Marketing: ESPN wanted to go higher. ‘’The last dance’’ could have been just another sport legendary documentary but instead ESPN teamed up with Lucasfilm at Disney who are behind Star Wars to help them release it the same way as a Hollywood movie – make it a blockbuster documentary.
Build-up: Over the past months till the premier of ‘’The last dance’’ was released all major sport media houses ESPN, FOX, NBC played short videos, teasing with the audience on what will come next. The short clips revealed shocking events that made you wonder what actually happened while the waiting made it sweeter and very exciting to watch.
Timing: 500 hours of footage of ‘’The last dance’’ ended up sitting at NBA Entertainment cabinet for 20 year until MJ and co decided to initially release the documentary in June 2020 during NBA playoffs. However, with the absence of live sports thru home quarantine, ESPN and director Jason Hehir worked overtime so we have this masterpiece in front of us that skyrocket TV ratings in the first episodes.
Social Media: In the age of social media disruption where ‘’influencers’’ have a team of people managing their channels Michael Jordan has no Facebook, no Instagram and most definitely not a Tik Tok account but then again, he scored av. 6.1 million TV viewers for the first episodes.
Leadership: The board announced before the start of the season in 1997 to coach Phil Jackson that this is going to be his last season even if wins all 83 games, the second-best player Scottie Pippen was downhearted by the rumours that Bulls wanted to trade him, the eccentric Dennis Rodman in the middle of the playing season wanted to escape for a vacation in Las Vegas yet Michael Jordan was much needed to step up and demonstrate leadership. While MJ got many times irritated by the circumstances and some of his teammates got offended by his criticism, he had the extraordinary strength and believe in Chicago Bulls that finally won the 6th and last championship with G.O.A.T’s signature.
#sport #brands #marketing #buildup #leadership #thelastdance #michaeljordan
Sources: ESPN, front office sports
Our office is located in sunny Nicosia Cyprus yet we work most of the time remotely. One day you may find us in Shanghai and next day in London for a project or meet our customers and partners. We operate worldwide and will come wherever you are.
T: +357 9948 9468
