Let me play basketball again! It is not my fault the NBA is giving me a lot of examples lately. South of California, the ‘under new management’ Los Angeles Clippers are outscoring the northern team marketing-wise big time.
After revealing a controversial new logo last year, the team just announced its new mascot. Chuck the Condor looks and behave like any other mascot in major sports, but he has something very special. Chuck uses the classic Converse basketball snickers. Red! The Clippers is the first franchise in American sports to tie in not just a brand, but a product, in one of its identity symbols. Genius!
Last week, the richest (and probably most fun) between all team owners in the league, Steve Ballmer dunked a basketball during halftime show the same day Chuck was revealed. Using a trampoline, of course. But not just that, he (with probably the help of Converse itself) gave a pair of the iconic red shoes for every fan on the arena that night. Almost 20,000 pairs!
Now the Clippers fans have their own shoes! An iconic product that got out of the court and became a global phenomenon! From rock stars to punks, to teenagers and free-spirited people across the world. Maybe the first famous basketball shoe, decades before the Air Jordans. The shoe that shaped and put Converse on the map is now back in the conversation and are ready to take the streets of Los Angeles like never before.
From the court again, one of the wisest marketing moves I saw lately. Ballmer’s new team is not playing small ball, it is playing smart ball!
