We’ve been thinking a lot about the fantastic Chris Grosse’ tweet about the Sports Marketing Mullet, that notes sports marketing done correctly is the blend of the business side of marketing mixed with the party side. Here is a great example and the restatement of the mixture from Dan Pfeifer.
The Jazz created a fun and memorable event experience and had to spend some extra time and effort to make it happen. The business side has to agree on the value of the impact and if it meet with the organizational goals…the the party side needs to execute the idea. When done right, everyone wins.
Whenever you see something like this, remember there were a lot of #GameOps & #SportsMarketing folks who had to see the idea through from vision to buying the shirts (and convincing bean-counters to spend on them) to spending hours laying them out. Give them credit. #NBAPlayoffs https://t.co/FD4P2mFOLN
— Dan Pfeifer (@MUPfeif) April 21, 2019
Shirts on seats has grown into a true branding and marketing platform recently and teams like the Raptors use it to put their marketing stamp on the series, the season and their brand.
Leading league in branding
The Raptors have arguably led the league in branding since launching their iconic “We The North” campaign ahead of the 2014 playoffs. The brainchild of artistic agency Sid Lee, the campaign’s launch was originally planned to coincide with the Raptors’ rebrand in 2015. But MLSE’s front office, including Raptors president Masai Ujiri, loved the concept so much, they fast-tracked it.
“We The North” is like a wink between Canadians, “like we know what this means,” Hosford said. (read the full story on CBC Sports)
But it doesn’t always work…
