The Pro Shop

It was a comment from an unnamed “Olympic” source that first suggested that Subway, and its marketing partner Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, was employing ambush marketing to try to make it look like the restaurant chain was an Olympic sponsor, which it is not. At the same time last week, the U.S. Olympic Committee released a statement condemning ambush marketing and any company that appears to be participating in it. The unnamed source also mentioned Verizon as a culprit.

To the USOC, ambush marketing is not only seen as an attack on its deep-pocket sponsors, which it says it works tirelessly to protect from such unfortunate aggressions, but also an attack on the Olympic brand itself.

more

By now we all know that the Apple iPad will go down in history as the most revolutionary device since the opposable thumb, and the most tin-eared product name since Dr. Crapper’s brainchild.

The naming problem can be overcome if the tablet gets enough lift among the public. (Who would have given odds that everyone would want a Wii?) But the revolutionary promise could come true. Consumers are buying portability in their electronics. Recent forecasts from the Consumer Electronics Association predict that this year’s hot categories will be wireless handsets and especially smart phones (52 million to be sold globally in 2010) and, in the PC category, lightweight, stripped down netbooks (30 million units to be sold this year.) more

Dockers has found a new use for a popular music identifying technology.

The technology, Shazam, was developed for smartphones to let users identify music by simply pointing their handheld in the direction of the music and clicking the “tag now” button. The technology recognizes the music and opens a Shazam landing page that identifies the song and artist, and offers other information, like where to buy the song and musical recommendations.

Dockers may just be one of the first brands to use the technology as a means to market to consumers, driving viewers of its Super Bowl ad, “Men Without Pants” to a splash page it created. During the ad, the song, “I Wear No Pants,” is sung. People who tag the song will be directed to Dockers content that includes information about its new campaign to drive sales of men’s khakis, learn about its products, purchase the “I Wear No Pants” soundtrack or enter a contest.

more

We’re a nation that enjoys controversy: public option healthcare or not, Team Edward vs. Team Jacob, Jay or Coco, dogs or cats. We enjoy choosing up sides, whether or not we have anything to gain.

Now a promotion has tapped into one of the great unresolved issues: tissues. The bathroom variety, to be exact. In a phrase, Cottonelle wants to know, America: Should the toilet paper go over the roll or under? more

It’s hard to take your eyes off the scenes of devastation in Haiti, or to focus on anything beyond the truly horrific suffering: On Monday it was estimated that the death toll might reach as high as 200,000, and that three-quarters of the capital city Port-au-Prince was in need of reconstruction. Shattered infrastructure and the lack of a strong government presence are exacerbating the problems by making it difficult to get rescue teams to those who might still be alive, and needed supplies to the survivors.

But in one way, Haiti has been fortunate: When it comes to financial support, new media—and specifically mobile–have stepped up to provide swift, frictionless new ways for ordinary people to contribute cash to the recovery efforts, deploying channels resources that were not readily available even a few years ago. more

The founders of Life is good, the T-shirt brand that found wild success in the simple concept of spreading optimism, sold the shirts from a van that the two brothers wound up and down the east coast for five years.

The brothers, Bert and Johnnie, slept on the inventory, stashed the cash under the front passenger seat and christened the van “The Enterprise” because it contained everything they needed to run the business at the time.

more