Aussie artists bring NBA superstars to life ‘In The Paint'

To celebrate the 2021 NBA Finals on ESPN on Kayo, Now We Collide commissioned some of the biggest names in Australia’s street and fine art scene to create six NBA masterpieces, immortalising basketball’s biggest superstars 'In The Paint’. The artists were carefully selected based on their individual style and aesthetic, their genuine passion for the game and their social media presence.

The campaign was gradually teased out across social channels in the lead up to the first game of the Playoffs, with bespoke Player Reveal carousels and Instagram Stories designed to build hype around which players would be featured as part of the campaign. These posts gave ESPN the opportunity to develop a variety of player-driven narratives that were leading into the final series. The players featured included the biggest names in the NBA, with household names like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, alongside home-grown Aussie legends Ben Simmons and Joe Ingles.

The success of the campaign was built on the opportunity to work with a diverse range of Australian artistic talent.

This campaign gave ESPN the rare chance to work with an incredible roster of Aussie artistic talent and combine each of their unique visual styles with the game’s biggest superstars. While working with such a varied aesthetic can have its challenges, the combination of the final artworks all together in an OOH environment provides the perfect canvas to impact and engage audiences.

Touch Points

The gradual seeding of content was pivotal in generating hype around the campaign, working to build a crescendo to the final reveal of artworks which landed right in time for the first tip-off of the NBA playoffs.

The final reveal of artworks featured on digital, social and out of home media. The campaign brought NBA heroes such as LeBron James and Joe Ingles to motorways and city skylines, as artworks featured as national placements in digital OOH locations.

Alongside out of home placements, Now We Collide commissioned a street mural to be created in Bondi, Sydney. Located in a prime position to leverage high foot traffic, the mural became a catalyst for additional social content created by Kayo’s roster of influencers and sports stars.

The artwork reveals were further boosted with a paid content strategy across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The artworks even shared on by Australia’s biggest basketball names, including Aussie Boomer, Joe Ingles.