Washington, DC/Richmond, VA (March 24, 2005) – Octagon announced today that PGA Tour player and 2002 Buick Championship winner Chris Smith will compete in this week's Players Championship with the support of two new sponsors – New Generation Steel and television sitcom Yes, Dear.
In a partnership with eBay and Kompolt Online Auction Agency, Octagon developed a 10-day auction targeting eBay's Small Business community for logo placement rights on Smith's sleeve. Through on-line promotions and support from an ad in Newsweek, the auction generated extensive interest from a variety of small companies, including Ohio-based New Generation Steel who outlasted the late flurry of bids to win the auction.
Interest in the auction extended beyond traditional businesses and attracted the attention of producers from the popular CBS sitcom Yes, Dear. While their inquiry into the bidding was too late, discussions pursued and concluded with an agreement to earn rights on Smith's opposite sleeve.
"We wanted to position ourselves as leaders in the industry that focuses not only on the Fortune 500 companies, but those smaller businesses that don't regularly compete on the same level," said Giff Breed, Octagon's Managing Director of Golf. "The success of the auction, with partners eBay and Kompolt, helped us accomplish our goal of securing a new sponsor for Chris through the power of the internet. Beyond the winning bid, the attention for the auction has allowed us to open dialogue with several other companies looking for new, creative ways of capitalizing on what our clients have to offer."
New Generation Steel and Yes, Dear, have reached agreements with Smith for use of his likeness and logo placement for the remainder of the 2005 season.
"Octagon approached me with the innovative idea that would allow smaller companies an opportunity to compete with some of the larger, more traditional sports sponsorship companies and I thought it was a great idea," said Smith. "It's been a fun process and I am excited about the opportunity this presents to New Generation Steel, Yes, Dear and myself. It's my goal to make sure that I show them my appreciation by playing on Saturday and Sunday."
"Leveraging the power of the eBay platform to create unique and profitable promotional auction programs is the driving force behind Kompolt. The seamless use of Kompolt's Bidder Pre-Qualification service along with our account management and customer service capabilities helped make the Chris Smith sponsorship opportunity a huge success," said Founder and President Jenny Kompolt.
About Octagon
Octagon is the world's leader in sports and entertainment marketing with global expertise in consulting, athletes & personalities, event management, property representation, marketing solutions, licensing and merchandising, talent procurement and television rights and production. As part of The Interpublic Group (NYSE:IPG), one of the world's leading organizations of advertising agencies and marketing services, Octagon employs more than 1,000 people in 60 offices around the world. For further information please visit: www.octagon.com.
About Kompolt
Kompolt was retained to manage the Chris Smith Sponsorship auction. Kompolt is the highly regarded "go-to" online auction agency for creating successful, high value, and high profile promotional and charity auctions for top brand companies and nonprofits. For more information, go to www.kompolt.com.
Media Contact:
Chris Madigan
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Drew Johnson
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