Tristan Jass at NBA All-Star
The 6th Annual Awards
- Most Creative Partnership with an Athlete or Influencer
ABOUT THIS ENTRY
With NBA All-Star serving as one of the league’s tentpole events, the league worked with one of the top basketball content creators, Tristan Jass, to bring more awareness to the event. Our team gave Tristan incredible access to NBA All-Star, highlighted by his inclusion in the 2024 Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity game, where he was able to give fans an amazing behind-the-scenes look into everything happening at All-Star and hit some of his mesmerizing trick shots along the way. Tristan’s willingness to collaborate on trick shots that take hours to execute, his tireless energy to make it to countless events throughout the long weekend and his authenticity when interacting with well-known NBA players, other celebrities and his many young fans made his content exceptional and our partnership an overwhelming success.
How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?
The NBA’s partnership with Tristan Jass for All Star Weekend displayed what is possible when a brand and creator are aligned in their purpose and vision. The NBA granted Tristan access to all of the events happening around All-Star, while Tristan gave the NBA and its fans a unique POV into the NBA’s tentpole February event, creating a unique element to the NBA’s coverage.
Tristan is ingrained in basketball culture, as his interactions with NBA Stars were as engaging as his interactions with his many fans. When Tristan attends events and creates content, his fans feel like they are there with him, as evidenced by the overwhelmingly positive sentiment in comments and that was on full display during his time in Indy. Bringing Tristan to the forefront of the NBA’s marquee weekend in Indianapolis gave fans a distinctive lens into all that All Star has to offer, bringing them closer to the action than ever before while working towards the larger goals we had set for ourselves going into the weekend.
Objective
NBA All-Star is one of the most important dates on the league’s annual calendar with major broadcast events and marketing partner activations across three days of basketball and cultural festivities. The league partnered with creators in a number of ways with three main objectives: drive tune-in to the weekend’s marquee events on linear TV, generate strong engagement on NBA social channels and the NBA App and provide memorable experiences for fans at the event through live interactions with our creators. We wanted to work with creators that would give fans the feeling of experiencing NBA All-Star first-hand and who could provide positive, celebratory content with their own unique twists.
Tristan Jass embodies those traits as well as anyone.
Tristan has gained a tremendous following over the years through his incredible basketball trick shots and his down to earth personality, which have allowed him to connect with so many fans throughout the global basketball community. With more than 10 million followers across all social media platforms, a knack for viral basketball content and a relatability that fans identify with, Tristan was the perfect creator to partner with during NBA All-Star.
Strategy & Execution
The plan with Tristan was to get him to as many events as possible to let him do what he does best, show off his incredible basketball talent and trick shot ability and let him interact with as many people as possible, whether that was NBA stars, celebs or his many fans.
We had a laundry list of events for Tristan to attend, starting with him getting a first look at the All-Star Game court and hitting an incredible trick shot from the stands, generating 19.5M Views. The next big focus was on Tristan’s involvement in the Celebrity Game, starting with the practice for the game where we were able to capture unique content prior to the live game. During the actual game, Tristan showed out, scoring 27 points and creating a viral mic’d up moment with WNBA Champion Kelsey Plum, who was in attendance. Celeb Content featuring Tristan on NBA social generated more than 12M Views. CA
Other highlights included Tristan joining a group of creators for a rehearsal of All-Star Saturday night, attending the Special Olympics event with his aunt with Down’s Syndrome, covering the dunk contest courtside and doing basketball challenges with kids at our “Creator Court.”
Organizations
- NBA
- TJass Brand
Links
Featured
- Tristan Jass
Credits
Andrew Yaffe
EVP, Head of Social, Digital and Original Content
NBA
Bob Carney
SVP, Social and Digital Content
NBA
Jason Gilfillan
Associate Vice President, Influencer Content Leader
NBA
Bill Paden
Director, Social and Digital Content
NBA
Lauren Ware
Director, Production Management, Emerging Media and Influencers Lead
NBA
Tess Quinlan
Director, Content Planning Lead, DTC
NBA
Jarrel Harris
Senior Manager, Digital Content Management Manager, DTC
NBA
Natalie LaBumbard
Manager, Production Management, Content Creation
NBA
Jacob Iden
Senior Production Assistant
NBA
Jake Freeman
Senior Manager, Social Content
NBA
Justin D'Apolito
Director, Social Content
NBA
Jeff Sanchez
Talent Director, Influencer Content
NBA
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Join us for the 6th Annual Hashtag Sports Awards™ on the evening of June 6, 2024 as we celebrate finalists and reveal the winners of this year's awards live during the show.
