Southern Brand recently collaborated with Luther & Cody Dickinson of the Grammy-nominated North Mississippi Allstars on some Limited Edition show posters and merchandise for a few of their projects. Above are the presentation boards for NMA &
Hill Country Revue.
About North Mississippi Allstars
It’s Playoff time! In an effort to activate the fans and turn the HEAT’s home court into the toughest place in the NBA for opposing teams to play, we are once again calling on the faithful to dress in black and come on out and rock the rafters! Here’s the presentation for this year’s Miami HEAT Playoff campaign.
Here’s the 08-09 Miami HEAT Team Poster (cropped). Based on the look for this year’s team intro film, also created by Southern Brand. Perry Ellis and custom clothier Ike Behar teamed up to outfit the players. Check out the behind the scenes video here.
Photography: Brad Tuckman & Omar Vega Retouching: KSC Studio
Intro film directed by Eduardo Abon for Southern Brand Collective and Jellyman Films.
In 2008, following the season ending injury to their superstar, D. Wade and the trade of Shaquille O’Neal, the HEAT limped to their worst finish in franchise history. The fickle South Florida fan base jumped off the bandwagon as fast as they had jumped on. And the question on everyone’s lips was: “why should I care about the HEAT?”
The team needed to re-energize and reconnect with their fan base and give them a reason to believe again and to take an interest. Southern Brand Collective positioned the team behind the idea that they had something to prove and created a campaign that went at the problem head on.
The advertisements drove viewers to something2prove.net where they could let the team know their thoughts, good or bad.
Southern Brand recently created some digital shorts for the Miami HEAT featuring rookies Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers goofing on their “new guy” status and the fact that neither suffers from a lack of self-confidence. The Chalmers spot was a spoof on D. Wade’s Robbins, IL spot for Converse and the OTB spot was just Beasley being Beasley. Originally slated for internet only, the spots ran on HEAT.com and something2prove.com and after audience response, were re-cut to run as :30’s during game broadcasts.
Southern Brand recently put together some pro bono work for S2BN Entertainment and the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Founded by legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger, the sloop Clearwater is the centerpiece of Clearwater’s public education programs. Clearwater is a 106-foot wooden sailing sloop designed after 18th and 19th century Dutch sailing sloops. In 1966, Seeger had the vision that the public would come to care for all of our threatened waterways by learning to care for one boat and one river. He inspired a group of dedicated people who made the dream a reality. Launched in 1969, Clearwater serves as a moveable classroom, laboratory, stage, and forum. More than a dozen national and international programs have successfully modeled programs after those pioneered by Clearwater.
Each year, Clearwater accommodates nearly 13,000 children and adults for education sails that teach history, biology, and environmental science and navigation along the Hudson River, New York Harbor and Long Island Sound. Thousands more are reached through on-land classroom visits, field programs and public exhibits. (more)
The work was for the Clearwater Benefit Concert To Celebrate Pete Seeger’s Life & Legacy at Madison Square Garden on May 3rd.
Concept Boards // Photography courtesy of Annie Liebovitz // Additional photo credit: Corbis/Christopher Felver
For the 2008-09 Miami HEAT Dancer poster we needed to bring the sizzle. The Dancers had just come off their 3rd straight victory as the “Most Popular Dance Team in the NBA”. They had to have a poster that was worthy of their stature. Working with HEAT corporate partner The Islands Of The Bahamas, we shot the dancers on location at the beautiful Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. The partnership also served to market the Islands of the Bahamas to HEAT fans throughout South Florida, incorporating the imagery in downloadable wallpapers, online photo galleries, in-game videos, contests and collateral materials. The posters will also be used at HEAT Dancer appearances and events throughout the entire season. Once again setting the standard for partnership marketing in the NBA.
Check out the behind the scenes video here.
Photographed by Brad Tuckman. Retouching: KSC Studio.
Couples Resorts operates four romantic, upscale, all-inclusive resorts in the lush Caribbean locales of Ocho Rios and Negril, Jamaica. In 2001, Couples Resorts launched an aggressive, $4 million advertising campaign aimed at attracting new vacationers and expanding its market share in the all-inclusive category.
It didn’t work.
