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player ready...Sammy Sosa’s marketing star may be dimming these days, thanks to his suspension for using a corked bat.
But another Chicago right fielder is just starting to see his marketing prospects brighten.
White Sox right fielder Magglio Ordonez is close to signing a multiyear endorsement deal with local Chevrolet dealers, Ordonez’s first major multiyear pact since joining the Sox.
If all goes as planned, shooting for new print ads will take place next week at U.S. Cellular Field. Print ads and radio spots for Chevy will pop up beginning in the next few weeks.
The deal, via Chicago’s Integrated Marketing Solutions, comes as Ordonez is beginning to garner some interest from local advertisers. Earlier this spring Ordonez was paired with the Cubs’ Corey Patterson in a summer promotion for McDonald’s Corp.
A spokeswoman for General Motors here said that no deal has been finalized, but that the two sides were talking about a sponsorship deal.
Beside Ordonez, the local Chevy dealers last year signed up Bulls rookie Jay Williams for a three-year deal that included print and TV advertising. The Ordonez deal gives Chevy the option to use Williams during the fall and winter, and Ordonez in the spring and summer months.
Though it’s unlikely Ordonez and Williams are getting much for their time in the ads–usually the dealers throw in an auto of their choice–the local Chevrolet business has proved to be a launching pad of sorts for major endorsement careers.
After all, Michael Jordan, the best-known product hawker in history, got his start pitching Chevy Blazers to Chicagoans. The rest, of course, is history.
Separately, General Motors’ Cadillac division said that it signed on to become the Chicago Bears’ latest “Hall of Fame Partner,” giving it the naming rights to the new Soldier Field banquet facility, which will now be named the “Cadillac Club.”
The Cadillac deal follows other exclusive deals, including with Miller Brewing Co. and Coca-Cola.
Conflict? What conflict? Did Leo Burnett dump a piece of business when it didn’t have to? Looks like it.
After Burnett subsidiary LB Works picked up advertising for the H2O Plus beauty chain in February, it appears that executives at Leo Burnett panicked, believing (wrongly) the assignment posed a conflict with client Procter & Gamble. So even though P&G didn’t squawk, LB Works was forced to say goodbye to the client.
But a quick check with P&G this week showed that the H2O situation in fact was not a problem. A spokeswoman from the packaged goods giant said that the H2O business, so long as it stayed within the subsidiary, would have been fine under its current conflict policy. So, Leo Burnett gave the business away for no reason.
Perhaps someone at Burnett forgot that the agency is now part of a public company. And giving away business is usually frowned upon by shareholders–not to mention the CEO.
Either way, Burnett’s mistake is good news for the Chicago office of Rubin Postaer & Associates, which won the $15 million business after a shootout with Hadrian’s Wall. A new national campaign from the agency is slated to break soon.
Laughlin/Constable adds PR unit: Laughlin/Constable, which has had a sizable public relations business out of Milwaukee over the years, is now adding the capability in its Chicago office. Susan Weiss, a veteran PR practitioner in Chicago, was hired as the agency’s director of public relations, and will oversee the operations in both offices. In addition, the agency hired Jennifer Antonini to work on PR business for clients out of Chicago.
On the move: Gregory Welch, who runs Spencer Stuart’s chief marketing officer practice in Chicago, was promoted to partner. . . . Ann Koepel, who has worked in Edelman Worldwide’s media practice since 1997, was named marketing manager. . . . Kelly DeWitt was promoted to media planning supervisor at Kelly, Scott and Madison.
Account action: The Chicago Wolves named Ogilvy & Mather Chicago as its new agency of record. The agency will handle all marketing communications for the American Hockey League team, including TV and print advertising. . . . Marquette Bank named GreenHouse Communications as its marketing agency of record. The agency will handle creative and strategic services for the bank.
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Jim Kirk’s Media and Marketing column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. [email protected].