2021 SHORTLIST

hashtagsportsawards

BROOKLYN NETS CITY EDITION CAMPAIGN

Entrant Company: BSE Global

FINALIST

Best Use of Culture, Music, or Entertainment

Brooklyn Nets City Edition Campaign

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

While the Brooklyn Nets’ 2020-21 City Edition campaign is multi-faceted, it is anchored by the team’s uniform honoring Brooklyn-born artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

Brooklyn has long been a creative hotbed where art, fashion, literature, social activism, and sports intersect. With this City Edition uniform, the Brooklyn Nets honor Jean-Michel Basquiat, a revered Brooklynite who blended text and image throughout his iconic works, and in so doing illuminated important themes and issues that continue to resonate today. The campaign demonstrated an authentic understanding of the franchise’s surrounding community and inspires unity, reflection, and pride in the borough.

 

Objective: Nike’s City Edition uniforms take features and themes of each NBA team’s city and incorporate them into a uniform design to bring fans closer to their home teams. The teams work with Nike to create a design that provides a deeper look at a team’s relationship with its community.

The Nets’ City Edition uniform pulled inspiration from Basquiat, a revolutionary artist and painter whose upbringing and diverse cultural background set the stage for much of his artwork. The black uniform mixes authentic details and some of the most notable elements of Basquiat’s artwork, including the BKLYN Nets lettering across the chest of the jersey, which is inspired by Basquiat’s signature style, the crown on the shorts is evocative of the world-renowned crown found in much of his artwork, and further references the Nets’ home in Kings County, the multicolored stripe down the side of the uniform reflects a style that is prevalent in much of Basquiat’s work and lastly, placed above the jersey’s jock tag is Basquiat’s iconic signature - his full name, written in capital letters.

 

Strategy & Execution: The Nets revealed their City Edition line on December 3 with a dedicated website that featured background information on Basquiat and the role his work played in Brooklyn. The team also shared an unveil video across social media, distributed a press release, and shared a video of Kevin Durant discussing how he was looking forward to wearing these uniforms.

The platform continued throughout the season with City Edition games at Barclays Center, during which the Nets wear these uniforms and the court is revamped to align with the multi-colored stripe, the “BKLYN NETS” lettering and Basquiat’s signature crown. The team sent personalized City Edition jerseys to celebrities and influencers ahead of the first time the team wore the jerseys in Brooklyn.

The Nets also partnered with NYC Dept. of Education and Office of Arts & Special Projects to enable teachers across Brooklyn to create a unit of study that explores the life and work of Basquiat, with the goal of educating students on how the main themes of his work (i.e. wealth gap and integration v. segregation) still resonate today. The program will culminate with an art exhibit featuring work from the students at Barclays Center in the summer of 2021.

 

Results:

On launch day December 3, the Nets Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook channels received more than 4.1M impressions.

Nearly 100 media outlets covered the launch across online, broadcast, radio, and social media.

The first 24 hours of the City Edition jersey launch drove the most user sessions, generating the highest traffic day in Nets Store site history, and the collection reached 18 countries in online sales.

PRODUCTION

BSE Global / Brooklyn Nets, NBA, Nike

 

CREDITS

CEO
BSE Global
 
Director, Marketing - Barclays Center/Brooklyn Nets 
BSE Global
 
VP, Team Marketing
BSE Global
 
VP of Content and Creative
BSE Global
 
SVP, Communications and Community Relations
BSE Global
 
Senior Director, Community Relations
BSE Global
 
Director, Consumer Marketing
BSE Global
 
Director, Video Production
BSE Global
 
Senior Graphic Designer
BSE Global
 
Director, Communications
BSE Global
 
Director, Merchandising
BSE Global
 
Manager, Digital Media
BSE Global
 

REGISTER NOW

CONTENT x SPORTS BETTING

Over two days, sports betting + media will converge to discuss the North American fan. Learn the insights and strategies needed to develop partnerships, create and monetize betting content, and drive critical revenue and engagement.

May 12-13, 2021 (Virtual)

TRANSFORMING THE NEXT DECADE


Hashtag Sports® is the leading platform for media and marketing professionals and the next generation of creative talent across the converging sports and entertainment industries.

From unparalleled experiences like our annual conference and the Hashtag Sports Awards presented with Budweiser to inspirational digital content and mission-driven initiatives, Hashtag Sports is the benchmark for fan engagement and the go-to resource for the development of a new sports and entertainment ecosystem powered by digital media, content, culture, purpose, and technology.