Beginning Sunday with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament selection show on CBS, March Madness will get a grip on America. And that's the cue once again for a number of prominent brands to try to get a grip on March Madness fans.

Among brands that will be either sponsoring March Madness telecasts or advertising heavily during the next few weeks on the broadcast and cable networks that carry the 68-team tournament are Buick, Acura, Dove Men+Care and ING.

"The goal with March Madness advertising is reaching that core target and gaining prestige with them by associating with a prestigious event, as well as reaching next-generation fans and that passion of the recent graduate," Gary Robinson, manager of advertising and brand for Acura in the U.S., told brandchannel.Continue reading...

With conference tournaments dominating this week in men's college basketball, it means that official March Madness is just around the corner. And when the NCAA men's tournament begins next week, brands are going to be more ready than ever to take advantage. That's because March Madness has become a multifaceted, extended marketing "season" much as the NFL Super Bowl represents earlier each year.

In fact, in some ways, March Madness arguably has become an even more effective tentpole marketing platform than the Super Bowl.Continue reading...

On November 7, 1991 five-time NBA champion and three-time league MVP Irving "Magic" Johnson announced his immediate retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers and pro basketball. Johnson further said that he had tested positive for HIV.

The announcement shocked America, and Johnson became the public face of HIV, challenging Americans who had until then seen (and celebrated) the illness as afflicting only the gay community to come to terms with one its most celebrated athletes being HIV-positive.

So, not a soul would have believed anyone who had said at the time, "In 20 years, Magic Johnson will be the spokesperson for a major brand's line of men's hygiene products." But that's just what happened. During the NCAA tournament, Dove introduced its new campaign — "Journey to Comfort with Magic Johnson."Continue reading...

Here's the official Lady Gaga for MAC Cosmetics' Viva Glam commercial. More brandbitems this week:

• Toyota tweets from Japan. Open for business.

• Chrysler's Twitter feed got in hot water over tweeting that nobody in Motor City "knows how to (bleeped!) drive."Continue reading...

Dove is standing tall for men. Really tall. Magic Johnson is the latest recruit for Dove Men+Care, the Unilever-owned brand’s campaign featuring male athletes.

Launching March 14 during the NCAA March Madness championship tournament, the spot will echo other athletes' "Journey to Comfort" spots (such as Joe Girardi's, above) with the introduction: “My name is Magic Johnson, and I’m definitely comfortable in my own skin.”Continue reading...