arizona
Photo: Stephanie Fay for BizBash |
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Longtime Super Bowl party host Playboy has bowed out of this year's Tampa hoopla, citing the economy—and dwindling ad revenue in particular—as the reason. "Yes, the economy has played a role, marketers are holding tight to their budgets," said Playboy divisional senior vice president of marketing Lisa Natale. "For us, this wasn’t the most prudent event to produce given the financial climate. We explored smaller parties, parties with partners, but we didn’t want to compromise the integrity of our event. We didn’t want to scale it back."
After nine previous parties, Playboy's bash was known as one of the weekend's biggest, reeling in 2,000-plus attendees last year.
In order to have some presence during the Super Bowl weekend, the magazine is opting to sponsor DirecTV's Celebrity Beach Bowl tourney on Saturday, January 31, where bunnies will be on hand to represent the brand. Natale said that Playboy will "absolutely" be back in 2010, adding, "I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear this. Every day you read the trades about other parties being canceled. No one's renting private jets. The spots during he game aren’t selling. It’s sort of expected."
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Super Bowl, Playboy, South by Southwest, Grand Am, N.B.A., N.B.A. All-Star Game |
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| NEWS 02.25.08 12:12 PM |
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What NBA All-Star Party Hosts Thought of New Orleans
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 | Playboy bunnies at the Crown Royal Barbershop event
Photo: James Trevenen/Playboy |
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Some big-name brands flocked to the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday, February 17. We touched base with several planners to see what they thought of New Orleans as a host city.
“As far as proximity goes, you couldn’t ask for anything better. Everything is within walking distance or a five-minute cab ride. The footprint of this city is much easier to get around than [last year’s host city] Vegas.”
—Timi Jordan, senior manager of special events marketing, ESPN
“The people of New Orleans couldn’t have been nicer to deal with. They were so genuinely grateful that the NBA chose their city, and they really wanted to showcase how great New Orleans is. They went out of their way to be accommodating.”
—Janet Abbazia, vice president of event marketing, Turner Sports
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N.B.A., Playboy, ESPN the Magazine |
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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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RELATED TOPICS
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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