It may have gone slightly unnoticed here in India, but the US National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game took place on Sunday night in Toronto. Unlike the Super Bowl, another grand American sporting event that decides the champion of the National Football League, the NBA’s All-Star Game has less riding on it. It is an exhibition game contested between the stars of the basketball league’s two main divisions, the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference.
However, despite being just an exhibition game, it was not short on significance. Indian sporting leagues can perhaps take a leaf out the of way in which the NBA promoted the All-Stars match as a sort of case study on how to build buzz around a major event.
Brand longevity
The build-up to the match on Sunday night featured a hologram of an actor playing the role of James Naismith, the Canadian physical educator and chaplain, credited as the inventor of basketball. Naismith was projected looking on as the highlights of various NBA seasons through the decades played before him. It was a canny marketing move, mixing both the local and the global.
With the event being held in Canada, it was an obvious nudge towards Canadian pride at the fact that one of their own had made such an impact worldwide. From a global perspective, it also allowed interested fans to get an idea about how much the game had changed. The theme of nostalgia was also carried further with an assembly of former players paraded before the sell-out crowd and the television cameras.
As any brand expert would agree, nostalgia is a powerful emotion – something India’s cricket and football establishments would do well to imbibe. And not for purely advertising purposes – when former players gather at an event, a sense of legitimacy is imparted to it, which can never be a bad thing.
Kobe Bryant’s retirement
To further highlight how much nostalgia can be milked, look no further than how the NBA dealt with the upcoming retirement of basketball legend Kobe Bryant. The 37-year-old has been playing at the top level for two decades and the NBA has been well-served because of its association with the Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard.
Every figure interviewed at the NBA All-Stars Game waxed eloquent about Bryant. The camera perpetually focused on him, all smiles, answering the same questions again and again. Anyone who had a stake of interest in the league had a converging point – “Kobe”. It is essential to create such rallying points to create a connect with the audience.
The actual game itself mattered less than everything else surrounding it. Players were freely allowed to enter the paint and take two pointers at will. It was a high scoring affair with the Bryant’s Western Conference defeating the Eastern Conference 196-173.
The other Indian point of interest was the presence of Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh at the game. His trip to Toronto had been arranged by NBA India, an indication of the league’s efforts to make its presence felt in the Indian market. Not one to disappoint his fans, the Bajirao Mastani actor constantly tweeted enthusiastic updates from the event (During the half-time show where British singer Sting performed, Singh inadvertently tagged the professional wrestler of the same name).
All in all, it was an event perfectly choreographed by the NBA. For all the hype and the glamour, the All-Stars game had the right mix of nostalgia and celebration, something which India’s many sporting leagues could do well to emulate.