Holy NASCAR, Batman!

With the Nextel Cup race "title sponsorship," Warner Bros and NASCAR do an excellent job of integrating the Batman brand throughout the event. In addition to the event sponsorship, the hoods of Mark Martin's car and Ricky Craven's truck touted paint schemes promoting the June 17 launch [of the film]. One of the promotional highlights included the actual batmobile which served as honorary pace car and was accessible to fans in the "Batman Begins Fan Zone" for photo opps.

Dale Bochon, ACD, RED Communications, Edmonton

RONA in the end zone

An association with the CFL allows RONA [which has sponsored all nine of the league's teams] to cut through the clutter and achieve an "access all areas" pass to the consumer's mind. RONA [and its agency Carat Strategem have] tailored a holistic program [including on-field signage, jersey presence, etc.] that can be leveraged, activated and target specific segments. Not only is it a great differentiating point, but sponsorship at this level is like buying a small company.

Keith McIntyre, president, K.Mac & Associates Marketing Inc., Mississauga, Ont.

Run, Nike, run

With the second annual Nike RUNTO, Nike again created its own event property rather than buy into one. It enabled non and infrequent runners to set a goal, get involved in lead-up training runs and get help with training programs via a dedicated Web site.

Nike was able to organically grow new buyers for its running shoes and gear, gain authenticity as a credible running brand and do so using city imagery in the marketing communication [by Taxi] that really made the event part of the fabric of the city. The hype worked.

Ian Malcolm, president, Desperado Marketing, Toronto