The Objective:
Every season, each NBA team releases new, limited edition, team jerseys. These jerseys are typically reflective of less obvious aspects of the teams, opting instead to emulate specific cultures and rituals of the state or cities where the teams reside.
In November of 2019, the Milwaukee Bucks were planning to launch a "Cream City Jersey" and needed to figure out the best, most impactful way to do it while also pushing our retail line and driving value for our then-Jersey Patch partner, Harley Davidson.
The Solution:
Constructing a comprehensive launch of the Cream City Jerseys took a large team, of which I was a part.
First, we settled on the story we wanted to tell. Milwaukee is nicknamed "The Cream City" because of the cream colored bricks used in so many of our early buildings. Knowing we had a huge international fanbase we wanted to create content that would resonate with all of our fans regardless of location.
Our launch took a two-pronged approach, the first of which was using video on our platforms to authentically illustrate the meaning behind the jersey, while showcasing the new merchandise. We did this by leveraging our main social videos for a produced video piece (Cream City Launch Video) and identified a trend on TikTok that allowed us to use our players to show off the new jerseys (TikTok Jersey Reveal).
The second piece of the launch was to partner with a company called Sharingbox who helped us do a digital photobooth experience in the first games we wore the new jerseys. Fans could create a gif of themselves sporting the new threads, and then share them on their social channels for a chance to win a jersey of their own.
The Results:
We saw a 152% increase in retail sales vs our last jersey launch. This included the jersey itself, and the surrounding Cream City Collection.
Additionally, the day we launched, our social media value was the 2nd highest it had been all season, only behind when Lebron and the Lakers came to town(valuation provided by GumGum Inc), and the Lopez Brother TikTok received 1.5 million views, a huge win for our patch sponsor.