Mad River Signs Sponsorship Agreement With Eco-Challenge(TM)
From prnewswire.com
ATLANTA, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ — “Nature’s a Mother. Drink to it!” That respect for nature — without taking oneself too seriously — is exactly what Mad River hopes to communicate to consumers through its recently signed sponsorship agreement with the ninth annual Eco-Challenge Expedition Race, to be held in Fiji. The race will be telecast on USA Network April 21-25, 2003. Mad River is a line of natural flavored teas and juice drinks from Beverage Partners Worldwide, a joint venture between Nestle SA and The Coca-Cola Company.
“We’re very excited to serve as a sponsor of the Eco-Challenge, one of the most well-respected, world-renowned adventure racing competitions. It is a perfect fit for Mad River,” said Caren Pasquale, Mad River Senior Business Manager. “The Eco-Challenge and Mad River natural flavored teas and juice drinks share a common respect and appreciation for nature realizing that the great outdoors is always an amazing, personal experience, but not necessarily all bliss. It is unique and sometimes very difficult…in fact, sometimes, Nature’s a Mother and both the Eco-Challenge and Mad River celebrate that.”
Mad River will also sponsor a team (Team Mad River) competing in the 2002 race, composed of “celebrity” participants Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor III, Jenna Lewis of Survivor I, Tim Beggy of MTV’s Road Rules II and current host of You Gotta See This on Fox Sports Net, and Adam Larson of Road Rules X. One of twenty “rookie” teams confirmed to embark on the Eco-Challenge adventure, Team Mad River is sure to attract media attention as they travel anywhere from seven to twelve days over 500km of Fiji’s toughest terrain.
Mark Burnett, the Emmy-Award(R) winning Creator and Executive Producer of Eco-Challenge and the Executive Producer of the hit Survivor, confirmed that Team Mad River is in for the race of their lives, “With the evolution of this year’s race into an Indiana Jones-like adventure, Team Mad River will have a unique opportunity to experience Fiji as few ever have. Eco-Challenge is a real life competition and Team Mad River will have to learn to work together as a team to have a chance of crossing the finish line.”
This is Mad River’s first year sponsoring the high-profile Expedition Race which takes place in October 2002 among the islands that make up Fiji’s archipelago. The sponsorship includes status as the Official Non-Alcoholic Beverage to the Eco-Challenge, product placement and presence on-site, advance promotions, print and trade ads and media coverage which will give the brand significant presence during the USA Network’s national telecast of the program. The sponsorship also includes strategic Mad River/Eco-Challenge partnerships throughout 2003.
“The partnership between ‘Eco-Challenge’ and Mad River is a terrific example of the kind of opportunities USA programming can offer advertisers,” said Jeff Lucas, president of advertising sales, USA Network. “USA Network’s goal is to facilitate creative media partnerships across as many platforms as possible.”
The Eco-Challenge, the world’s premier Expedition Race, is held in a remote part of the world each year and attracts the planet’s best adventure racing athletes. The Fiji 2002 competition, held in remote, untouched jungle areas, marks the ninth annual Eco-Challenge event. Using only non-motorized forms of transportation such as jungle trekking, ocean paddling, mountain biking, canyoneering and kayaking, the 80 competing teams will travel over 300 miles with only 12 days to complete the race. Eco-Challenge(R) (http://www.ecochallenge.com ) name and logo are registered trademarks of J. Mark Burnett. Eco-Challenge(R), The Expedition Race(TM), Expedition Racing(TM) and Expedition Competition(TM) and all associated logos and service marks are all trademarks or registered trademarks of J. Mark Burnett in the United States and/or other countries.
USA Network is cable television’s leading provider of original series and feature movies, sports events, off-net television shows and blockbuster theatrical films. USA Network is available in 82% of all U.S. homes, and is seen in 86 million U.S. homes. The USA Network Website is located at http://www.usanetwork.com .
USA Network is a program service of Universal Television Group (http://www.universalstudios.com ), a division of Vivendi UNIVERSAL Entertainment (VUE), the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.
Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW) is a joint venture between Nestle SA and The Coca-Cola Company. While The Coca-Cola Company and Nestle have shared a business partnership for more than ten years, the BPW joint venture is focused on supporting the fast-growing ready-to-drink tea, coffee, and functional beverage categories. BPW operates autonomously while drawing on the capabilities of Nestle and The Coca-Cola Company. It is a global business unit with cross-functional teams located in Atlanta, GA; Zurich, Switzerland; and Bangkok, Thailand. The Americas business unit markets Nestea Cool iced tea, Mad River tea and juice drinks, Planet Java Iced Coffee Plus bottled coffee and Nestea hot-fill iced tea.