Hang in there, folks, we're only hours away from the Opening Ceremonies of the XXX Olympiad. Above, members of the U.S. Olympics swimming team including Michael Phelps sing their rendition of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." Phelps has already won 16 Olympic medals and had made plenty of dough from sponsorships and endorsements. But now he’s entering these Games with fellow American Ryan Lochte nipping out his heels and thepostgame.com is wondering what will happen to Phelps’ earning power if he happens to lose a few races this time around. "If he walks away with no medal at all, it would be a tremendous disappointment and devastating for the brand," brand expert Laura Ries tells the site. "People want winners, especially Americans." His current sponsors include Speedo, Hilton, Subway, Visa, Proctor & Gamble, HP, Topps and Omega. Not too shabby. Even he does lose, he’s got enough in the bank already to last him a pretty long time.

Below, a few more headlines leading into the biggest sports event that will be gripping the planet in the weeks ahead:Continue reading...

Brands spend millions to become official partners of the Olympics, and Ace Metrix says those sponsorships are worth it. Ace Metrix is the only company scoring every nationally airing US Olympic ad leading up to and during the games, and today announced their Olympic ad effectiveness program.

“We are thrilled to provide a 360 degree view of ad effectiveness for brands who have invested in Olympic sponsorships and Olympic themed ads,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, about its ranking of London 2012 marketing campaigns to date.

“The Olympics are a significant investment for any sponsor, and understanding the effectiveness of that sponsorship is critical in the era of marketing accountability," he added. "We are particularly interested in the data regarding the vital emotional elements associated with the Olympics. Understanding how the emotion of such a global event relates to the rational consumer processing that accompanies the vast majority of advertising will be fascinating."Continue reading...

With such brands as Tide, Charmin, and Bounty in its massive brand family of consumer packaged goods, Procter & Gamble has long focused its marketing push toward the mothers of the world. Even now, in a world where the stay-at-home-dad population is growing and U.S. women are heading toward out-earning their husbands, P&G still pays tribute to mom in much of its marketing.

Its current global campaign, called "Thank You Mom," celebrates the mothers of Olympic athletes, and P&G will take some of those women to the Games in London this summer. While we can all agree that moms rock, P&G is smartly taking a break so it can focus on dads, even for a bit. With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, P&G’s Gillette brand launched dad-centric TV ads during the England-France Euro 2012 tie game on Monday.

Gillette's pre-Father's Day U.S. campaign pitch for the spot at top:

Gillette is searching for the greatest fatherly advice ever. Visit us on Facebook, or use #HeresToDad on Twitter between June 7 and 17 to share your dad's words of wisdom. This commercial celebrates Dads everywhere, by recognizing the man behind the athlete...the man behind all of us. "Here's to Dad. The Best a Man Can Get."Continue reading...

Perpetually in search of brand innovation since 1883, when it introduced its first major brand, Ivory Soap, Procter & Gamble’s corporate commitment to innovating is articulated in the June issue of Harvard Business Review, where P&G is dubbed the "new growth factory."

The HBR article, "How P&G Tripled Its Innovation Success Rate" (co-authored by P&G CTO Bruce Brown and Innosight managing director Scott Anthony) looks at how digital platforms have filled the branded content hole created by the collapse of TV soap operas, a branding medium that P&G helped invent with Colgate-Palmolive and Lever Brothers.Continue reading...

Consumer brand powerhouse Procter & Gamble is out to conquer the world.

The company is ramping up an aggressive international expansion strategy, a necessity if it hopes to continue to grow. Traditionally focused on U.S. and Europe, P&G is now setting its sites on the rest of the world as sales sag in its stronghold territories.

One of the main reasons for the soft market has been the changing spending habits of consumers, who've become more frugal and cost-conscious during the recession. According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers replaced at least one food, beverage, or household product with a cheaper substitute.Continue reading...

Brands are luring music-lovers with a variety of musical tie-ins:

• Adidas Originals is hosting a live chat with Snoop Dogg on its Facebook page tomorrow to celebrate reaching the 3 million fans benchmark.
• Converse is appealing to hipsters with indie music collaborations such as artists Cudi, above, and Best Coast.
• Keds is sponsoring performances at The Whitney (and taps artists such as Jenny Holzer for limited-edition sneakers) in summer collaboration.
• Levi's is promoting musicians such as Jason Mraz and John Legend & the Roots as part of its Pioneer campaign.
• VICE magazine and Intel kicked off their Creators Project collaboration in NYC, featuring the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner and other artists.
• Among luxury brands, meanwhile, Burberry is working with British musicians (and tapping some to model) to support its digital marketing.

More brands making news after the jump.Continue reading...

Last July, branding powerhouse Procter & Gamble tried appealing to budget-conscious consumers with a value-priced version of Tide detergent called Tide Basic. The product was carried by Wal-Mart and Kroger stores, primarily in the south and southwestern parts of the United States.

Tide Basic was essentially a test to see if stripping out some of Tide's features and pricing it as much as twenty percent lower than original Tide would make the product more attractive. It was seen as a strategy to compete with the growing popularity of store brands and generics.

P&G has announced it has ended the test and will pull Tide Basic from the market. Why?Continue reading...

Yes, there is life after Oprah, at least for Oprah. She may be leaving her highly-rated syndicated television talk show, but now she'll be on her OWN – the Oprah Winfrey Network, that is, which will launch in January.

The network, a partnership between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications, will operate 24/7 and replace the Discovery Health Channel in some 80 million U.S. homes.

OWN got a major boost this week as Procter & Gamble, the biggest U.S. advertiser, signed a $100 million advertising deal with the new network. The deal, noted in the The Wall Street Journal, will include advertising and selective product integration on the channel.

The agreement is important for several reasons. It demonstrates that OWN has credibility with an advertising powerhouse whose brands include such consumer classics as Bounty, Cover Girl, Crest, Herbal Essence, Ivory, Mr. Clean, Scope, and Tide. Since P&G is the leading marketer of consumer products, its actions are watched closely by other marketers, who will now likely consider OWN as a viable advertising outlet.

It bodes well for the economy that ad spending is on the rebound for P&G. It's also a major show of support for the staying power of Winfrey's personal brand, particularly as OWN has been under considerable scrutiny since it was announced in 2008.Continue reading...