Building Excitement for the
Biggest Season in Years

Built to Stay

Milwaukee Bucks

After helping the Bucks build momentum for years, the 2018/19 season was set to be a big one. With a new, world-class stadium, a new coach, returning superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and postseason appearances in three of the last four seasons, the only thing left to do was rally the fans with a new campaign. And, of course, do it without a single shoot.

The Big Idea

There was a tremendous amount of excitement for the Bucks’ upcoming season. But for fans to truly invest their time and energy, they need to know that an organization isn’t just focused on making a big splash. That mentality only creates fair-weather fans. True fans want commitment—to know that their team is in it for the long haul. That’s where the idea of ‘Built to Stay’ came from. And it brought fans one very important message: These are exciting times, but they’re just the beginning.

Two iPhones showing Instagram story posts with Milwaukee Bucks game footage with text overlay such as "Built to Star" and "Vote for Giannis"

Also, built completely from scratch.

We had excited fans. We had big-name players. We had a vision for a campaign. We just needed to create it from nothing but old game footage, and do it entirely in house. So we called on HIVE, our internal production department. Suddenly, old footage became brand new content—stylized, hyped-up, oh-damn-check-this-out level content. And we ran it where it was virtually guaranteed to get hundreds of thousands of impressions—right from the social media accounts of big-name Bucks players. Not to mention, TV, video, radio and OOH.

Momentum begets momentum.

After adding our “Built to Stay” campaign to the fervor leading up to the 2018/19 season, we kept it going by feeding Giannis Antetokounmpo’s bid for MVP, bringing the conversation online to an all-time height.

Why It Worked

Two words: In-house production. It’s one thing to have a vision for a campaign that revolves entirely around using owned footage, and it’s quite another to be able to make it, within budget. In our experience, the difference often comes down to being able to do it entirely under one roof.

Related Work

Los Cabos

At this magical destination, the sea and sun meet and become one—attracting both celebrities and your average traveler. But after being closed for COVID-19, Los Cabos needed a way to convince their regulars to come back. And even more so, to reassure them that paradise would still be just as idyllic as they remembered.

Jewelers Mutual

When we were challenged to breathe new life into a 106-year-old brand, we accepted. Why? Because we’re just as obsessed with delivering strategically sound, insight-driven, breakthrough work to our clients as our client, Jewelers Mutual, is with delivering best-in-class jewelry insurance to jewelry lovers across America.

Travel Wisconsin – Influencer Marketing

In 2018, Travel Wisconsin set out to enhance its Instagram influencer program. The mission was to identify travel influencers in key niche audiences important to Travel Wisconsin’s target market and turn them into Wisconsin brand ambassadors.

Building Excitement for the Biggest Season in Years