At the start of the new NBA season, two-time champion Golden State Warriors celebrate with a new campaign, called ‘Game Recognize Game’, that corsses the generations to celebrate the team’s history and legacy in Oakland.
Launched to leverage the 16 October start of the new basketball season, the last the franchise will play in its long time Oakland home before it moves across the water to San Francisco’s Chase Arena, the campaign draws on the team’s past and present power.
This multi-platform initiative spans videos and outdoor executions and it runs across television, digital and social platforms, as well as outside and inside the team’s Oracle Arena.
The creative blends contemporary on-court action with scenes from the side’s earlier years in Oakland with novel pairs of Warriors players – old and new – who have given fans reasons to cheer and celebrate for the past 47 seasons.
The campaign aims to act as a dedication to the loyal Bay Area fans who have supported the Warriors for the last five decades and also pays tribute to the 1993 Bay Area rap anthem of the same name.
The campaign debuted on 15 October with an Oracel Arena wrap for the team’s season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The work is also spearheaded by two television commercials that aim to offer a taste of the thrills and spills of a fictional ‘cross-generational’ Warriors game featuring legends like Rick Barry and Baron Davis playing alongside contemporary super stars such as Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
The spots, which aired on CSN Bay Area and ABC, both feature commentary from Warriors’ long-time TV analyst Jim Barnett.
The videos are supported by a set of out-of-home ads feature images of iconic, legendary Warriors ballers alongside current fan favourites such as Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
Outdoor posters appear throughout the Bay Area will be followed by a second OOH phase that will feature genuine Bay Area fans and it will also shine a spotlight on the diverse neighbourhoods that make up the ‘Dub Nation’.
Plus, to further complement the creative, the team is hosting a series of in-arena activations to help fans celebrate memorable moments across five decades of Dubs.
Agency Duncan Channon worked with the team throughout the last season to mark the team’s final games playing in Oakland’s Oracle Arena.
The campaign was created for the Golden State Warriors by a Duncan Channon team that included creative directors Parker Channon and Michael Lemme, design director Jennifer Kellogg, senior designers Shannon Burns and Alexandra Camacho, plus senior copywriter Andy Whalen and Brandon Sugarman, senior art director Adam Zash, studio designer Scott Whipple, senior broadcast producer Keenan Hemje, senior digital producer Eric Kozak, senior art buyer/print producer Diana Courcier, associate producer Emily Sarale, senior strategist Brandon Sugarman, as well as account director Nick Gustafson, account manager August Fischer, senior project manager Rosheila Robles, director of communications planning Leslie Diard and communications planning supervisor Kurt Garvey.
The editor was Kevin Bagley, post production was handled by Matt Trivan, animation was run by Charlie Hong, music was by Songs for Film and TV, the audio mix and sound design was by One Union, while image composition and retouching came from DMAX Imaging.
“The 2018-19 Golden State Warriors could be one of the best squads to ever take the floor in the NBA, but the campaign reflects the idea that the defending champions know they were built on the backs of fifty years of Warrior teams running the floor in Oakland,” commented Duncan Channon co-founder Parker Channon.
“They know that before the Splash Brothers, there was run TMC. And Manute and Sleepy and Rick Barry back in ‘75. All supported by a fan base that’s never left their side.”
“The mutual respect between the Dubs and the fans is a big part of what resonates in the Game Recognise Game idea,” continued Channon.
“Seeing a Warriors super team built across generations feels like the ultimate gift to the fans, and a natural fit for a team that routinely acknowledges the work and history that precedes their accomplishments today.”
“Bringing the Game Recognise Game idea to life visually using nearly 50 years of photography was a fun challenge,” said Jennifer Kellogg, design director, Duncan Channon.
We were intentional about treating the photography to make players from different decades feel like they’re in the same world, on the same court. And, The Game Recognise Game type reflects off of itself to convey this sense of appreciation and interaction between the generations of players and fans.”
Comment:
It is a genuine challenge for any marketer to pay genuine tribute to a long and much loved home when the team is actually turning its back on this community and moving to a new, shiny (wealthier) home.
Nevertheless, this campaign does have an authentic feeling.
The new season celebratory and commemoratory campaign also ran in parallel with creative marketing the team’s 2018 season championship – including the rings and banner raising ahead of the first game of the new season.
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Duncan Channon
