The NBA is back, but the same cant be said of all the fans, the group most hurt by this seasons prolonged lockout. So, in an effort to win back viewers turned off by the players/owners standoff, the NBA and teams are scrambling to get ads on the air.
Even during the lockout, viewers were treated to clever ads from companies like Nike and Sprite that referenced the squabble. Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., created a series of ads that continued its NBA-its FAN-tastic! campaign but with a twist: They showed how notable hoops fans amused themselves in the absence of real NBA games. The most notable of these starred Spike Lee, who without his beloved Knicks had taken to taunting eighth-grade girls basketball teams (see SHOOT Top Spot, 11/20/98, p. 22). The spots were directed by Hank Perlman of Hungry Man, New York.
In a variation on this theme, Sprites Employment Agency, created by Lowe & Partners/ SMS, New York, had out-of-work NBA player Grant Hill offering tree-pruning, light bulb-changing and cat-rescuing services to homeowners, who are told to call 1-800-TALL-MEN. The ad was directed by Kevin Kerslake through gigantic, Beverly Hills, a satellite of bicoastal/international The End.
In some instances, NBA teams continued to air ads during the lockout-albeit without using players (who were prohibited by the league from appearing in any ads or promotions). The Milwaukee Bucks, for example, aired several regional spots created by its longtime agency, Meyer & Wallis, Milwaukee, and directed by Mark Irving of I-Level Media, Milwaukee.
Agency creative director Tom Dixon related that the best of these featured Bucks mascot Bango (a deer). Its Time spoofed the black-and-white Miller Genuine Draft campaign, showing Bango grooving alone in a locker room. Other iterations presented Bango taking acting lessons and a pudgy, uncoordinated guy trying out for the teams Energy dance squad.
Now that the season is set to resume, many teams are planning to air ads, be they assembled from existing footage, shelved spots or brand new creative. I think everyone realizes that now we have to, because we might have lost some fans, said Tracy Wong, creative director at WongDoody, Seattle, the agency of the Seattle SuperSonics. If there was ever a reason to advertise, especially image advertising, this is the year.
For the NBA, this means a softer sell emphasizing the beauty of the game. Secaucus, N.J.-based NBA Entertainment (which SHOOT hadnt connected with at press time) reportedly created at least two new spots. Effects house Click 3X New York created the type design for one spot, according to Phil Price, the companys president/creative director. Price said the client was trying to secure the rights to the song Amore, performed by Ben E. King, after failing to get the rights to Sades No Ordinary Love.
Price said the spot features existing NBA footage, sepia-toned with a blown-out look. The difference from previous spots for the NBA-which has marketed itself as street, rap and kind of in-your-face-is that here theyre trying to be a little more warm and friendly, talking about the love of the game, Price explained. A lot of the game footage is slowed down, and were doing type design that reiterates the words to the song.
Wong said WongDoody is planning to produce new SuperSonics spots, which will be humorous and involve real people interacting with players. This tactic has proved successful in WongDoodys previous SuperSonics spots, which showed players visiting the homes of fans, joining Tupperware parties and interacting with senior citizens at a retirement home. The lauded ads, Gary, Vin, Nate and Sam, earned numerous honors, including a Cannes Gold Lion for campaign in the entertainment/leisure category, a Grand Clio and the Grand Prize in the television category at the London International Awards show last year.
Wong said the agency has received numerous calls about those spots, which were directed by Tony Ober via Ober Lenz Films, Seattle. (Ober has since gained national representation through Ocean Park Pictures, Venice, Calif.) That advertising was very friendly, said Wong. When you show players interacting with real people, theres connectivity there. I think that thats the type of advertising that all the teams would like to do. And I think that it helped thaw relations [between fans and players] last year, when the sport was plagued by image problems, including high player salaries and the choking incident between Latrell Sprewell and his coach, P.J. Carlesimo of the Golden State Warriors.
Real people/player interaction highlights a new campaign for the Dallas Mavericks, created by DDB Needham Dallas. Chief creative officer Jim Ferguson said three spots are planned with the tag: Winning it back one fan at a time. Ferguson related that one spot is slated to star Mavericks coach Don Nelson, who will ride around town on a motorcycle, picking up people and taking them to the airport. Other spots will show a player (not yet cast at press time) at a kids birthday party letting children ride him like a pony; another execution has a player explaining the birds and bees to a kid in place of his father.
At press time, the spots, said Ferguson, were set to be helmed this week by John Adams, DDBs former director of broadcast production, whos been directing informally through Dallas-based Concrete Productions. Theyre really cute spots, said Ferguson, and the whole idea is, were doing whatever it takes to get you back.
For the Milwaukee Bucks, related Meyer & Wallis Dixon, the agency is now assembling a spot using stock Bucks game footage-a decision largely dictated by budget constraints. Employing the metaphor of an airline, the spot has a voiceover apologize for the delay. When the VO makes reference to an imminent liftoff, the accompanying visuals show Bucks shooting guard Ray Allen taking off for the basket in slow-motion. The attitude, at least for our client is: It [the lockout] is over, lets not dwell on it, lets move forward, said Dixon. We tried to reference it and put a positive spin on it.
Advertising for the Chicago Bulls would seem almost superfluous, given that this is the 11th straight season that all tickets have been sold out (although, given Michael Jordans retirement, this may not be the case next year). The teams agency, Chicago-based DiMeo & Co., produced two spots in October, according to agency president/CEO Bernie DiMeo. He said the spots, slated to debut at the start of the season, continue the theme theyve had for the past four seasons: The most valuable ticket in town.
No players appear in the Bulls spots, which consist of humorous vignettes that convey the outlandish means people use to get tickets, said DiMeo, who declined to reveal the spots director. Thats how we will start [the advertising] off, he added. As the season goes on and as renewals come in June for next season, those decisions [about future advertising] havent really been made yet.
The Phoenix Suns and its in-house agency SRO Communications, Phoenix, created a spot shot in late September by director Branson Veal and produced through L.A.-based Ace Entertainment. (Veal is now with cYclops productions, New York.) It is currently shelved, its airdate unknown, according to SRO creative director Lanny Ward. We were thinking the lockout would end much sooner than it did, said Ward. So we went in as if there was no lockout; we got the OK from the front office to proceed as normal.
The image spot, as Ward described it, depicts what is ostensibly a Suns practice session (although none of the real players were used). It contains lots of cool, artistic shots of players in action, and ends with the word Focused, followed by a shot of the logo.
Ingalls, Boston, had worked out creative for three Boston Celtics :30s, according to Jody Raida, executive producer at Shiny Pictures, New York. Raida said Ingalls had awarded the job to one of her directors, Salamo Levin, back in September. But the project was put on hold in the preproduction stage. It was great creative, so I hope they do pan out at this late date, said Raida, adding that the spots involved observational comedy and interesting, quirky stories meant to convey the tagline Boston Celtics-Fans of New England.
