Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

Seth Godin notes that Prudential is paying over $100,000,000 for the naming rights to the New Jersey Devils' new arena in Newark. He suggests that it is just an example of lazy marketing, and at first glance I would have agreed. After all, is Prudential going to sell anywhere near $100 million of new insurance as a result of having their name on an arena? Probably not.

It turns out though that Prudential, based in Newark, just wanted to do more for the home town:

Prudential CEO Arthur F. Ryan said the company wanted to be associated with a world-class arena and a team that has won three Stanley Cups since 1995. He said deepening Prudential's ties to its home city was more important than increasing recognition of an already well-known company.

"Very frankly, Prudential doesn't need that," Ryan said. "So we had to look a little bit deeper. Part of it, of course, started with Newark. We've been here 130 years."

Ryan also said he doesn't mind if the arena is referred to as "The Rock," after the company's symbol of the Rock of Gibraltar.