Watch the NBA’s tipoff campaign from Translation

The NBA is tipping off its 2023-24 season with an advertising campaign that suggests anyone can win it all. The “Everyone’s Game” campaign, from Translation, follows a 2022-23 season that was one of the league’s most competitive ever. No team won 60 or more regular-season games (in an 82-game season) for the first time since 2000-01, and the league also saw plenty of playoff upsets, with the Miami Heat becoming the first No. 8 seed to reach the finals for the first time since the 1998-99 New York Knicks (both teams lost in the championship). The parity drew viewers—the 2023 playoffs, broadcast on ABC, ESPN and TNT, averaged 5.47 million viewers, according to the league, the most-watched NBA playoffs in five years. There has been a different NBA champion in each of the last five seasons, and seven different franchises have made the finals over the last four seasons. Four of those teams did not qualify for the playoffs in the season before reaching the finals. The new season begins Oct. 24. “We’re leaning into that it’s going to be a must-watch TV season,” said Tammy Henault, chief marketing officer of the NBA, in an interview. “We think it's going to be amongst the most competitive seasons. Last season was one of the most competitive regular seasons we’ve ever had, and we think the field is wide open again this season. There’s a wealth of contenders from both conferences. We’ve had a different champion each of the last five seasons. So we’re really excited to see if we’ll keep that streak going.” New creative from Translation shows Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope of the defending champion Denver Nuggets working out on the steps of a stadium when dozens of fans and players race up after them. Also shown preparing for the season are De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings; Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers; Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls; Bradley Beal of the Phoenix Suns, and Jason Tatum of the Boston Celtics. WNBA legend Sue Bird and women’s soccer star Alex Morgan are among the fans in the crowd. The ad features The Heavy’s 2009 single “How You Like Me Now?”—a line used by the players to address their doubters in the ad. “We’re really excited about the campaign creative. It feels really different than past creative, or things that we normally put out that maybe leans heavily on-court action shots,” Henault said. “I think the imagery is really beautiful, and helps really showcase how hard our players work to get ready for start a season, and how excited our fans are to get going as well.” Look back: NBA CMO on marketing the 2023 Finals The creative aimed to capture the “excitement and unpredictability” of last season while teeing up storylines for the new year, according to Janine Dugre, senior VP of brand and creative management at the NBA. Those storylines include the Nuggets defending their title, Embiid’s reign as MVP and the arrival of Beal in Phoenix, to where he was traded in June, The new ad shares similarities with Translation's “We Are All in the Finals” campaign last spring, which also showed fans and celebrities together with players, and fostered a similar sense of anticipation, said Henault. “It’s anyone’s game at this point, for the fans, for the teams and for the players, and we wanted to be able to extend that same anticipatory feeling that we were able to capture for ‘We Are All In The Finals,’ and extend that to the start of the season campaign,” Henault said. The new campaign will run across linear TV, connected TV, social platforms, digital, programmatic and out-of-home. “I'm particularly excited about some of our out-of-home executions that we think are really going to break through,” said Henault. “We’re layering in really fun AR elements … so when you scan a QR in the poster, our players are going to break out of their containers and come to life.” Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs In-Season Tournament The NBA this year will debut its In-Season Tournament, in which select regular-season games beginning in early November will also count toward a championship playoff to be crowned on Dec. 9. The event, styled after European soccer Cup tournaments with group play and a knockout playoff round, is meant to bring new excitement to the league’s early season games. Fourteen group play games (two games on each tournament night) and all seven knockout round games will be televised nationally. The NBA’s media rights deal expires following the end of next season. Reports speculate the league could seek as much as $75 billion from its next rights holders. Henault said the NBA would “heavy up” its paid media investment early in the season to ensure a strong start and a successful launch of the In-Season Tournament. The first five days of the season will feature 10 nationally televised games. Other marketing priorities for the NBA this year include “diving into tailored creative,” said Henault, with ads targeting “cultural nodes”—or audience segments including sneakerheads, sports bettors and gamers—that over-index with NBA fandom. Henault said the league would also lean more heavily into direct-to-consumer marketing and one-to-one conversations with fans signed up through NBA ID, the league’s digital loyalty program.

Watch the NBA’s tipoff campaign from Translation

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