Due to the NBA lockout, Fila has "killed" all TV ad
plans around the introduction of its new $90 Grant Hill 5
shoe, according to USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz. Fila Senior
VP/Advertising Howe Burch said that it will now "focus on an
Internet sweepstakes that it will promote" in SI and Vibe
magazines. Reebok VP/U.S. Marketing Dave Zumbach said that
his company decided before the lockout that it will
advertise its product on NBC's and Fox's primetime shows,
instead of on NBA games. Converse's 4Q '98 marketing
strategy "will focus on recruiting high school teams to wear
its shoes." Nike spokesperson Vizhier Mooney said that Nike
will "increase its college marketing" plans. Horovitz adds
that since companies have access to players because of the
lockout, they plan an array of PR "blitzes," including Fila
using Hill in an Internet chat, Michael Jordan filming Nike
ads and Allen Iverson appearing at the ESPN Zone in
Baltimore for Reebok (Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY, 10/19).
KID IN A CANDY STORE: In N.Y., Richard Sandomir
profiled the NBA Store, which opened a month ago in N.Y.
with "little fanfare and no advertising but with logos on
everything from bibs and $210 cashmere sweaters to $8,000
Waterford vases and $25,000 Breitling watches." The NBA's
decision to scale down its marketing effort "derives from
the uncertainty of a season already tainted by the owners'
lockout of the players." Pro Player Marketing Manager Neil
Hernberg said if the league isn't back by Christmas, "we
could lose" 75% of their NBA business. Modell's has "pared"
its NBA orders 75%. President Mitch Modell: "We're stocking
the basics, the marquee players" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/18).
