#NBA75 Celebration

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

The NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season celebrated the greatest to ever play the game and the current players carrying on the legacy. This submission discusses the strategy behind the #NBA75 campaign and the creative elements that were brought to life during the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

The #NBA75 campaign leveraged each social platform to create awareness of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season by not only publishing videos, photos, graphics, and GIFs across social but also leaning into innovative engagement opportunities with Instagram and Snapchat AR filters and Snapchat Cameos. These activations allowed for new fan-engagement benchmarks to be reached for the NBA.

Additionally, the ‘diamond-encrusted’ basketball became a centerpiece of the campaign and a viral element in NBA social content. Since the conclusion of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season, other brands in the sports industry have also leaned into developing diamond balls to celebrate their campaigns - inspiring the industry to continue to evolve and grow.

Objective

The goal of the campaign was to bring awareness to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season and educate fans on the greatest players to ever play the game. The NBA developed a social campaign by creating the hashtag #NBA75 to engage the league’s social community and reach new audiences.

The content from the campaign reached fans around the world through multiple social platforms. Not only did the NBA engage the audience with historical #NBA75 videos, photos, graphics, and GIFs across social, but the NBA also developed #NBA75 AR filters across Instagram and Snapchat - as well as a Snapchat Cameo.

These activations built audience engagement and brought awareness to the 75th Anniversary Season celebration.

Strategy & Execution

The campaign came to life through celebratory graphics and videos recognizing each NBA 75 Team member, daily “This Day in History” content, a ‘diamond-encrusted’ basketball that became a centerpiece of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Season campaign, and more.

The diamond #NBA75 ball connected legends, current players, celebrities, and fans at games and tentpole events. It was even included in both a Snapchat and Instagram AR filter and as a Snapchat Cameo. At the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, the ball was developed into a Mixed Reality element during the celebration of the NBA’s 75 Anniversary Team.

Additionally, the NBA developed highly engaging Instagram AR filters centered around #NBA75. This included an #NBA75 Player Name Unscramble AR game and a randomized #NBA75 Team Starting 5. These AR filters went viral with NBA players and celebrities posting their own videos using the filters on Instagram organically.

This campaign was designed and implemented with the modern sports fan in mind by reaching fans where they are with multiple types of content optimized for each social platform. The NBA provided educational content and the best highlights from the history of the game for fans to engage with, as well as interactive AR filters on multiple platforms.

Organizations

• NBA

Credits

Andrew Yaffe
SVP, Head of Social, Digital & Original Content
NBA

Bob Carney
SVP, Social & Digital Content Brand Marketing
NBA

Ashley Atwell
AVP, Social & Emerging Media
NBA

Justin D’Apolito
Director, Social Content
NBA

Jenny Fischer
Manager, Social Content
NBA

Victoria Guerrero
Project Employee, NBA Social Content
NBA

Mesha Mosley
Project Employee, NBA Social Content
NBA

Lauren Yelner
Project Employee, NBA Social Content
NBA

Adam Fedorko
AVP Social & Digital Content Creation
NBA

Leah Berry
Sr. Manager, Social & Digital Content Creation
NBA

Carly Nevis
Associate Manager, Social & Digital Content Creation
NBA

Maggie Engellenner
Sr. Manager, New Media Content Partnerships
NBA

Mariah Bailey
Associate Manager, New Media Content Partnerships
NBA

Kevin Esteves
AVP, Content Strategy & Business Intelligence
NBA

Iveta Karapetian
Director, Digital Content Analyst
NBA

Yisel Taveras
Associate Manager, Digital Content Analyst
NBA

Alaina Williams
AVP, Global Fan Marketing
NBA

Jake Freeman
Senior Manager, Social Content
NBA

Jim Poorten
Senior Manager, Social Content
NBA

Simon Cherin-Gordon
Associate Manager, Social Content
NBA

Peter Richter
Director, Social & Digital Content Design
NBA

Ian McCoy
Social & Digital Live Content
NBA

Jerry Jones Jr.
Manager, Social & Digital Content Design
NBA

John Orfanidis
Social and Digital Video Producer
NBA

James Johnson
Social Senior Video Editor
NBA

Jim Blaskiewicz
Social Senior Video Editor
NBA

David Trias
Social Video Editor
NBA

Drew Schmalbach
Social Video Editor
NBA

Brett Michaud
Manager, DTC Operations
NBA

Evan Cole
Social & Digital Senior Production Assistant
NBA