And1 sponsors Nate Quarry

Via MSNBC by way of MMA Payout:

And1 is primarily a basketball company, best known for its moderately priced footwear and apparel as well as the high-energy mixtapes that functioned as guerilla marketing and launched the brand into national consciousness. The California company, however, recently decided to dip its kicks into the waters of MMA, signing popular UFC middleweight Nate Quarry to a multi-fight sponsorship deal.

My take
Much like I said about Lugz' sponsorship of Lyoto Machida and Houston Alexander, I'm happy to see And1 entering the MMA world, but this particular move is strange to me. Anybody will tell you that Quarry is definitely a great guy, but he isn't the best fighter by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he's most known for being KOd by Rich Franklin in extremely brutal fashion. That's not a dealbreaker for sponsoring a fighter, but it does matter.

The real puzzler, though, is that Nate has absolutely nothing to do with anything hip hop, urban culture, basketball, or anything else that most people would associate with And1. The MMA scene in general is a stronger match for action sports and rock culture, so it's tough to find fighters that are a perfect fit for hip hop brands like And1, but they're out there. Nick Diaz would be a good candidate, especially since his smack talking and showboating are very similar to the kind of stuff you see in an Anda1 mixtape (watch some interviews with him, he is absolutely out of his mind- in a good way).

In any case, I have no way to verify this, but the popular and generally correct MMA forum The Underground says:

The connection with And1 and Nate Quarry is Portland Trail Blazers point guard Steven Blake. Some of you might remember him from the national championship winning Maryland Terrapins in 2002. Blake also has a deal with And1. Blake and Quarry became friends because Blake trains BJJ in the off season. Blake introduced And1 to Quarry and they struck a deal.

Freestyle: Benchmark for action sports social media strategy

OK, so first of all, I absolutely love Freestyle's Shark watch. This is a really fun reminder of days gone by, and it's pretty cool to see how much they can do on the design side just with colorways. Make sure you check out the selection! I also love their logo- hats off to whoever designed it.

Aside from the awesome Shark, Freestyle also has a very comprehensive and well-executed social media strategy that's as good of a blueprint as any. They use all the usual suspects like Twitter, Loopd, Facebook, MySpace, and so forth, but what I like the most is the Freestyle Challenge.

The concept is pretty straightforward: amateur athletes in skate, snow, wake, and other action sports upload "sponsor me" videos. Freestyle chooses two winners every month to join their "flow team." For those of you who don't speak bro, "flow" means free stuff. The concept isn't necessarily revolutionary, but it seems like they get a lot of submissions, and it's certainly well executed from a creative standpoint. Also, "Rock out with your clock out" is one of the best slogans I've ever heard!

Takeways

1. Lifestyle brands are uniquely suited for user-generated content platforms like this because the consumers are passionate about the brand in a way that isn't true of traditional brands. In other words, if your brand differentiates on price, performance and features, don't try this at home.
   
2. Freestyle uses social media effectively because they understand they norms and customs of each channel. Twitter has one set of rules, Facebook has another, and if you don't understand them, you should stand back and observe before jumping in.
3. The Freestyle Challenge is a win for the kids because they get free stuff and will be super stoked for the recognition. It's a win for Freestyle because they cement their credibility and start forming relationships with up and coming athletes early in their careers, and all they spend is a few hours watching videos and a few bucks on product.

BSN sponsors live weigh-ins for UFC 90

BSN, the official sports nutrition sponsor of the UFC, announced that they will stream the weigh-ins for UFC 90 live on their website. From the BSN Blitz newsletter:

BSN is proud to announce for the first time ever, the weigh-in for this historic UFC® 90: SILVA VS. COTE will be broadcast live and free on www.bsnonline.net at 5:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday, October 24, 2008. See the biggest names in the UFC® like Anderson Silva, Patrick Cote, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Sean Sherk and Tyson Griffin weigh in the day before their big fights … live and free!

My take
It's great to see BSN leveraging their UFC sponsorship in new ways and becoming more tightly integrated into the events like this. They're a great match for the UFC, so I hope to see more events like this. Normally I'd say that weigh-ins aren't really a great showcase for a brand, but for a sports nutrition brand like BSN, it's a great match! What more appropriate occasion to talk about supplements than weigh-ins? So I really like this matchup, and I'm looking forward to seeing what BSN does next with the UFC.

Lugz signs MMA fighters Machida and Alexander

Via MMA Payout comes news that UFC fighters Lyoto Machida and Houston Alexander appear in new Lugz print ads, as you can see above.

My take
MMA is a great platform for Lugz to build on, but I am a little puzzled by their choice of athletes. Machida is an excellent fighter, but has absolutely zero charisma, and even many hardcore fans find him boring in the ring. Alexander, on the other hand, has tons of charisma, but isn't a very good fighter. He does have some hip hop cred, though, in that he has a radio show in his native state of Nebraska that is apparently good (I've never actually heard it).

Ideally they would be using fighters that have hip hop cred, charisma, and at least a decent record in the ring. The record is actually the least important part, but it does matter if you want the approval of the MMA core (and you should). While some of them already have shoe deals, Brandon Vera, Quinton Jackson, or Rashad Evans would be good places to start looking.