Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

No news is good news.

Or so they say. But in the world of sponsorship advertising, any news can often
be good.

After Big Brown destroyed the field at the Kentucky Derby on May 3rd, UPS decided to invest in a no-brainer of a marketing opportunity. No coincidence, owner Paul Pompa Jr. actually named his champion thoroughbred after the shipping giant. After Big Brown again blew past all competition at the Preakness on May 17th, UPS marketing execs must have been euphoric from their opportunistic foresight. The impressive nature of his victories fed a torrent of Triple Crown buzz around Big Brown, translating into big time free advertising for his corporate namesake.

But when heavily-favored Big Brown ran out of gas in the final turn of yesterday's Belmont Stakes and trudged across the finish line in last place, you might think UPS' free ride had come to an end. Much to the contrary, and thanks to savvy media placement and a little good (er...bad?) luck, UPS and its catchy tagline perfectly framed and captioned an historic moment in sports history. An image may be worth a thousand words, but this particular shot proved an AP photograper's dream, and six little words dug themselves a little deeper into our consumer lexicon.