BDA Forms B-to-B Division
Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, Inc., a top merchandise agency specializing in sports and entertainment merchandise activation, has formed a new business-to-business division to help sports teams, leagues and sponsors drive brand affinity and maximize sponsorship investments.
Leading the division, called ProActivation Group, is Steve Avanessian. He has 15 years of experience in sports promotion and has worked closely with teams, leagues and their sponsors to implement and activate campaigns.
In addition, BDA has announced a number of other appointments to the division.
Wendy Knapp has been named director of sponsorship activation. She has spent 12 years working with such clients as Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Anheuser-Busch and Home Depot to help them maximize their sponsorship spend.
Jane Biondi is the director of league activation and spent four years as the special events and promotions manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kerrie Ingham has been appointed director of team activation. She has worked for BDA for 11 years and has established a strong reputation for developing product-centric promotions for professional sports teams in all leagues including MLB, NHL, NBA and the NFL.
The ProActivation Group will work directly with sponsors to focus on maximizing branding opportunities, while streamlining licensee approval processes and driving improved data collection and reporting on campaigns involving everything from sales promotions to e-commerce projects.
“Over the past 25 years, BDA has partnered with nearly every major sports league in some capacity,” said Jay Deutsch, CEO and co-founder of BDA. “During this time, we recognized a need among teams, leagues and their sponsors for a finely-tuned, full-service agency approach to co-branded promotions that considers the specific business needs and goals of both the sponsor and the property.”
The team, active since the beginning of 2010, has implemented a number of high profile activation campaigns, including a variety of promotional and hospitality programs for official U.S. Olympic Committee sponsors in conjunction with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
BDA ranked No. 4 on the 2009 Promo 100 with 2008 U.S. net revenue of $229.3 million. The firm is also the No. 1 Promo 100 branded merchandise agency with a specialty in promotional products.
