How Google Pixel, American Express Use NBA-All Star Weekend to Drive New Brand Strategies

Putting Ice Spice in a Starry Super Bowl ad wasn’t PepsiCo’s way of kicking off the brand’s 2024, but culminating a 2023 launch that started at the National Basketball Association's NBA All-Star Weekend. Starry began its life as Sierra Mist’s replacement by hosting the event’s 3-Point Contest in Salt Lake City last year. Ice Spice wasn’t even mascot duo Lem and Lime’s first choice: One year ago, Starry’s NBA All-Star ads had them courtside with Keke Palmer. Tara Mulcahy, NBA senior vice president and head of global marketing partnerships, noted that campaigns for the Meta Quest 3 gaming headset and Gatorade Water both launched at NBA All-Star Weekend this year. SoFi used All-Star Weekend in Indianapolis to launch its multiyear partnership as the official banking partner of the NBA, NBA G League, NBA 2K League and USA Basketball. Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver and San Antonio Spurs No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama used the event to debut NB-AI, a voice assistant that uses NBA data to let fans personalize the way they watch a game. ‘Don’t Be Left Out:’ How the WNBA Is Building a Don’t-Miss Opportunity for Brands That positioning gave companies access to the roughly 125,000 fans who descended upon Indianapolis for the festivities. “We really have no offseason here at the league,” Mulcahy said, “as it relates to examples of partners working with our affiliate leagues and the Women's National Basketball Association. In particular, they really do extend their marketing efforts across all of our business throughout the year to have that consistent drumbeat to their consumers and fans.” This year’s Super Bowl ad for Google Pixel showcased its artificial-intelligence-guided voice feature for vision-impaired users. But it’s difficult to demonstrate that technology without placing a device in a user’s hand, and Google Pixel has a bunch of other features that test better in person. For Google and several other brands, All-Star Weekend is just the tipoff of an unending basketball calendar. Brands that sign on as sponsors of the NBA and WNBA not only get a full year to tinker with activations, but a strong and growing women’s sports audience that encouraged Google Pixel to launch a partnership with the National Women’s Soccer League this week, as well. “I hate the word 'underdog': These women aren't underdogs, they just are unknown ... people just didn't pay attention,” said Julia Cheney, cultural marketing lead at Google. “We're the same at Pixel: We're a better phone, but people just don't see us as an option, so we're trying to kind of tell that same story—if you give us a chance, if you put us in your hand, just like if you watch a WNBA game, you're going to be a fan.” Playing the long game American Express hosted activations for more than 30 sports partners around the globe in 2023. As the official card partner of the NBA, WNBA and NBA G-League for more than two decades, Amex tailors those events by market, trends and audience. This year, Amex hosted a concert Feb. 15 with Machine Gun Kelly and a DJ set from Shaquille O’Neal. Before the All-Star Game Feb. 18, it presented a game show pitting NBA players against each other in a trivia contest. “Our robust global portfolio of partnerships and sponsorships enables us to bring card members closer to the leagues, teams, venues, artists and athletes they’re passionate about,” said Shiz Suzuki, vp of global brand sponsorships and experiential marketing at American Express. “We’re always paying attention to what our card members are saying and how they’re engaging with our products and services, so we can adapt and evolve how we enhance the value of Amex membership.” Certain activations travel well from sport to sport, like a dedicated entrance for American Express cardholders or complimentary in-ear radios for Formula 1 races or the US Open, Others, like strawberries and cream at the Amex Lounge at Wimbledon, are more event-specific. Some of AT&T's NBA Crossover games and merch work for other activations. NBA and WNBA official connectivity partner AT&T also wedges NBA All-Star Weekend into a full year of on-site sales. Its roster of activations includes College Football Playoff bowl games, college basketball’s men’s and women’s March Madness, every NCAA sporting championship, golf’s Masters Tournament and art and cultural events such as the Essence Festival of Culture and the Tribeca Festival. On NBA All-Star Weekend, it rolled out a "Blue Carpet" for celebrities and sports luminaries, a gaming-focused AT&T Roadshow hosted by YourRage (and livestreamed on Twitch) and NBA Crossover activities including an interactive mural, immersive games and a shop. It also hosts the HBCU Classic matchup between the Salem State and Virginia Union men's basketball teams on Saturday, just before its AT&T Slam Dunk Contest, with an LED court and a camera tracking O'Neal’s reactions. “As the Innovation partner of the NBA, AT&T is able to test and showcase new and never-before-seen connectivity experiences across the entire NBA portfolio for the NBA's passionate fan base of over 74 million young, tech-savvy individuals,” said Sabina Ahmed, AT&T’s assistant vp of sponsorships and experiential. “At all of our activations, we aim to showcase the full spectrum of NBA and WNBA culture—from jaw-dropping dunks and cutting-edge fashion to the latest music and impactful mentorship programs.” Some of the activations will look vastly different for the WNBA, as last year, the brand brought the AT&T Style Studio to the WNBA All-Star Game and used robot nail art stands and augmented reality apparel mirrors to try on looks from the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Dallas Wings’ Arike Ogunbowale. But its NBA Dream Experience campaign in December—giving select fans access to All-Star events and meet-and-greets with NBA and WNBA stars—will continue throughout the season as AT&T markets turn fan data and feedback into on-the-ground experiences. Rebounding with research Google Pixel will spend All-Star Weekend treating fans to draft-pick photo shoots, using Google Lens to help fans identify iconic basketball items and letting fans use Pixel’s Magic Eraser to give them poster-quality dunks and stair-aided vertical leap similar to Team Pixel’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kelsey Plum and more. Google Pixel has continued those activations through the WNBA All-Star Game, building its Google House experience and giving WNBA players a lounge where they could bring their agents and talk to brands. It’s all given Google valuable insight into which Pixel features fans seek out during events. They love Lens because it lets them shop athletes’ apparel and shoes as they’re wearing them, but research discovered that they adore the camera just as much. The Skims and NBA Partnership Is a Masterclass in Brand Repositioning “We are also talking to people who are engaging in basketball, not just as fans, but as athletes as parents of athletes, and they want to take the best photos and they want to take the best videos,” Cheney said. “So we've done the research to show what features that we have in those categories that are going to help create the best experience for the consumers.” By attracting one of the league’s broadest audiences of the season, NBA All-Star Weekend presents an ideal opportunity for market research. Mulcahy noted that sponsors that launch products and campaigns around All-Star events see them draw not only core basketball fans, but viewers interested in players’ off-court lives, the music they listen to, the technology they use and the items they wear. “It's very common for our partners to see the value across our entire business ecosystem, particularly because they know and understand our reach,” Mulcahy added. “So we have a unique position where—as our partners and brands are refining their campaigns—[we can] give them feedback across our survey landscape about what we're hearing from our fans throughout the season, throughout the calendar year.”