Procter & Gamble is set to up the ante in terms of Olympic marketing by introducing a new marketing campaign featuring junior athletes and a raft of brand-led activity in the run up to and during the Games.

The ‘kids’ themed advertisement will break online later this week and on TV during the opening ceremony on 27 July.

The ad, the latest in its “Thank You Mum” global corporate campaign, uses the strapline “To their mums, they will always be kids” and features child athletes and non-athletes in the place of adult competitors preparing for and competing in a number of Olympic events such as swimming, gymnastics and sprinting.

Nathan Homer, Olympics and Paralympics project director for P&G, said: “You’re going to see ten to 20 brand promotions over July, August and September. Given the number of brands we have, you can pretty much expect to see all of them activated over the next four to six weeks. It’s the intensity that’s increasing, so our brands are going to be using more touchpoints at once whereas up until now they’ve just used above the line or below the line.”

He also said the spot will be supported by advertising activity for all of its top brands including Pampers, Gillette and Oral B as the company looks to tie everything together under its ‘Thank You Mum’ strategy.

The Olympic Worldwide partner will increase its use of athletes such as Paula Radcliffe and Sir Chris Hoy fronting its promotions during the coming weeks to differentiate its marketing from its competitors as the Games get closer.

The spot will be supported by print, online and social media activity.

A record 21 Grand Prix schedule has been revealed ahead of the 2012 Formula One season, with the United States Grand Prix returning to the calendar for the first time since 2007.

The Texas Grand Prix in Austin will debut on June 17 next year having recently signed a 10-year deal with motor sport’s world governing body, the FIA, which decides the calendar.

The programme reached a record 20 races for the first time this year, and now looks set to be extended again for next season.

The Bahrain Grand Prix will have another attempt at opening the season after it was rescheduled from its starting slot until October for the 2011 campaign, due to political protests.

The heavily criticised Turkish Grand Prix is also provisionally included on May 6 despite its future being called into doubt because of its struggle to win over local fans in recent years.

The Korean GP, which made its debut last year, has been moved from its normal October weekend to April 22, while the season will culminate with the Brazilian GP on November 25.

The 50-over biennial cricket tournament, The Champions Trophy may well be scrapped from the calendar as the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC) look towards creating a pinnacle event in each format of the game.

ICC chief Haroon Lorgat said the ICC wanted to create a “pinnacle” in all three formats with a Test world championship, the 50-over World Cup and World Twenty20.

Lorgat stated: “What we’re trying to work towards is a pinnacle event in each format. So if we’re looking to our next cycle we might think definitely about (losing) the Champions Trophy.”

He added it was difficult to see where the Champions Trophy, currently held by Australia, would fit into such a schedule and the possibility of removing the tournament
would also make sense because it will be difficult to accommodate the event in post 2012 FTP.

The ICC had last year approved a Test league to provide context for all Test matches. The league would determine the top four teams to qualify for an ICC Test play-off. The play-off should be held once every four years to determine the Test champion team with a request to hold the first such play-off in 2013.

The FTP will also consist of a One-Day International league, the first to run from April 2011 until April 2014, culminating in the crowning of an ODI league champion. This ODI league will run separate to the ICC Cricket World Cup.

American Express have teamed up with the National Basketball Association (NBA) to become a key marketing partner in a new multi-year deal.

The credit card company will also support USA Basketball, the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the NBA Development League under the terms of the new agreement.

The deal is not the first of its kind between the two parties after the NBA did previously have a long-standing marketing partnership from 1995 to 2005. A multi-year contract has been confirmed though the exact duration and financial details behind the deal were not disclosed.

As the league’s official credit card partner, American Express will offer card members special deals and access to games and other events.

Courtney Kelso, vice-president of global sponsorships and marketing at American Express stated: “From the array of spectacular young talent, to the growing international market, enthusiasm and excitement with the NBA is at an all-time high

“We’re proud to be the official credit card partner of the NBA to provide our card members with access to tickets and unique experiences with the NBA, USA Basketball, Women’s NBA and NBA Development League to enhance their passion for the game,” Kelso added.

Prozone, the company which has pioneered the use of performance analysis in football, has re-signed as a major partner of the Leaders in Performance conference.

The conference, which is dedicated to the identification, development and management of sporting talent, is taking place on 7 October at Chelsea FC.

75 per cent of football clubs from the English Premier League now work with Prozone, and in total, over 100 clubs, leagues and federations world wide now benefit from the company.

Marketing and business development manager of Prozone, Simon Edgar said: “Prozone have an unrivalled passion and knowledge of the performance analysis industry and our partnership with ‘Leaders in Performance’ is a perfect alignment of two businesses that are focused on providing world class services to the professional football industry.”

CEO of Leaders in Performance James Worrall added: “We are delighted to be partnering with Prozone. Analysis has become a vital part of sport, all top athletes are using analysis to improve and also get an edge on their opponents, so we feel there is a natural fit with what Leaders in Performance is looking to achieve.”

Populous, anabolics architects of the London 2012 Olympic stadium, Sochi 2014 Olympic stadium and Soccer City 2010 World Cup stadium, have been selected as designers of the new Rostov Stadium.

This will be the fourth stadium that Populous has designed in Russia to be used for the 2018 World Cup, together with Kazan, Saransk, Sochi.

In September 2012 the eleven host cities that will organise the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament in Russia were announced. The sixty-four matches will be staged at twelve venues. Among the host cities are: Moscow, being the only city with two stadiums selected, Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Saransk, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don and Yekaterinburg.

Part of an overall landscape, this urban design is planned for the whole region. It is inspired by the ancient earthworks along the banks of the river, the Kurgans. These archaeological mounds of earth were used for burial pagan rituals, creating major forms in the landscape.

The stadium will have a capacity of 45,000 seats for the World Cup and will be scaled down to 25,000 seats in legacy. The concept had embraced sustainable credentials, as it will be the core of a green city project, which protects the wetlands to the south of the river.

Damon Lavelle, Principal at Populous, commented “It’s been a pleasure to work with Intex, the city and the governor of Rostov-on-Don to promote the project. After our experience on the World Cup in 2010 and London 2012, we are certain that the stadium will be a great catalyst for the city and this part of the river.“