July 15, 2009

Atlanta, GA – FOX News Radio 790 WFLA in Tampa Bay, Florida looked to AIS Media, Inc. CEO, Thomas Harpointner, for his expertise in sports Interactive marketing and how the sports industry is suffering as a result of recent economic events. His comments on motorsports included:

“NASCAR teams are scrambling. A lot of the teams didn’t run this year-- they simply couldn’t show up because they didn’t have the money they needed to run on the track." Thomas Harpointner, AIS MediaCEO, said. " Teams are redefining what a sponsorship is-- whereas before a logo on the side of a race car was enough to get a companyto fork over money, now teams are having to do a lot more for these sponsors such as: provide more interactive marketing services, track side hospitality events, and anything they can do to enable the sponsor to reach out directly to the customers and generate quantifiable and tangible results.”

Here are some of the key points Thomas Harpointner covered during the interview:

• NASCAR's Daytona 500 sold 110,000 fewer tickets than anticipated – an indicator that fewer fans are coming out . Same issues have been found industry-wide including the NFL.
• Big sports are taking a hit just like every other industry with attrition coming from both sponsors and fans. Fans are looking for a bigger value while sponsors are looking for a higher return on sponsorship money invested.
• Interacting with consumers through customer engagement programs will be the key in providing additional "value" to sports fans--drawing them back into the stadiums. Providing tangible, measurable results on customer interaction will allow sponsors to justify their sponsorship spending.
• Motorsports teams are going after new sponsorships by redefining what sponsorship is and Interactive marketing is playing a big role in providing tangible, measurable results on sponsorship money spent. The same lesson can be applied successfully in any sport or industry.

Click here to listen to the full segment: WFLA 790 featuring Thomas Harpointner - Interactive Marketing Solutions for Declining Sports Sponsorships

About AIS Media:
AIS Media, Inc., an Interactive marketing and web solutions company, is a leading provider of Internet strategy, award-winning web site development, email and search engine marketing, lead generation, and interactive public relations services. The company has developed a suite of Web-based applications under the proprietary “Excerpo” brand, which focuses on email marketing and e-commerce. AIS Media’s solutions are available directly and through its global network of certified partners. For more information, or to locate a local consultant, visit: www.aismedia.com

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© 2009 AIS Media, Inc.