2020 was a once in a lifetime challenge for us all. In our business, spending time in the market is invaluable. Retail intelligence is the lifeblood of our industry. For much of last year, and living in Melbourne, we were unable to travel further than 5 kilometres from our homes. A Shopping Centre excursion was just not possible.
By chance, we were recently visiting a Westfield Shopping Centre in the South East of Melbourne. Because of the restrictions imposed upon us due to the pandemic, sports of all kinds have been severely impacted. They have had to be so fluid that daily adjustments to their fixtures have been commonplace.
To me, the NBL (National Basketball League) has shown a great ability to find alternatives and solutions in a time when it would have been understandable to have simply cancelled events and revisited them at a later date.
During our recent retail adventure… we walked into a Champion store and were confronted with a wall of nostalgic NBL apparel. This collaboration was brilliant and very well thought-out. Print on-demand and offer all of the classic favourite teams from the 90’s — the Melbourne Tigers, Adelaide 36’s, North Melbourne Giants and more! They also featured the current teams with the activation.
What’s even more amazing is that you can also have your own jersey personalised in store. This is what retailing is about now and into the future.
Well done to Larry Kestelman, Executive Director of the National Basketball League, and his team for thinking outside the square and coming up with an innovative activation that will ultimately help to see the NBL rise to new heights!
By Tony Bugg — Bugg Marketing Solutions
