When Leonard took control in Toronto’s playoff run over the Magic, 76ers, Bucks, and then Warriors, it helped turn New Balance headquarters on Guest Street into a hotbed of Raptors fans this summer. “He recognized what was happening in social media,” said Cassidy, “and he recognized why it was funny and to his credit worked with us to lean into that, and let that out as his personality, as a wink and a sign-off for what this is. New Balance “Fun Guy” t-shirts are readily available, and Wednesday marks a more serious turn with the widespread release of Leonard’s OMN1S shoe. The cackle and the “fun guy” moniker became instant memes. Leonard made everyone’s job easier when he casually let slip that he’s “a fun guy,” after which he also let loose his rather strange but unforgettable laugh. His work was essential to bringing Kawhi Leonard on board. Patrick Cassidy is the global director of consumer marketing and athlete activation. He’s got very strong ideas and we work with that. He’s very hands-on and engaged in the product, footwear and apparel. Just because he doesn’t have Instagram doesn’t mean he isn’t a super-creative guy, which he is. “We felt that he totally did in so many ways. “If he’s not highly engaged in social media, there better be a bunch of other things he over-indexes on,” said Cassidy. Leonard’s complete lack of engagement on social media was not a disqualifier. Talks with Leonard, a former Nike client, intensified around the same time, and Leonard began wearing New Balance shoes at the NBA All-Star Game in February. The first basketball signing was Darius Bazley, now a 19-year-old rookie with the Oklahoma City Thunder who worked as a New Balance intern the first quarter of this year. Standout performers with an independent streak, an interest in lifestyle marketing, and a social media presence fit the New Balance profile best, Cassidy said. New Balance began to look for independent-minded players who were interested in a “partnership,” which is its preferred nomenclature for endorsement or corporate sponsorship deals. New Balance’s choice of low-key Kawhi Leonard as a spokesperson was a carefully planned strategy as the company looked to re-enter the athlete sponsorship space. Matt Powell, a senior industry analyst for sports at NPD, a global market research firm, said that while sales of basketball performance shoes has been in decline the last several years, he is curious to see how New Balance does with its pivot from being “endorsed by no one.” “It’s a driver of global style in the lifestyle business as well as performance, and it’s validation.” “We spent multiple years building a strategy for how we would do this in the right way, in a different way, because we need basketball to be a global sports brand,” said Patrick Cassidy, who as global director of consumer marketing and athlete activation was instrumental in signing Leonard. This is why the organisation has been so effective.Ray Hilvert said Kawhi Leonard is the type of athlete who can take New Balance “to the next level in every sport that we work in.” Jim Davis/The Boston Globe/Globe StaffĬhoosing the enigmatic Leonard as the low-key keynote speaker for its basketball brand after abandoning that space since the 1980s came after New Balance took a long look at the global sport of basketball. Sea Shepherd operates across all of these sectors through providing vessels for researchers, leading and supporting compliance operations, and generating grass-roots momentum. Front line compliance operations need to enforce the regulations and treaties. Policy developers and implementers need work the system from the inside. The research community needs to generate the defensible evidence for change. Community members need to generate grass-roots momentum. Making change requires participation and efforts from a range of sources. Joining Sea Shepherd was a natural fit for me and now having been the master of most of the Sea Shepherd vessels on a range of campaigns, I feel the need and importance of our work continues to increase. ”I have been working in the marine research and conservation sector for 35 years as a vessel master, researcher leader and operations leader.
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