Agency of the Year: Brand Consulting

160over90

The agency’s work around the launch of Courtyard and Marriott Bonvoy’s “Ultimate NFL Fan Rooms” involved new team relationships with the Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets. 160over90 also created the hotel chain’s campaign around Manchester United’s U.S. tour. The agency secured category rights for T-Mobile for the Las Vegas Grand Prix and integrated the sponsorship during race week with features such as the T-Mobile Zone at the Sphere and a double-decker Club Magenta lounge. Other highlights that showcased a strong year for 160over90 included work with Kia and Allstate. 

CAA Brand Consulting

CAA won perhaps the biggest RFP all year in landing T-Mobile, combining the management and oversight of the business from five agencies to one. It activated 13 clients around the Las Vegas Grand Prix, including MGM Resorts (a nominee for Sponsor of the Year) as a founding partner. CAA led negotiations for Northwestern Mutual on its jersey patch deal with the Milwaukee Brewers and won the RFP to activate the sponsorship for the brand. It also worked closely with Adobe around its foundational partnership for the NWSL Championship Weekend, creating engaging fan fest experiences.

Genesco Sports Enterprises

Genesco created the FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign for Frito-Lay, including the TV commercial “The Greatest Game Never Played,” featuring Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd, Mia Hamm, Marta and Brandi Chastain. The agency also established a vertical around health care, GSE Health, adding Providence Health and its Seattle Sounders jersey sponsorship to its client roster and securing a long-term renewal of Cleveland Clinic Courts, the training facility for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It also developed a launch plan for Starry, PepsiCo’s new soda, including the Starry 3-Point Contest at NBA All-Star Weekend.

MKTG Sports + Entertainment

As part of its Sponsorship Blueprint for client Toyota, MKTG identified the NFL as the automaker’s “next big thing,” and helped take it from signature to launch in six weeks, including title sponsorship of the Super Bowl Experience. The agency continued to do big work with Ally (a nominee for Sponsor of the Year), in MLS/NWSL, and landed Ally as the first sponsor of NASCAR’s Diversity Awards. MKTG was instrumental in the second year of the P&G Battle of the Paddles table tennis tournament with the NFL, featuring eight players. The competition, which was streamed live on Overtime SZN’s YouTube channel, continued to grow and bring value to P&G.

Octagon

Octagon led efforts with Delta Air Lines for its naming-rights deal for the home of the Utah Jazz and with the NWSL on the “10 Years and Climbing” digital content series and marketing campaign. Distributed across NWSL and Delta digital and social platforms, the series also lives on Delta’s in-flight entertainment channels on the airline’s 5,000 daily flights, watched by nearly 200 million Delta travelers. Octagon worked with long-standing client Bank of America on its deal as presenting sponsor of the Boston Marathon, and with Anheuser-Busch for its TOP sponsorship for Corona Cero through the International Olympic Committee.

Optimum Sports

Talent deals were a major growth driver for the agency, capitalizing on a big year for Caitlin Clark by signing her to a high-profile partnership with State Farm. Optimum also oversaw unique tech deals, including the AT&T 5G helmet at Gallaudet University, showcasing technology’s impact on inclusivity in sports, and Apple’s partnership with the World Surf League to create a surfer-friendly Apple Watch app and make the watch the official wearable technology of the league. Optimum collaborated with GMR to secure Google and to creatively activate Google technology into MLB, the WNBA and NWSL, which brought value to the fan experience.

Wasserman

Wasserman had a strong year that included its acquisition of CSM Sport & Entertainment, which extended its reach and capabilities. The work the agency did on behalf of American Express — getting it into a new property in Formula 1 — was the payment card company’s first property deal in many years. Wasserman was behind big brand deals, including the Skims deal with the NBA. Wasserman also has many brands represented in this year’s SBAs, including two in Brand Activation of the Year (Grant Thornton and Johnnie Walker) and two in the Sponsor of the Year category (AmEx and Diageo), which is reflective of the agency’s work this year.