Outdoor:

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY® Awards are the world’s largest advertising competition. And since last year allowed us to produce some work we were real proud of, we decided to enter 10 of our favorite pieces – and 9 of the 10 won!

The work ranged from our buzzed-about HEAT Billboard that kicked off the ’09-’10 season calling out the “Doubters”, to our own company store website. We were even nominated for “Best of Show” for the book we created for Pat Riley commemorating his Hall of Fame Induction.

Click above image to see gallery of work.

Best of Show Nominee
Pat Riley Hall of Fame Induction Book

Gold Addy’s
Pat Riley Hall of Fame Induction Book
HEAT Doubters Billboard
Miami HEAT Blue Note Campaign
Miami HEAT Blue Note Photography
Miami HEAT 09-10 Brand ID Photography
North Mississippi Allstars ‘Snakes’ Poster

Silver Addy’s
D. Wade Good Enough Ain’t Enough :30 TV Spot
Filling Station ‘Stupid’ Print Ad
Southern Brand.com Website

This idea started with last season’s Something To Prove Campaign and Dwyane speaking directly to the doubters. We wanted to continue that theme because it really resonated - not only with the team but with the fans. The job of this board was to start the conversation again. Get people talking. And smiling. The team proved a lot last season, especially Wade, but the detractors are still there. It’s in D.Wade’s DNA - he’s had doubters his whole career and he’s continually proven them wrong. Really to the point where it’s hard to doubt that man anymore. But Miami is a fickle town so we wanted to drawn a line in the sand. You’re either with the HEAT or you’re not. And we wanted to have some fun with it.

The original plan was to build a 40’ trough behind the bird silhouettes and fill it with bird seed to attract real birds as well. But there were some health safety concerns regarding the clean-up and the billboard company wasn’t comfortable doing that. So we did the next best thing and designed it to look as realistic as possible while exaggerating the size of the birds so they’d be readable from a distance while not being too big and cartoon-like. And it ended up attracting real birds anyway. Obviously HEAT fans. 

We applaud the HEAT and specifically Michael McCullough, the CMO for lettin’ us do it. I’m sure it sounded a little crazy when we presented the idea - it’s not often you get to say “we’re gonna put more and more bird sh*t on your advertising” to a client -  but he got behind it from the beginning. And it sets the tone for this year’s positioning. Wade played good enough last season to lead the league in scoring. The team played good enough to make the playoffs. Good enough to get people talking. Good enough to prove the doubters wrong…but good enough ain’t enough. Additional outdoor executions as well as TV, radio, print and online will support the campaign.   

Check out what Dime Magazine has to say about it.

Credits: Art Direction: Manny Fabian, Stephanie Gomez Copywriting: Evan Goldstein

From 15 wins to 43 wins to the playoffs.

Last season, the HEAT played good enough to turn some heads, and break some records. Good enough to have the biggest increase in individual seat sales in the NBA. They played good enough to win 43 games, good enough to make the playoffs, good enough to earn some respect and good enough to get ‘em talking.

But, good enough ain’t enough.

Click the image above to see the presentation boards for the upcoming season.

In 2008, following the season ending injury to superstar, D. Wade and the trade of Shaquille O’Neal, the HEAT limped to their worst finish in franchise history. The fickle South Florida fan base jumped off the bandwagon as fast as they had jumped on. And the question on everyone’s lips was: “why should I care about the HEAT?”

The team needed to re-energize and reconnect with their fan base and give them a reason to believe again and to take an interest. Southern Brand Collective convinced the HEAT to face the problem head-on and positioned the team behind the idea that they had something to prove.

Something To Prove.

In this precarious but hopeful position we launched a unifying, multi-platform campaign that spoke to the human element of “something to prove” in all of us. This messaging resonated not only with the HEAT faithful but it engaged the doubters in a frank and intriguing way. And it ultimately served as a rallying point for the team and the entire HEAT organization – from ticket sales to customer service.

Online we created something2prove.com - a cost-effective, fully-interactive micro-site where HEAT fans as well as doubters could sound off on HEAT happenings, post videos, comments and more. We also created a cohesive radio, TV, print and outdoor campaign that drove to the site and ultimately drove sales. We set the bar for online advertising within the sports industry with an integrated online campaign that focused on highly segmented targeting and retargeting and incorporated animated banners and google ad words to great effect. We utilized twitter, facebook and message boards to reach more HEAT fans and greatly increase the online presence of the team. We created “digital shorts” that were used as rich media ads online and ultimately distributed virally between fans. We also created additional revenue streams for the HEAT organization through custom merchandise and corporate sponsorship opportunities for fan giveaways under the “Something To Prove” umbrella. And we infused the “Something To Prove” messaging into everything from direct marketing to in-game entertainment.

Campaign Results.

The HEAT experienced the largest increase in year over year ticket sales in the NBA.  And by integrating all these mediums, we created a unified brand message so powerful that it resonated even after the season ended - and resulted in a 78% Season Ticket renewal rate despite the coinciding economic downturn.