BDA Announces Formation of ProActivation^TM Group and Addition of New Leadership

New Group at the Nation’s Largest Brand Merchandise Agency to Focus on Bringing Innovative Activation Campaign Solutions to Sports Promotions Landscape

WOODINVILLE, Wash. – March 17, 2010 –Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, Inc., (BDA), the nation’s premier Merchandise Agency™ and the recognized leader in sports and entertainment merchandise activation, today announced the official formation of its ProActivation™ Group, a new business-to-business division created to help teams, leagues and sponsors drive brand affinity and maximize sponsorship investments through innovative branded merchandise solutions. Leading the BDA ProActivation™ Group is Steve Avanessian, a 15-year veteran in sports promotions and activation campaigns. In addition, BDA has announced the appointment of Wendy Knapp as the group’s Director of Sponsorship Activation, Jane Biondi as its Director of League Activation and Kerrie Ingham as the Director of Team Activation.

With a quarter century of experience perfecting the full-service merchandise agency model, and as the recognized expert in the sports and entertainment promotional marketing category, BDA is uniquely positioned to help major sports properties and sponsors activate their campaigns via branded merchandise. BDA’s proprietary activation model provides a complete framework for working with teams, leagues and sponsors including comprehensive marketplace analysis, campaign strategy development and execution, product sourcing, purchasing, warehousing, fulfillment and distribution services, and proven ROI performance. As they work directly with corporate sponsors, the ProActivation™ Group will focus on maximizing branding opportunities, while streamlining licensee approval processes, 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. To that end, we’ve built a specialized team of the most experienced and creative individuals from across the sports marketing landscape to provide activation campaign solutions that drive value in the form of greater brand affinity, broader cost-savings and real measurable return.”

The ProActivation™ Group consists of activation specialists who have implemented campaigns at all levels. The team is comprised of: 

• Steve Avanessian, Divisional Vice President – Mr. Avanessian brings more than 15 years of sports marketing expertise to the ProActivation™ Group. He has worked closely with teams, leagues and their sponsors to implement dozens of successful activation campaigns;
• Wendy Knapp, Director of Sponsorship Activation – For more than 12 years, Ms. Knapp has worked with a broad portfolio of Fortune 500 clients including Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Anheuser-Busch and Home Depot to help them maximize their sponsorship spend;
• Jane Biondi, Director of League Activation - Ms. Biondi brings a valuable perspective to the ProActivation™ Group having spent four years as the Special Events and Promotions Manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers; and
• Kerrie Ingham, Director of Team Activation – In her 11 years with BDA, Ms. Ingham has established a strong reputation for developing product-centric promotions for professional sports teams in all leagues including MLB, NHL, NBA and the NFL. Her ability to show true ROI on sponsorship dollars sets the standard for regional sponsor activation and engagement programs.  

“We have systematically identified the top industry talent and assembled a team of activation all-stars who understand the art of engaging fans and building brand affinity through merchandise,” said Steve Avanessian, divisional vice president for the ProActivation™ Group at BDA. “Only BDA has a dedicated expert team specifically focused on helping organizations take their campaigns to an entirely new level, by extending their brands into the lives of fans through a meaningful and lasting experience with the right merchandise, all the time.”

Since the beginning of 2010, members of the BDA ProActivation™ Group have successfully implemented a number of high profile activation campaigns, including a variety of promotional and hospitality programs for official United States Olympic Committee sponsors in conjunction with the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. BDA is working directly with NASCAR and many of its official sponsors on activation campaigns as the Sprint Cup Series picks up speed, and in anticipation of the upcoming Major League Baseball season, BDA is also currently working on dozens of national and regional sponsorship activation projects, for both in-store and in-park promotions.

About BDA
Bensussen Deutsch & Associates, Inc. (BDA), the nation's first and only Merchandise AgencySM, provides marketing services and customized branded merchandise to Fortune 500 enterprises, major sports leagues and global entertainment holding companies. Clients come to BDA to extend their reach through custom branded-merchandise campaigns, integrated e-commerce marketing, and sports and entertainment sponsorship activation. Global brands such as Bank of America, Dell, GlaxoSmithKline, ExxonMobil, FedEx and Major League Baseball are but a few of the household names that rely on BDA to bring their marketing campaigns to life through merchandise. BDA attained the coveted Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) certification in 2008 highlighting the company's advanced quality assurance practices for importing products from overseas. For more information on the power of merchandise, visit www.bdainc.com.

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Media Contact:
Alana Morgan
Barokas PR for BDA
206.264.8220
bda@barokas.com