The NHL is having some success marketing its events outside of the usual everyday games. From its New Year’s Day outdoor Winter Classics, which now feel like they’ve been around forever, to the televised “draft” of superstars at last year’s All-Star Game, the league is finding successful ways to draw in fans and marketers alike.

Now comes an attempt at another new tradition: the Thanksgiving Friday Game. (That’s the 2011 Discover NHL Thanksgiving Showdown to you, buster.) Discover will be sponsoring the game this year between the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins at 1 p.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

So those of you who don’t feel like heading into the craziness of Black Friday (or those recuperating from morning forays into the madness), now you can make a date with your TV screen since NBC will be showing the game.Continue reading...

There may have been only two hockey players from The Netherlands to play in the NHL throughout its history, but the major brewer that is based there, Amstel, knows a good marketing angle when it sees it.

The Boston Bruins rang up a bar tab of $156,679.74 when they were celebrating their recent Stanley Cup victory over the Vancouver Canucks. While $100,000 of that was for a 30-liter bottle of champagne. However, it was a different single bottle of alcoholic beverage on the bill that interested the folks in Holland: one bottle of Amstel Light.

Last week, Amstel Light was trying to find the person who placed that order so they could provide Amstel Lights for their Fourth of July (or July 1st Canada Day) party. Amazingly, they succeeded.Continue reading...

In the best pro sports branding tie-in of the year, Stanley Cup-winning NHL goalie Tim Thomas showed up at Gillette's World Shaving Headquarters in Boston to say goodbye to his "playoff beard" in a charity event.

Thomas can be seen foamed up with the Gilette safety razor scraping his face in a video from Boston's ABC news affiliate, which is not embeddable because, apparently, WCBVtv news producers hate the web... and Gillette.

The 110-year-old Gillette brand is still headquartered in Boston even though it was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2005. Gillette's name, of course, permeates Boston-area sports. The brand has naming rights for the Gillette Stadium just outside Boston, home of the New England Patriots football and Revolution soccer teams.

Gillette wasn't the only brand getting a tie-in boost from Lord Stanley and his hallowed cup o' hockey.Continue reading...

Anthony Weiner resigns in wake of sexting scandal following pressure from his fellow Democrats.

AOL's Advertising.com regroups.

Avon censured on Fair Trade claim.

BlackBerry sales are down, while RIM's PlayBook tablet shipped 500,000 units.

Burger King launches DirecTV promotion.

Carolina Herrera hired by movie producers as wedding dress designer for Twilight's Bella Swan.

Comcast unveils next generation Xfinity TV system at US Cable Show.Continue reading...

There used to be an arena in Vancouver called General Motors Place, but a certain little recession and difficulty in the auto-selling marketplace caused that deal to be cut short and naming-rights to be available again. So last July, Rogers Communications, the Canadian telecom giant that also owns the Toronto Blue Jays and has its names on various properties in Toronto, pulled off a double whammy in Vancouver.

Not only did Rogers suddenly gain a major springboard for young telecom users to be exposed to their growing brand in western Canada, the company also knocked out competitor Telus from having the naming rights (which it was also competing to obtain) and to continue as the official telecom company of the arena.Continue reading...