BlackRock iShares, a US access provider to exchange-traded funds which focuses on modelling the right moves for ordinary consumer investors, leveraged the NBA Finals through a hoops-themed campaign called ‘Future Baller$’ based around supporting young NBA hopefuls with their financial planning.
The marketing initiative saw BlackRock’s iShares joined forces with agencies DDB San Francisco, Edelman and Mindshare to help up-and-coming college players plan, safeguard and maximise their earnings for the long term.
The creative featured a ‘Future Baller$’ team consisting of college standouts Bennedict Mathurin, EJ Liddell, Jaden Hardy, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren – each of whom agreed to invest some of their sponsorship earnings through the brand’s iShares platforms – who all receive financial guidance from Lauren Simmons (one of the youngest-ever female traders on the New York Stock Exchange).
Simmons coached the young players on smart money moves through a set of long- and short-form content running across NBA broadcast partner ESPN, plus across Instagram, Yahoo Sports and other channels.
The campaign was spearheaded by a 60-second hero spot titled ‘Introducing The iShares Future Baller$’ which dropped on 14 June during the NBA Finals series between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics and which saw the college players discuss their challenges, past struggles and future ambitions.
The lead spot was followed by a series of other digital and social videos each exploring different investment themes.
“iShares’ platform is all about untapping investor potential,” said DDB ECD Ben Wolan. “We searched for the ultimate expression of this and found that basketball rookies—who were about to come into more investor potential than ever before—were a great example. As young people with a sudden influx of capital, they’re susceptible to finance fads and short-term investing pitfalls.”
“Lauren is more highly relatable to the new wave of retail investors than your average advisor,” Wolan added. “She has an extremely charismatic personality and had great chemistry with the players. She demonstrated a genuine passion for helping drive their mission. Though they do make big bucks, our research showed they are likely to face the same financial difficulties that we all do,” says Wolan. “They are just as tempted by quick volatile wins, and we want to help them, and retail investors, learn to avoid that.”
The Baller$ themselves “showed an interest in building their finances long-term by playing the long game through ETFs,” added fellow DDB ECD Eric Cruz. “It also didn’t hurt that they’re all in the top-20 performing rookies in the draft. This is a fight against the short-term, volatile fin-fluencers who are currently dominating the platforms with sometimes quite dangerous advice,” says Cruz. “The hope is to help young investors be more informed and prepare themselves for the future.”
The campaign was created for a client marketing team at Blackrock iShares which included Alexander Craddock (Co-Chief Marketing Officer), Monique Le (Head of iShares Direct and Marketing for the Americas), Robert Chedid (Head of iShares US Advertising & Paid Media), Ruthie Heller (iShares US Brand Activation Lead), Samantha Vlahos (iShares US Social and Digital Lead), Nicholas McNiel (iShares US Advertising Lead) and Chloé Yup (iShares US Marketing Strategy Analyst).
The group developing the campaign at DDB San Francisco was led by Ari Weiss (Chief Creative Officer), Ben Wolan (Executive Creative Director), Eric Cruz (Executive Creative Director), Jo Cresswell (Creative Director), Sian Coole (Creative Director), Chris Park (Senior Art Director), Jesse Custodio (Senior Copywriter), Logan O’Brien (Senior Copywriter), Sam Renbarger (Chief of Strategy), Michael Goldstein (Head of Communications Strategy), Jenny Barthe (Strategy Director), John McCarthy (President DDB San Francisco), Ty Kendig (Head of Business Leadership), Layne Steele Paddon (Account Director), Madeline Dachs (Account Executive), Alexis Coulter (Head of Production), Rock Darlington (Group Executive Producer) and Josh Levine (Project Manager)
The team at Edelman was Andy Wilde (Global Chair of Financial Services), Alma Rodriguez-Piscitello (Deputy Global Sector Lead, Financial Services), Tim Quinn (Senior Vice President, Financial Communications & Capital Markets), Guy King (Senior Account Supervisor, Corporate Reputation), Liz Budd (Senior Vice President, Influencer Marketing), Myisha Moore (Vice President, Influencer Marketing), Caleb Keime (Senior Manager, Influencer Marketing), Alyssa Iannucci (Manager, Influencer Marketing) and Shannon Murakami (Senior Project Manager).
Mindshare handled media matters, while production was HB Films with Director Mark Hoffman, Line Producer Brad English, Executive Producer John Beveridge, plus the edit house was Shitehouse/Carbon with Editor Adam Marshall and Senior Producer Ryan Smith.
Comment
US professional sports careers are typically fairly short and the percentage of stars who become bankrupt within a few short years of retirement is frightening and unacceptable. So the objectives behind this initiative certainly are admirable.
However, while NBA prospects have as much or as little knowledge and skill as the rest of the population when it comes to stocks and bonds is reasonable, when they arrive in the NBA they get professional paydays the average person could only dream of. So quite how relevant and relatable their situation is as a relatable investment example to everyday consumers who are largely looking to secure and boost their IRAs is open to question?
The campaign rolled out amidst category churn within the market sector with a wave of new investors entering the space since the pandemic began.
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