The Grizzlies have rolled out a new billboard campaign in the Memphis area with the tagline, "Greater Memphis," featuring "larger-than-life photographs of the now well-known players," according to Kyle Veazey of the Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL. The billboards show a "sleek font" and "film burns that nod to the team’s 'grit-and-grind' mantra." Grizzlies VP/Marketing, Communications & Broadcast John Pugliese said, "With new ownership, and how aggressive they've been, it is time for us to grow from what we were, 'Made In Memphis,' to promote us to the region and the nation as a great community and a great basketball team and a great fan base." Veazey noted the Grizzlies are "beginning their eighth season" partnering with Memphis-based Red Deluxe. The agency developed "three fully fleshed-out campaigns in preparation for a late August meeting with the Grizzlies." They displayed "all three campaigns, the goal being to leave the room having settled on one of them." Pugliese said of the "Greater Memphis" campaign, "I walked into the room, and it was the first thing that my eyes went to. It just piqued my creativity right away, gave me kind of a shot in the arm." Veazey noted the first part of the campaign are the billboards, set to "pop up in high-traffic areas." Soon the campaign will "take a more focused form in terms of print, television and radio ads." Pugliese said those will consist of "more sales-oriented messaging." NBA regulations "prohibit direct marketing, such as billboards, outside of a 75-mile radius of the team’s primary market." The Grizzlies plan billboards "almost to the limit in Arkansas, down in Tunica, and up I-40 toward Jackson, Tenn." (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 9/16).
