The Edwards Jones Dome comfortably seats up to 60,000 people but apparently that isn’t enough room for more than one advertiser. Over the past few weeks, Russel Atheletic has been trying to rename the stadium the ‘Edward Jones Dome at Russel Athletic Field’. Talk about one hell of a mouth-load. Russel Athletic and the Rams hope to have the name changed and finalized by Monday when the Rams play the Chicago Bears. Rams marketing consultant Bob Reif says the team is happy with the final outcome. An Edward Jones spokesman says the company was aware of the negotiations but didn’t take part in them and is “fine” with the one-day field promotion.

The Man Financial company, an independent future brokerage company recently launched an ad campaign to commemorate its’ 200th anniversary. The Man Financial company is the worlds oldest and largest independent future brokerage company in the world. The tag line of the campaign is ‘200 Years of Glory’. The campaign was designed by Six Inches Communications. (Via)

ÂÂ

We all know rednecks love two things; hanging out in Wal-Mart on a weekend and NASCAR. Therefore, the Bank of America decided it would be a good idea by sponsoring NASCAR as the offical bank for the next five years. The deal will cost the bank an estimated $15 to $20 million over the course of the next 5 years. The deal will add numerous spots throughout broadcasting, on the track, in the stands, and in media coverage. Bank of America is also the offical bank of Major League Baseball. It’s a good idea considering most rednecks would think that it’s “the offical bank of america and nascar. That must mean da goberment runs it.”

The trend continues. If you said Christmas marketing begins earlier and earlier every year than you’re right. Traditionally, Christmas marketing always began after Thanksgiving, but this year many consumers find themselves stock piling for the holidays before trick-or-treaters have showed up. Ad Age has an interesting article covering Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and several other retailers strategies this holiday season.

• There’s a lot of discussion over Burger King’s “social connectivity” campaign. With all this talk about consumers taking control of brands, how do you get control back again if you decide to change direction? Or once you open the gates, is your brand’s destiny out of your hands forever?
• Since the Google acquisition of YouTube last week, the industry has been speculating what the $1.65 billion purchase holds for the future of online media and marketing. Ad Age features five highly respected authorities for their take on the landmark deal.
• Economy.com predicts that U.S. home prices will be falling for the first time since the Great Depression. The report shows that housing prices should be the same five years from now as they are today.
• Organics are starting to sizzle out and marketers are scared. “Most consumers couldn’t care less” about organic foods while marketers continue to spend millions every year on marketing them to consumers. Organic foods just a sizzled out fad?

• Gary Elliot, the VP of brand marketing at Hewlett Packard, addressed the Association of National Advertiser’s annual conference concerning the corporate spying scandal. He stated the the company is doing fine and they have yet to determine the impact the scandal has had on the brand.
• Bob Dylan has made huge strides thanks to his collaboration with the iPod+iTunes commercial. It was in part due to public appearences but more so due to his collaboration effort with Apple to promote his new album.
• City Tech, located just a few miles from Madison Avenue, has been labeled one of the most diverse cities in the country. Considering the need for diversity in the advertising industry, I would hope that an ad program has been set up for students throughout the city.

Mark Cuban thinks 1) YouTube will eventually get sued for copyright violation, 2) Click fraud is just too lucrative for the perpetrators for it to go away anytime soon and 3) Advertisers creating standard definition ads for hi-def TV channels are cheapskates. He also weighs in on the movie release window. It’s nice to see Cuban is finally comfortable enough to let us know what he really thinks.

ÂÂ

ÂÂ

ÂÂ