Beats by Dr and the NBA have signed a global partnership – spanning marketing and merchandising – and the headphones brand celebrated the official tie-up with a new mashup spot that stars Lebron James and a strong team of hoops endorsers.
The multi-year alliance sees Beats become the official headphone, wireless speaker and audio partner of the NBA, the WNBA, the NBA G League and USA Basketball.
Whilst the deal doesn’t actually begin until October 2018, Beats champions becoming ‘official’ with a video featuring James alongside other member’s of Beats basketball ambassador roser such as Draymond Green, James Harden, Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum and Karl-Anthony Towns.
The high-tempo, high-powered spot opens with James taking a call from Dre while working out on his home court and then sees several players enter their own respective arenas to train with a determined look and sporting Beats headphones
The ad’s track is ‘Is You Ready’ by Migos.
As well as NBA logo and asset advertising and marketing rights, this wide ranging new sponsorship will also see Beats will launch a line of its audio products for fans around the world – including NBA team-branded headphones.
Beats will also provide products to NBA players and activate around the league’s marquee events such as All-Star Weekend, the NBA Draft presented by State Farm, international NBA games in China and Europe, plus the WNBA All-Star, the WNBA Draft presented by State Farm and USA Basketball men’s and women’s national team exhibition tours.
Beats also plans to collaborate and pen additional separate sponsorships with NBA teams.
Beats will also be able to market the brand in association with star players wearing their team uniforms – as seen in the final five seconds of deal announcement film).
“Beats revolutionized the music industry and has become one of the most innovative and culturally-influential brands in the world,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
“Through our partnership, we have an exciting opportunity to merge sports, pop culture and technology to deliver unparalleled experiences and premium products to our fans.”
“The NBA and its players have long been significant drivers of global culture. Basketball, music, and style speak as one voice: Julius Erving became a style icon, Allen Iverson cemented hip hop’s place on and off the court and LeBron James is breaking new music every day…the list goes on and on,” said Luke Wood, president of Beats by Dr Dre.
“This partnership with the NBA is the perfect alignment for Beats. It feels like coming home.”
Six-time NBA All-Star James Harden, a beats ambassador who appears in the spot, added: “I always want to be the best and work with the best. That’s why I joined the Beats fam – they have the best headphones and they made them a style icon when no one else thought of electronics that way. Whether I’m traveling, working out or decompressing after a game, I can’t imagine listening to anything without them. Beats loves basketball and always works to tell the stories of their favorite players. I’m excited to see what they do with the NBA.”
Comment:
Beats by Dre, which was originally founded by rapper and music producer Dr Dre, was acquired by Apple for $3bn in 2014.
This year sees the music and tech company celebrate its 10-year anniversary and after years of ambush ad activity around many of the world’s major sports events.
Not only has the brand rapidly build one of the most impressive stable of sports endorsers, but a significant strand of its marketing over the last decade has been using these ambassadors to ambush/leverage tentpole sports events: beginning with its London 2012 Olympic in-games ambush, maturing with its iconic 2014 ‘Game Before The Game’ World Cup campaign (see case study), and including this year’s 2018 World Cup work (see case study 1 and case study 2).
Beats takes over the category from previous NBA audio partner Harman: which signed as the NBA’s Official Sound Partner in 2014 and ran hoops campaigns typically fronted by ambassador Steph Curry tied to its JBL brand.
At last!
Beats has been a longtime favourite brand/product for many professional athletes and this sponsorship deal sees it finally put itself inside the ‘official’ space.
The deal make plenty of strategic sense as few sports have the kind of pop-culture credibility and fashion cachet as the NBA.
Links:
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