The Sparkling Ice beverage brand is rolling out its "The Bold and the Best" campaign featuring Thunder F Kevin Durant "in digital and outdoor media, with plans for additional ads during the NBA All-Star Weekend in February," according to Max Willens of AD AGE. The campaign "will run on ESPN.com and Bleacher Report this month, in addition to billboard placements in markets of personal significance" to Durant such as his hometown of Seat Pleasant, Md., his college town of Austin, Texas, and Oklahoma City. Seattle-based agency jimwalkerseattle "handled the campaign." When
Sparkling Ice's partnership with Durant was announced earlier this year, it "was regarded as a coup for a brand that had just begun spending money on national advertising efforts." Durant's reps at Roc Nation "reached out to" Sparkling Ice parent company Talking Rain "about a possible partnership" in April. Durant "began drinking the beverage in Oklahoma City, and he asked Roc Nation to pursue an official partnership." Talking Rain VP/Community & Customer Relations Nina Morrison said that Durant "appeals not only to young, basketball-obsessed men but also to their moms" (
ADAGE.com, 11/5).
