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Monday, Mar 18, 2024
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Karma Gets Creative With Ritzy NY Sponsorships

Three’s a charm for Irvine-based carmaker Karma Automotive in New York’s tony playground of the Hamptons.

The luxury electric car brand will sponsor the Watermill Center Summer Benefit and Auction, Hamptons Paddle and Party for Pink and The Bridge to support luxury dealer network Experience Auto Group, which added Karma Long Island to its offerings this year.

Karma Chief Revenue Officer Jim Taylor said the Hamptons will “kick-off a series of nationwide events to showcase Karma.”

“Karma Long Island of the Experience Auto Group is a new dealer for us, and its founder, Stuart Hayim, is a cancer survivor and a fundraiser for cancer research,” Taylor said. “So it makes sense for Karma to support fundraising efforts for cancer research here in Stuart’s backyard.”

The annual Watermill Center event raises money to support its year-round artist residency and education programs for young and emerging artists. Karma, an official sponsor, will display its Revero model.

The Hamptons Paddle benefits the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, taking in nearly $1.8 million last year. The automaker plans to host a vehicle display and test drive at the fundraiser.

At The Bridge event, featuring more than 100 automobiles and work from renowned artists, Karma will display two vehicles, including one customized by Laguna Beach artist James Verbicky. The “Art Car” is meant to emphasize the Revero’s soul through symbolic imagery and color fields.

Another Lap

Professional swimmer Simone Manuel signed a sponsorship deal with Seal Beach-based swimwear label TYR Sport Inc. last month.

It’s the first apparel deal for the 20-year-old Olympic gold medalist since she turned pro in March. The graduate of Stanford University became the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming at the 2016 Rio Olympics, dead-heating with Canadian Penny Oleksiak in the 100-meter freestyle. She also won gold in the 4×100-meter medley at the games.

TYR Chief Executive Matt DiLorenzo said Manuel’s performance “has been nothing short of inspiring.”

“As a brand, we could not be more proud to welcome Simone to our growing family of TYR sponsored athletes,” he said in a statement. “We are confident that in working together we will create products that not only take performance to the next level, but ultimately continue to change the course of history.”

Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed, but the company said it put an inclusion rider in Manuel’s contract that it says is the first of its kind in professional sports.

Inclusion riders have typically been added in the entertainment industry and stipulate a certain level of diversity is met. A similar concept is the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, which mandates that teams interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching or senior-level jobs.

TYR said in a statement that “through this stipulation Simone ensures meaningful opportunities to traditionally underrepresented groups and that diversity be reflected in the creative efforts she pursues with the brand.” That could mean hiring ethnically-diverse photo-shoot crew members or marketing-campaign models.

Manuel isn’t the only Stanford graduate on TYR’s roster. In June, it shelled out $7 million to sponsor five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Katie Ledecky through the 2024 Olympic Games, her first sponsorship deal.

TYR ranked No. 29 on the Business Journal’s annual list of apparel companies with an estimated 66 local employees. The privately held designer of performance-based sportswear doesn’t disclose revenue, trade publications and market researchers estimate annual sales at $30 million to $35 million.

Straight Shot

Irvine-based software maker Blizzard Entertainment Inc. wants to capitalize on its popular first-person shooter game “Overwatch,” which has grown to $1 billion in sales since launching in 2016.

Blizzard unveiled a preview of an Overwatch Nerf toy gun last month at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

The company announced in May that it will bring to life one of the weapons from the game as a Nerf toy, as well as create additional products through a global master toy license with Santa Monica-based Hasbro Inc., whose brands include Nerf, Play-Doh and My Little Pony.

The Overwatch Nerf toy gun will be able to shoot rounds up to 90 feet per second and launch in January.

Additional product categories will launch in the fall of next year in the U.S. and international markets, according to Blizzard.

Consumer Products Vice President Matthew Beecher said Hasbro is a great partner because it has a history of bringing “worlds to life.”

“Overwatch has really taken on a life of its own with our global community,” he said in a statement. “So it’s been important to us to work with partners who share our passion and commitment to quality when it comes to translating the spirit of the game into new real-world play experiences.”

The Overwatch League, a global city-sports league with teams in Asia, Europe and North America just ended its inaugural season.

Blizzard is Orange County’s largest software maker, employing 2,000 here and more than 4,000 worldwide.

Bits & Pieces

Kennedy Marketing Group in San Clemente named Ed Evans president last month, replacing Chief Executive James Kennedy. Evans previously served as chief operating officer at Dataskill International, a San Diego-based artificial intelligence software and services provider.

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