Pistons Owner Tom Gores "is stepping up efforts to reconnect" the franchise with the city of Detroit, according to Tom Walsh of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Before Saturday night's kickoff of the Oregon-Michigan State college football game, the Pistons "rolled out a new 60-second TV commercial narrated by former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, who was also the Pistons’ best player" from the Cobo Arena days. It is the "first big splash in a retooled Pistons marketing campaign to kick off" the '15-16 NBA season. It will include "more TV spots with Bing’s voice, plus highway billboards and wallscapes on the sides of buildings featuring Pistons players and slogans such as 'Detroit Hustle,' 'Detroit Heart' and 'Detroit Grind.'" Bing on Sunday said, "They really, truly want to reconnect with the city. With everything going on in the city of Detroit, it doesn’t make sense for them to be on the outside looking in.” He added that the video spots "were taped several weeks ago." The TV, billboard and social media ads "were produced internally by the Pistons creative team." Walsh notes the intersection of the challenges facing a city rebounding from Chapter 9 bankruptcy and a Pistons team that has failed to make the NBA playoffs since '09 "was a natural focus -- provided that Gores is committed to raising the team’s profile in the larger Detroit and Michigan community" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 9/15).
