The marketing and endorsement success of the NBA and its
players is examined by Dwain Price of the FORT WORTH STAR-
TELEGRAM. Price writes that "although the NBA is the epitome of
a star system, it's not the league that pushes individual
clients." NBAP Dir of Marketing Communications Peter Land: "We
are more about marketing the game as opposed to (marketing) any
specific players. ... We're not in the business of selecting one
player over another." Land gives the example of the recent
McDonald's "Looney Tunes" ad, where the list of players involved
came from McDonald's. Players rely on their agents to set up
endorsements, and "timing is everything in the endorsement game."
Price examines the endorsement success of certain NBA players.
Among them, Co-Rookie of the Year award winner Jason Kidd, who
will be the focus of a campaign by Nike. Tom Feuer, Manager of
Public Relations for Nike, said the company is planning a debut
at the All-Star Game next year for a shoe called "Air Zoom" which
will have a TV campaign featuring Kidd (FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM,
5/28).
NO PINWHEELS? In New York, Ira Berkow writes on a "dizzying
dilemma for the NBA," where the league is trying to crack down on
"mind-altering distractions" in the arena, such as pinwheel
placards. Berkow: "But the broader issue is just how much one
can get away with in a basketball arena. Obviously, these fans
have taken their cues from the marketing departments ... It is a
moronic concept -- that hoops must be secondary to a circus --
but one that has spread like a skunk smell" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/30).
