This edition of SCC’s blog features content provided by guest blogger Andre Jensen of Trusted Sports, Inc. The focus this week is on inspiration.  Inspiration can come from anywhere, yet sometimes it is easier to find when someone tells you where to look!  Today’s post features an excellent source for stories of inspiration, hopefully in an arena that really resonates with you and your students.  The information presented in today’s blog also features an incredible opportunity for those of you who are lucky enough to have home grown inspiration playing for your local high school football team.  Read on to…

It is that time of year again…Super Bowl season!  For educators who teach business and marketing, this is a time of year where you can have a lot of fun in the classroom, all while conveying some powerful messages that support valuable business/marketing lessons.  After all, what better way to validate all your time teaching students about advertising than to point out that companies like Pepsi, CareerBuilder.com, Audi and Bridgestone just invested $3 million each for a 30 second spot during this year’s big game.

Among the topic areas that are relevant in the classroom (many relating specifically to our non-traditional…

Like so many American football fans around the country, I was excited last night when the college football season officially kicked off.  I settled in to watch the Oregon State Beavers take on the Stanford Cardinal on ESPN2 in HD on my DVR late last night.  Inevitably, I ended up taking something from the game that could translate to a discussion topic for the classroom. 

Apparently Stanford, whose football team has won just two home games in the last two years, has extended an offer to fans that can hardly be refused.  If Stanford fans purchase a season ticket package and…

It’s early May and the season is already in full swing.  Not baseball, mind you, but marketing.  Well, maybe a little of both.  The season for marketing baseball is in full swing.  As such, it is never too early to look back at a few of the season’s wildest and wackiest promotions.

Last delivered a number of real gems, including the likes of Back Hair night, Britney Spears Shaved Head night, Salute to Indoor Plumbing night, “Price is Right” Night featuring Bob “Parker” Bobblehead, World’s Largest Tighty-Whitey Race and Ugly Sweater Night to name a few.

I’m always amazed by the creative (and often…

Ahhhh, yes.  It is that time of the year again.  You know, the time of the year when corporate America flings millions of dollars in the direction of the NFL and its broadcast affiliates.  The time of the year when the creative minds of the ad agencies are truly put to the test.  The time of the year where new products are introduced, new brand campaigns launched and new companies attempt to establish a presence on the radar of consumer America.

This is also the time of the year where Monday morning quarterbacks prosper, placing each and every Super Bowl ad…

The seven-time Tour de France winner is again leveraging his amazing sporting accolades to maximize his marketing power.  On the heels of one of the most successful brand campaigns, Lance Armstrong and company are pushing the LiveStrong brand as a means for raising more money for cancer research.  This time, however, the promotion is tied-in through a major sporting goods retailer (Dick’s Sporting Goods).  The partnership between Dick’s and Armstrong serves as an excellent example of cause marketing for all you teachers out there.  Proceeds from sales of the Livestrong/Nike branded merchandise will go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a group formed…

As the holiday season revs up, so does the sports marketing machine.  Of course, there is no better time to entice consumers to tap into holiday budgets and buy tickets and team gear as the perfect holiday gift.  Many promotions range from simple “holiday” ticket packages to combination gift packages that feature tickets, concessions AND merchandise.

This week’s post features a sampling of what types of promotions are being offered in the sports business world in an effort to generate revenue during the heaviest period of consumer spending in the calendar year.

RAYS HOLIDAY PACK

The Tampa Devil Rays (Major League Baseball) package…

I know we typically feature predominately sports business and marketing related stories on our blog, but at the request of many teachers, we will try to integrate more entertainment business and marketing news into our posts.  Here is one such example…

Starbucks announced last week that they partnered with Apple in a joint promotional effort.  Starbucks purchased 50 million downloads from the iTunes store and will be giving away free song downloads every day through early November.  The downloads will be available on a first come, first served basis in stores throughout the country (click here to view the complete…

As is usually the case, there were plenty of wild and whacky promotions featured throughout the summer at minor league baseball stadiums around the nation.  There’s no doubt the promotions have been helpful in driving attendance to ballparks as minor league baseball announced that the 2007 season marked the fourth year in a row that a new attendance record was established.

According to the release, in 2004, the 106-year-old industry broke a record that had stood since 1949 by drawing 39,887,755 fans. The following season, the number jumped nearly 1.5 million to 41,333,219, an increase of nearly four percent.  Last season, 41,710,357…

How do you know when you’ve hit it big?  Well, if selling millions of copies of books, grossing millions at the box office and selling millions more in licensed merchandise didn’t provide your first, second and third clue, the announcement of a planned theme park might be a pretty good indication.  We’re not talking a special ride at a theme park…we’re talking a complete theme park…20 acres worth. 

Universal unveiled plans in late May that a Harry Potter theme park will open inside Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park (which already houses Marvel Super Heroes and Dr Seuss islands).  The “Wizarding World…