In response to Chris Naples

Do consumers seek a common, generic experience in their products so much that they are willing to pay a premium over other similar offerings in order to get it?  Also, does Apple's single template marketing help to reinforce this idea of a generic experience?

I have touched on the Apple marketing idea before and would love to elaborate on it.  Apple is so simple with their ads that they really allow their product to do the talking.  I believe that Apple is at a point in their lifecycle that they have establised themselves as the "elite" producer in electronics.  

Consumers are willing to pay a premium for any Apple product, iPhone, iPad, iPod, because they know that they cannot get a better product anywhere else, and everyone whats the best.  If Apple were to raise all of their products by $100, they may lose 1% of their market, but the other 99% will still pay the extra just to have the Apple logo on it.  

Marketing through Sports

Lately there has been a big push for sport teams to rebuild stadiums.  When a new stadium is built, there needs to be a lot of money which comes from sponsors.  Large company see this as a great oportunity to really get their name out and associated with a big city sport team.  

One of the most recent teams to build a new stadium is the New York Mets with the building of Citi Field.  Citibank took on the responsibility to finance the creation of the new ball park in order to get their name on it.  

Is this a good promoting strategy for a company?  What if the team isn't a winning team, does that reflect poorly on the company?