Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z is set to kick off an unprecedented marketing campaign to lure disgruntled Knicks fans to the new home of his New Jersey Nets come next fall.
The Brooklyn-born rapper, who has never before linked his powerful brand with the team he partly owns, is expected to reveal the team’s new name this morning as part of the marketing launch, reports The New York Post.
While the team’s name change may be simple (to Brooklyn Nets, maybe?), the game plan ahead of the move to Prospect Heights’ Barclays Center is rife with innovative marketing techniques aimed to bring fans from lower Manhattan over to the outer borough.
The strong presence of Jay-Z, who the Post reports will be “the face of the team’s fourth-quarter campaign” to sell premium seats, is among the most significant factors.
Jay-Z will christen the stadium with a concert next year, reports the Post. His personal brand will also pepper the multitude of billboards, taxi ads, telephone booths and even coffee cops the team plans to use in its widespread marketing campaign.
The Nets will also offer ticket holders season packages that include bonuses like free food and a priority in purchasing boxing or concert tickets at the arena in an effort to differentiate the team from its Manhattan-based rival.
“The message is that the Barclays Center is much more than basketball,” Net CEO Brett Yormark told the Post. “There will be great concerts and other entertainment – so who better to deliver that message than the world’s No. 1 entertainer Jay-Z?”
Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is the majority owner of the Nets. The team has filled more than half of the stadium’s premium seats since they went on sale in April.
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