As a result, Couples Resorts put the account up for review, and Southern Brand Collective won the job. In assessing Couples’ previous campaign, Southern Brand found the focus of the imagery: stunning 20-something models, failed to connect with many in its core and target markets (35-44). Couples Resorts received negative feedback from consumers and trade affiliates alike. They now viewed Couples’ image as off-putting and intimidating. Furthermore, the absence of any focus on weddings meant that a significant portion of Couples’ business had been neglected. Southern Brand Collective set out to redirect and refocus Couples’ marketing efforts. By placing emphasis on the experience; the beauty and personalities of the eclectic resorts themselves, the new SBC campaign encouraged the audience to “step into” the world of Couples Resorts. With the tagline “The All-inclusive. Refined. Redefined,” Southern Brand firmly re-established the brand as one of luxury, romance and value.
“Southern Brand Collective skillfully crafted a leading-edge campaign that blended beauty and image with form and function,” said Couples Resorts Marketing Director, Annette Cavanaugh. “SBC concepted and executed an integrated marketing campaign that enabled Couples Resorts to expand the category for all-inclusive vacation travel by appealing to a more upscale, educated audience while maintaining a positive relationship with the traditional target and loyal past guests,” said Cavanaugh. “In an environment of perceived parity, they carved out an exclusive niche for Couples Resorts.”
In addition to a comprehensive repositioning of the Couples brand, Southern Brand Collective designed and implemented an effective and creative media strategy. The results were dramatic, as consumers requested 1,000% more brand brochures than the previous year. SBC also organized and streamlined the requests for materials process by developing easy-to-use, pre-approved materials for tour operators and travel professionals. The results of the campaign have been impressive. In a decade clouded by travel fears, war and economic meltdowns, Couples Resorts’ peak season bookings have been up as much as 28 percent each week over the previous year. In an industry that regards a 5 to 8 percent growth as a victory, these numbers are spectacular – even during sunnier times.
“The strong brand essence created during this campaign has enabled Couples to sustain double digit booking levels and a substantial increase in year over year occupancy levels since its launch,” said Cavanaugh. Based on this success, Couples has recently added 96 new rooms to the Swept Away location as well as a complete $25 million renovation of their flagship property, Couples Tower Isle set to open April 15th, 2009. Couples also has plans to expand their presence throughout the Caribbean.
Southern Brand Collective is in its seventh year as agency of record for Couples Resorts. The campaign has continued to evolve with a more pronounced focus on Jamaica and the idea that Couples Resorts is the place for its guests to “rediscover one another”. Recent ads encourage audience interaction with a series of “Mad-Lib” style headlines prodding viewers to fill in the blanks with their own romantic stories.
Prohotel International is a hospitality company that specializes in managing, branding and marketing small luxury properties in the most sought after destinations around the world. They came to Southern Brand Collective with a need to develop a corporate brochure that showcases the properties that they have transformed and positions their company as a premier luxury hospitality management company.
Southern Brand Collective did just that by utilizing beautiful property imagery, creating a story around their methodologies and showcasing their services and success. The result was a first-class brochure that has been instrumental in attracting new clients for Prohotel International.
During the 2005-06 Season, the Miami HEAT and the NBA paid tribute to the past with a series of retro-themed games entitled “NBA Hardwood Classics Nights.” The Miami HEAT recognized the history and legacy of professional basketball in South Florida by taking on the identity of their basketball forefathers, the 1971-72 Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The ABA, with it’s red, white and blue basketball, was the renegade basketball league that featured the three point shot and introduced the world to such players as Julius “Dr. J” Erving, “Iceman” George Gervin and David “Skywalker” Thompson. The Miami Floridians were know for their flamboyant uniforms, highlighted by the “only in Miami” color combination of Magenta, Orange and Black. In addition, the Floridians pioneered the concept of the female dance teams in professional basketball with the Floridians Ball Girls. The Floridians also embraced the personality of the ABA by staging wild promotions to draw fans and attention.
Southern Brand created the retro-themed campaign consisting of a team intro film, a web component, in-arena signage and game programs featuring Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade and the rest of the HEAT taking on 70’s era personas. The goal of this initiative was to sell Floridians throwback merchandise while adding to the entertainment offering of the HEAT Experience. Director: Eduardo Abon for Jellyman Film Co.
