Southern Comfort Backs First 'Colbert Christmas'

Marketing Daily, November 18, 2008 — Move over, comics icon Charlie Brown. Comic genius Stephen Colbert is readying his first-ever holiday special, "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!," with an exclusive online sponsor you wouldn't find under Snoopy's tree — Southern Comfort.

Under the aegis of Louisville, Ky.-based Brown-Forman, the brand has inked a multi-platform marketing deal with Comedy Central, which airs "The Colbert Report." In addition to being the only online sponsor, it will run TV spots during the Nov. 23 special and have presence during the promotional lead-up of the program.

Ads for Respected Brands Hit Racy Sites†

Brandweek, November 4, 2008 — As celebrity slip-ups continue to serve as fodder for a slew of gossip sites and blogs, more mainstream brands are finding their way onto these sites, despite their often-racy content. The big question is whether content of this variety is simply becoming more acceptable for marketers given its popularity, or whether negligent ad networks are placing messages on sites many brands would rather avoid. Both could be the case, said several media executives.

New Domain Names Put Name Brands in a Bind†

To Protect Their Reputations, Some Companies May Have to Buy Up Millions of Dollars of Web Sites With Suffixes Like '.bank'

Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2008 — Worried about having to shell out millions of dollars to protect their brands, several major companies are protesting the launch of a slew of new top-level domains — the suffixes like ".com" that appear at the end of Web-site names.

Barack Obama†

Adaptable Team Stays on Message While Using Social Networking to Build Voter Roles

Advertising Age, October 17, 2008 — Detractors may mock Barack Obama these days as a celebrity, a candidate who promises little more than vague abstractions such as "hope" and "change." But no one should forget that he usurped the inevitable Clinton machine and has been considered the man to beat in this election.

How did he do it? The first step was taking the lessons learned from the Howard Dean campaign four years ago and turning them into internet-based fundraising that stunned Democrats and Republicans alike.... His campaign team has had a firm grasp of branding, messaging and old-fashioned political ground organization. It's also been able to balance mass marketing with social media and niche marketing.