tennis    .    community    .     charity

As all Fridays go we will now give recognition to a proud supporter of the 2008 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly. Without support from partners such as the USTA Midwest Section we would not be able to put on a world class mens professional tennis event in Indy every summer. So thank you USTA Midwest and we look forward to the exciting partnership in years to come.

Novak being Novak in New York...PRICELESS!

The lighter side of mens professional tennis.

The guys are in New Haven as we speak and are currently playing the final stop on the 2008 Olympus US Open Series to be capped off next week at the start of the 2008 US Open. The summer series has provided tennis fans with some of the best mens tennis I have had the opportunity to witness. Whether you look at Gilles Simon taking home the crown in Indy and defeating Roger Federer in Canada or Nadal climbing to the top to become the world #1 or watching Juan Martin Del Potro capture the countrywide classic in LA and following it up with the title in Washington at the Legg Mason Classic. Mens professional tennis has experienced incredible growth this summer it was broadcast on ESPN2 at every tournament stop. The USTA continues to promote the game of tennis at a grassroots level and will continue to be a driving force for the succeess of tennis within the states. We look forward to growing our partnership with the USTA through a number of tennis related activities most notably this fall at the Healthy Active Lifestyles convocation at a TBD location in Indiana.

                         TENNIS   .    COMMUNITY   .    CHARITY

Congratulations Rafa!

Rafael Nadal is on top of mens professional tennis as the #1 ranked player in the world

Featured sponsor of the day: Exact Target! 

Back for the second year, Exact Target made headlines again at the 2008 tournament as the exclusive sponsor of the stadium court radar gun readout.

Exact Target continues to provide the best in e-mail marketing software for marketing campaigns and best of all, they are based right here in the heart of the circle city - Indianapolis, Indiana.

Exact Target is also the official email marketing partner of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Newsletter, to sign up click here.

James Blake rolls past Federer in Beijing!
Be sure to watch James keep the American tennis hopes of gold alive at the 2008 Olympics.





Tennis  .  Community  .  Charity

Impressions...Today I want to take a quick look at how impressions impact sponsorships. Impression can be defined as the exposure one receives to a sponsorship or media vehicle that communicates a specific brand message; anytime a consumer is affected by a targeted corporate message. Naturally if one were to look at the stadium court of the Indy pro tennis tournament you would see  a number of sponsor logos: Lilly, US Open Series, National City Private Client Group, American Airlines and many more. These logos combined with various on-site activation methods provide the sponsor with those highly coveted impressions. All of these brands have chosen to align with the top tennis tournament in the Midwest: Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly.
If we link this directly to sponsorship we can really begin to think of ways to capitalize on a corporate sponsorship spend or find compelling reasons to make that sponsorship spend. What is your organization doing to make a lasting impression on your target consumer?

Up next: Experiential Marketing.

If you were to google digital cameras right now, how many results do you think you would pull up? If you guessed 83,500,000 then you were exactly right. I am sure you are curious as to why this has anything to do with a world class mens professional tennis tournament and I plan to explain that one to you.

Lets start with Olympus first of all, Olympus has started their first year as the title sponsor of the US Open Series and they have kicked this partnership off with a bang! Touring the US with a mobile marketing campaign and a 60' bus that folds out into an interactive tennis court and photo opportunity to demostrate their product. This is how you activate a sponsorship.

My question is this: What are you doing to keep your brand in front of your consumers, even when the economy is on a downturn? You must stay in front of your consumers year round. The opportunity to physically put your product in the hands of your consumers and create an intimate experience is a highly valuable goal of many companies.

Many organizations are often confused during tight economical times and begin to pull the reigns back, this is precisely the opposite of what they should be doing when things get turbulent. When everyone else is pulling back their spend, why not keep yours the same or step it up 5-10%? Your impact and reach are that much greater due to the lack of products and promotions in the marketplace. Align with a world class product: i.e. mens professional tennis? the USTA? the Olympus US Open Series? or heck why not event the Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presetned by Lilly?

Ok, so your demographic isn't exactly that of a pro tennis tournament in the midwest, that is fine, we understand that we cannot be all things to all people but I would argue that you can find an event, property, team or athlete that will help you stay relavent and most importantly, provide you with memorable experiences and lasting impressions on your consumers!

Impacting one fan at a time...

Thank you again to James Blake for another fantastic run at the title in Indianapolis, Indiana.

2008 Indianapolis Tennis Championships Presented by Lilly - More than professional Tennis!

As you can see, there are more than just tennis winners here in Indy!

The tennis in Indianapolis continues to heat up as we approach the quarterfinals on Friday July 18th! Young americans continue to carve their way through the player field.

TOURNAMENT PLAY STARTS TODAY!
GET YOUR TICKETS TO THE 2008 INDIANAPOLIS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY LILLY.