NBA All World Marketing — Dreamspace LLC.

Sizzle Reel

A showcase of our marketing strategy’s creative executions

The Launch

NBA All World launched in Paris on January 24th, 2023, before launching globally, so the launch could piggyback off the hype for the NBA Paris Game happening simultaneously. We designed custom out-of-home advertising to "take over" Paris, then edited footage for social platforms to emphasize our global reach to our audience.

Product Launch Event at NBA House, Paris

To engage Parisian NBA fans and Niantic lovers alike, we sent users on a scavenger hunt across Paris that ended at the NBA House, Paris, where the product launch event awaited them. We hooked them up with exclusive merch for completing the scavenger hunt, and the Niantic team facilitated some friendly NBA All World playing. This event brought together a community of newfound players across the city—and even some from across the world.

OOH Campaign in Europe

Aligned with Niantic's goal of creating the "Real World Metaverse," we met users where they were at with OOH campaigns. We launched our first OOH campaign in Paris, then Barcelona, taking over both with interactive ads in subway stations, on street signs, and more.

OOH Campaign in the US

We continued our OOH campaign back in the US, taking over all corners of Boston and San Francisco with NBA All World ads inviting potential users to download the game.

Epic Moment

Epic Moment was a new feature we designed that allowed gamers to directly share their winning move from NBA All World on social media. The feature would add a highly stylized VFX treatment to enhance the hype around the sharing experience, allowing users to flaunt their most "Epic Moments" with friends and competitors alike.

Branding Motion Kit

Our team created and developed a ready-to-use toolkit, including all ratios, for internal and external creative teams to quickly create branded assets for marketing videos—while maintaining a unified look per the brand guidelines.

Merchandise

Dreamspace designed a wide range of unique, sleek merchandise for marketing promotions, incentivizing fans to engage with the game.

Fun Fact: The merch was so popular that an enthusiastic fan drove across multiple states to secure a tee at an NBA All World community event.

Social-First

In today's world, it is typically beneficial for brands to incorporate a social-first strategy—NBA All World was no exception. For every social media need, our team had it covered, from designing original assets for each event and announcement to writing witty captions and bio copy. We considered social media a top priority in any NBAAW marketing effort and executed a social-first strategy accordingly.

AR Drop Zone

Working closely with 8th Wall, a WebAR company under the Niantic portfolio, we developed the AR drop zone visuals for the game. We designed the visuals to be exciting and take advantage of the AR technology, sparking fun interactions in everyday IRL spaces.

AR VAULT

Social Campaigns & Strategies

We began by developing strategy resources to serve as the foundation for all NBAAW marketing efforts. From everyday Instagram posts to complicated out-of-home campaigns, we let the strategies guide our work.

Target Audiences

The Casual Gamer

These casual mobile gamers want a new challenge to fill in their free time. They have likely played another Niantic game already and might also be casual sports fans.

The NBA/Hoop Fan

The NBA/Hoop Fan is passionate about the NBA, hoop culture, and streetball. They want to connect to a community that shares their love for basketball.

The Family Gamer

This audience prioritizes spending quality time with loved ones and values activities that foster meaningful shared experiences and encourage physical activity. Parents might also fall under either of the other categories.

CREATING A COMMUNITY

A community brings people together–something we strove to do with NBA All World.

That said—when developing any strategy for NBA All World, we kept in mind that metrics of engagement are much more important than metrics of awareness in the long run when establishing brand and product loyalty.

Followership ≠ Community

Voice

Considering the variety amongst our target audiences, we knew that our voice had to make all users feel included: accessible authenticity for all. That said, we struck a careful balance between incorporating the existing tone of hoop culture set by community members and staying true to Niantic’s unique brand identity.

Five Phases

After the game’s release, we created a strategy to guide content throughout the year, creating focuses appropriate for the seasons and the events happening at any given time. Here is a quick overview of the five phases:

Jan-Feb: Celebratory Months

Mar-May: AR Months

Jun-Aug: Go All Out(Doors)! Months

Sep-Oct: Local Drop Zone Months

Nov-Dec: Global Trend Months

Niantic decided on GO ALL OUT as the initial launch catchphrase and CTA for NBA All World, challenging users to embark on their NBAAW journey and incorporate the game into their lives.

Our team integrated the phrasing and ethos of GO ALL OUT into all facets of our marketing efforts around launch time.

NBA All World Awards

Creating the Oscars of the NBA Metaverse
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transforming ordinary fans into contributors, all-stars, and brand ambassadors.
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Millions of users have the chance to win prizes like pro-athletes, promoting inclusivity and engagement.
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Unlike traditional awards, the NBA All World Awards also focus on elements of basketball culture beyond just performance on the court.

I 🏀 AW

I Ball All World was our homage to the famous I Love NY phrase. New York is an influential city in hoop culture, so it made sense to incorporate it into a catchphrase for NBA All World. Just as how Go All Out was NBA All World's launch campaign phrase, we wanted to make I Ball All World the evergreen tagline for the game. I Ball All World captures the global-loving outlook of NBA All World, encouraging users to ball worldwide.

All World 5

The All World 5 is a highly stylized group of mascots representing global users who love and support NBA All World. We designed their faces without characteristic features to invite users to imagine themselves as NBA All World stars. With a forced perspective making the All World 5 appear as giants, these digital figures symbolize the heights that NBA All-World players can reach if they continue working hard and leveling up in the game.

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NBA ALL WORLD - MARKETING