NBA up their game riding on the multi-year partnership with Hennessy, the world-renowned cognac brand, and launched a series of basketball challenge events around the world in Oct-Nov 2021.
The partnership uses the phrase "The Spirit of the NBA".
The partnership launched a series of pop-up events globally in Africa, South America, Asia-Pacific and Europe, including the world's highest basketball court on the top of a skyscraper in Shanghai and a pop-up full court next to the splendid Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Local celebrities such as MIRROR attended the event in HK, joined by basketball players and lifestyle and sports influencers. Apart from VIPs, 46 local basketball teams competed in the 4v4 tournament in Shanghai.
The pop-up event offers guests a range of mini-games, DJ live music, and graffiti performances, and of course, NBA x Hennessy cocktails to enjoy.
Some may wonder how NBA and Hennessy could work together? One is a basketball tournament brand, and the other is a spirit brand for over 250 years.
If you look closer at the primary consumer base of NBA and Hennessy, you'd realise that both skew towards the African American community. Cognac, it's a popular drink amongst the Black community in the States, according to the New York Times.
More than the glamorous pop-up events in this partnership, the core of this multi-year partnership advocates equality in ethnic groups. The brands worked with the basketball icon Russell Westbrook and created an online campaign called "Make Moves that Start Movements". The campaign extends Hennessy's Unfinished Business platform, which is an initiative that seeks to support the Black, Asian and Latinx small businesses owners affected by the pandemic and has pledged to donate over USD 5 million so far. This CSR initiative brings brand authenticity and meaning to the partnership and resonates with the core target audience of both NBA and Hennessy.
Though it is a shame that we didn't notice much of the CSR initiative in the localised execution in Shanghai and Hong Kong, the brands tactically used the partnership to change the perception of Hennessy in the market as Cognac has been deemed an old-fashion drink in Asia. By creating a series of exclusive stylish events at the unusual spots in the cities and cross-over products, the partnership also helped NBA re-position to appeal to China's affluent audience.
Win-Win, the spirit of partnership it is.