The New Zealand Rugby Union has international success marketing its national team under the All Blacks name. It sounds tough. It strikes an image. So why not spread the wealth?

The Union has decided to use the All Blacks name for two of its other national teams, which will now be known as the All Blacks Sevens and the Maori All Blacks, according to Yahoo! Sports. The teams will also incorporate the All Blacks name into their logos.

The sevens team plays more games internationally than the national team so it has more opportunities to spread the All Blacks name on a global front.Continue reading...

The University of North Dakota’s basketball team went out onto the court for the first time in eternity without its old nickname, the Fighting Sioux, attached to them. No Native American mascot roamed the sideline, either. This came after a massive, years-long battle against the NCAA, which gave the word back in 2005 that colleges and universities needed to ditch their Native American sports monikers because they had been deemed offensive.

The University of Utah Utes, named for an American Indian tribe, have been sensitive to the issue for some time. Back in 1996, the school got rid of its Hoyo mascot and introduced Skyhawk. The Utes name, though, has stuck with the program and will for some time. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that the school isn’t going to change its name and will stick with its “drum and feather” logo, though it isn’t clear for how much longer those symbols will stick around.Continue reading...

The recently opened BMW Guggenheim Lab gives new meaning to pop-up art, as seen in the above video. Reclaiming a rat-and-rubble infested 2,000 square foot East Village lot between Houston and East First Street, the Lab is a social experiment in urban living.

“When people say we’re taking it to the streets, we literally are. Hopefully this will be a petri dish of ideas for the decision makers of tomorrow,” said Richard Armstrong, director of the Guggenheim Foundation.

BMW unveiled the six-year project with the Guggenheim Museum in May, described as a traveling cultural project for cultivating 21st century design and urban living ideas, while including the public with free programs and spaces. Running through October 16 in NYC, more than 100 events are planned centered on the theme “Confronting Comfort” – how to make urban life more livable.Continue reading...

The BMW Guggenheim Lab, which opens tomorrow in New York, gives new meaning to pop-up art.

Reclaiming a rat- and rubble-infested 2,000 square foot East Village lot between Houston and East First Street, the Lab is a social experiment in urban living — through October 16th, when the pop-up co-branded installation takes off on a six-year world tour to inspire eight other cities.Continue reading...

It makes perfect sense that two of the biggest brands in business and entertainment, Xerox and Cirque du Soleil, would come together in a time when event sponsorship is a more serious decision as dollars and marketing resources are scarcer.

As the New York Times reviewed the Montreal-based troupe's current show, Zarkana, “What remains appealing about Cirque du Soleil shows is this emphasis on the human ability to create excitement from sheer physical prowess and perfectly drilled gymnastic feats.” 

Now, that prowess will be supported by Xerox, a new official partner of Cirque du Soleil, which will take on behind-the-scenes handling of Cirque's business processes and bring deft finesse to Cirque's cross-media marketing needs.Continue reading...