Calipari Scores Big In Marketing Scene

November 27, 2012 / Winning Hoops
CreativeDepartment.com

http://www.creativedepartment.com/news/marketing/uk-basketball-coach-scores-big-marketing-237300

John Calipari, the University of Kentucky’s basketball coach, takes extensive marketing measures to demonstrate the perks of being on his team to teenage athletes, writes The New Yorker’s Reeves Wiedeman.

In September, Calipari, or “Coach Cal, released a video online in which he gives a tour of new university dorms for men’s basketball team players. The building features a plethora of flat-screen TVs, a lounge with reclining sofa chairs and a pool table and a dining area where the chef will make residents all the grilled and fried foods their stomachs can handle.

Wiedeman explains the video is one of many of Calipari’s successful attempts to market future millionaire players. Coach Cal’s website, which is maintained by a full-time employee, often displays photos of Calipari with celebrities like Charlie Sheen. High-profilers who teens idolize, such as Drake and Lebron James, have appeared in the UK locker room. When Jay-Z was fined $50,000 for entering as an NBA owner, he rapped about it in a song, which led to more hype around the team.

Many coaches market their programs, writes Wiedeman, but none do it like Calipari, who made an advertising opportunity out of the the team’s practices. The first one included a pyrotechnic-heavy pep rally that was broadcast by ESPN. The network also ran a miniseries called All-Access Kentucky” about the team’s players.

Calipari Scores Big In Marketing Scene

CreativeDepartment.com

http://www.creativedepartment.com/news/marketing/uk-basketball-coach-scores-big-marketing-237300

John Calipari, the University of Kentucky’s basketball coach, takes extensive marketing measures to demonstrate the perks of being on his team to teenage athletes, writes The New Yorker’s Reeves Wiedeman. In September, Calipari, or “Coach Cal, released a video online in which he gives a tour of new university dorms for men’s basketball team players. The building features a plethora of flat-screen TVs, a lounge with reclining sofa chairs and a pool table and a dining area where the chef will make residents all the grilled and fried foods their stomachs can handle. Wiedeman explains the video is one of many of Calipari’s successful attempts to market future millionaire players. Coach Cal’s website, which is maintained by a full-time employee, often displays photos of Calipari with celebrities like Charlie Sheen. High-profilers who teens idolize, such as Drake and Lebron James, have appeared in the UK locker room. When Jay-Z was fined $50,000 for entering as an NBA owner, he rapped about it in a song, which led to more hype around the team. Many coaches market their programs, writes Wiedeman, but none do it like Calipari, who made an advertising opportunity out of the the team’s practices. The first one included a pyrotechnic-heavy pep rally that was broadcast by ESPN. The network also ran a miniseries called All-Access Kentucky” about the team’s players.