The NBA’s new season launch campaign paired a strong line-up of current NBA stars and league legends – including Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Bill Walton and Tim Hardaway Sr – alongside relatively unknown actor and hoops super fan Kenyon ‘Nonstop’ Bowman.
The hero spot sees Bowman hobnob with hoops royalty (also including Other players appearing include Paul George, Tyler Herro and Damian Lillard, coach Tyrone Lue and influencer Crissa Jackson) in a short film which launched on 6 October to herald the 18 October tip-off of the 2022/3 NBA season.
Created by the league incumbent creative agency Translation and helmed by Director Calmatic (Charles Kidd II), the three-minute video is anchored by the actor’s exuberant performance and focuses on how the NBA continues to evolve as a source of entertainment, excitement and cultural influence.
‘The Nonstop NBA’ states: “This is the Nonstop-Never-Boring-Make-It-New-Every-Night. National. Basketball. Association. Welcome B-A-C-K. #KiaTipoff22 10/18”.
The commercial is a fast, quick-cut avalanche visuals (with DeMar DeRozan actually buried under a pile of sneakers) and sees Bowman lay-down a series of rapid-fire NBA references such as:
“We got sneaks-on-the-ground on four coasts…
From a Serbian serpent moving like Mamba…
To a Greek-Nigerian-Milwaukean changing the face of the game…
To an ice-cold Trae in the heart of Hotlanta…
To a couple brothers in the Bay with wet jays splashing their way back to try to go back-to-back…”
The hero spot is supported by a ‘behind-the-scenes’ special ad – posted on the same day across the league digital and social channels – which looks at the making of the ad and which also encourage viewers to “Never miss a moment with the latest news, trending stories and highlights to bring you closer to your favourite players and teams” and download the league’s official app at https://app.link.nba.com/APP22
A second tip-off 30-second commercial called ‘This [The New NBA App] Is Happening’ – featuring LaMelo Ball and Jordan Poole – was created by agency Mekanism to primarily promote the new NBA App and drive downloads and it also dropped on 6 October.
Comment
This is a fans-eye, fast and fun ride that celebrates the NBA’s past, present and future.
The spot sees agency Translation seek to evolve the league’s positioning in a fresh direction to drive home a message about the NBA’s constant cultural and entertainment evolution (linking sport, fashion and music), while still dovetailing with the themes featuring in last year’s epic ‘NBA Lane’ campaign.
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