5 Things I Like About When NBA Reporter Zach Lowe Talks Branding
Zach Lowe covers the NBA as good as anyone out there via his podcast, his writing on ESPN.com, and his television appearances. Why does that matter to the Kind & Funny Brand Shop, or to you, who may or may not know Luka Doncic from Nikola Jokic? Because one of the topics Zach regularly reports on are team rebrands, and I think through his journalistic method he does a great job illustrating the nuances of branding.
These rebrand projects are no joke. The NBA started in 1946 and has since grown into a $10+ billion worldwide operation, so a team that wants to change their name or logo or uniforms or court can succeed and sell a lot of merchandise, or fail and incense a fanbase. With a lot on the line, and a lot of stakeholders, these are some of the more complex and publicly visible brand overhauls you’ll find out there.
Here are 5 examples of Zach reporting on branding, with notes on why I like them:
1. The Clippers’ New Visual Identity
Doing the Legwork
The Clippers recently unveiled a full rebrand, with new jerseys and a new logo at www.nba.com/clippers/newlook, but I think in the launch they focused too much on the “what” and too little on the “why” for my tastes, as you can see in this graphic from the announcement:
Luckily for the Clippers, they also launched the rebrand with a story from Zach Lowe that digs more into the “why” behind these bullet points, including nuggets like these:
With fans expressing such affection for the name -- derived from clipper ships and naval vessels that dot the coast off of San Diego, the team's original California home -- team officials decided it was best to keep the name and tether any new art to it. They wanted a makeover that would stay true to the Clippers' traditional name, colors and iconography.
"‘People said this a hundred times: 'This team has direction now,'" Zucker [president of business operations for the Clippers and Intuit Dome] said. "They said it over and over." The concept of direction -- of forward momentum -- struck a chord. The result is a sharp new primary icon mixing the motifs of a compass and a naval ship.
The two colored rings on the global logo -- red on the outside, powder blue on the inside -- offer nice touches of color. They were the brainchild of Christopher Arena, the NBA's head of on-court and brand partnerships, who felt the art needed some brighter pops, officials said.
My favorite part of the Clippers’ rebrand is the alternate “LA” mark that they are introducing. Says Zach, “The team is particularly excited about that scripted "LA", with the "A" sitting perched atop the horizontal part of the "L." They are hoping that structure -- the "A" atop and within the "L" -- is distinct enough from the Los Angeles Dodgers' uber-famous "LA" logo, which has the two letters intersecting.”
2. Minnesota’s Tribute to Prince
Appreciating the Details
In the past few years the NBA has gotten into the annual practice of having teams design alternate uniforms, including a City Edition, that allows teams to experiment with non-traditional colors and designs. One of the best examples are Minnesota’s Prince-inspired uniforms, which Zach wrote about at length in an article that also has some cool behind-the-scenes logistics about how Prince would anonymously attend Timberwolves games.
Zach spotlights design details like a shoulder pattern that mimics one of Prince’s jackets and number typography made to echo Prince’s guitar; collaboration notes between the Timberwolves, Nike, the city of Minneapolis, and Prince’s estate; and a sample of player reactions to the jerseys.
We also get reminded of Prince’s love for the game of basketball which, in case you needed a reminder, was epic:
3. Brooklyn’s Grey Court
Describing the Design Process
This article about the Nets changing their court design gets into the nitty gritty, even shouting out the companies who manufactured and painted the court, and presents alternative versions of the design to illustrate what was ultimately chosen and why.
I used to work with a fantastic designer, Amy, who would patiently sit with me while I asked her to change different aspects of a magazine article or cover we were working on to see if we could make the visuals do what they needed to do in support of the overall message. I say patiently because I’d often ask something like, “Can you make the headline blue maybe?” and she would say “I’ve tried that, but yes” and then she’d make the headline blue and I’d say “Wow that’s not it” and she wouldn’t say “I told you so” because Amy was 1) nice and 2) always working in service of making the product the best we could. She had all of the design expertise and technical skills, and I’m grateful that she used them in a generous way that helped me learn. (Thank you Amy!)
Anyways, the narrative in this article gives a bit of insight into what that visual experimentation process feels like, if you’ve never had that experience.
4. Miami ViceVersa
Celebrating Creativity
The Miami Heat have been big winners in the alternate jersey landscape thanks to their Vice uniforms, and Zach does an excellent job of showing the progression over the years that led to their final “ViceVersa” gradient uniform. Note that this article needs an ESPN subscription, so here’s a picture for you:
5. The New Jersey Swamp Dragons
Taking the Absurd Seriously
This story is a delightful oral history of an almost rebrand that never actually happened—the New Jersey Nets becoming the New Jersey Swamp Dragons—and has great quotes, like a graphic designer saying, “I didn't give a whole of thought to the swamp. I was just excited to draw a dragon. I called him, ‘Swampy.’”
Do I think that branding and design can be really important? Yes, I do, and I think that Zach Lowe does too based on the work he puts in. But I also think it’s pretty fun as well, and I think that’s always a good thing to remember.
Is there anyone you like who writes about branding? I’d love to check them out! Let me know at jed@kindandfunny.com.