BIG THINGS ARE COMING.
In July 2011, the NBA entered a dark time: an all-consuming Lockout. Players could not agree with owners and the NBA regulators on hard and soft payment for their efforts. Sentiment for the NBA started to wane—” Millionaires arguing with other Millionaires”. Once it was resolved that December, we had to tout the upcoming season with gusto. We had to get people excited about the dynamism in the sport. The hustle. The fun.
So we researched what content would be most effective by doing something a little novel—hooking up nodes to fans’ brains while they watched hours of NBA content by partnering with the team at Nuerofocus.
With Nuerofocus, we were able to see stimulation patterns in fans’ brains. The content that caused the most stimulation came from seeing players give it their all. Be it leaping to grab an out-of-bounds ball, cheering their fellow teammates on, or hustling down the court, fans loved the excitement when players hustled. Those BIG moments.
We introduced BIG as a creative platform; making a series of short films announcing the NBA is back in a BIG way. We wanted to remind people just how awesomely big the NBA is by highlighting the effort put forth by players in clutch moments.
The fandom of the NBA remained strong as teams weathered the 2011 Lockout. And when the NBA returned, it was just as BIG as it’s always been.