The 2010 Annual Branch Rickey Award
Event Brand Marketing and Production
Known to millions of fans as “Mr. Baseball, "Branch Rickey was voted the “Most InfluentialPerson in Sports in the 20th Century” by ESPN’s Sports Century panel. Perhapsmost foremost among his accomplishments, Rickey was credited with breaking thecolor barrier in Major League Baseball. As President and General Manager of theBrooklyn Dodgers in 1945, he signed the first black player, JackieRobinson. Branch Rickey was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. Hislife on and off the field inspired the award that bears his name.

Branch Rickey’s legacy and momentous contributions to thegame of baseball are memorialized annually by the presentation of The BranchRickey Award®, a prestigious and coveted honor–organized and underwrittenentirely by the Denver Rotary–recognizing professionals in Major LeagueBaseball for their exceptional community service.

Bruce Burke served as the 2010 event's executiveproducer. The challenge was to upgrade and improve upon prior year's efforts tobetter exploit the event's true purpose and maximize sponsor contributions tobenefit the Denver Rotary' s charities. In addition to establishing an appropriatenew look and branding treatment, Burke drafted new initiatives to market andsell the event to increase sponsor contributions and is currently working withThe Denver Rotary to elevate the event to a national platform rather than justa local Denver regional event – re-packaging the assets in an effort toattract national sponsors.
The new 2010 Branch Rickey Award event logo featuring the event's 2010 title sponsor.
The 2010 event theme "A Celebration of Service," was integrated throughout all of the Branch Rickey Award communications efforts including sponsor sales materials, invitations, programs, event graphics, press releases, and advertising.
All of the 2010 event collateral elements and communications initiatives were upgraded with a more comprehensive and consistent themed graphic treatment, which provided greater value to the sponsors and ultimately led to increased sponsor revenue.
The reception areas at the Downtown Denver Marriott hotel were all appropriately branded with the proper finish to elevate the event's cache.
The event staging showcased all MLB participating teams with the event's new theme graphics and event sponsors.
In 2010, AMG was the event’s title sponsor, with 41 other local Denver companies serving as contributing sponsors, which set record sponsor contributions for the Denver Rotary's charities. Their contributions were memorialized in a full page thank you ad following the event.
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