Atlanta Falcons rookie running back Bijan Robinson’s name rhymes with “dijon,” but it was enough for Austin-based creative firm Callen to build a mustard brand around him while he played at the University of Texas. Jalin Hyatt has an entire hotel chain’s brand in his surname, which led to an NIL deal with the corporate Hyatt while Jalin played wide receiver at the University of Tennessee.
With Hyatt now in his rookie season with the New York Giants, the hotel chain is offering 15% off at participating hotels with the code GOJALIN15 through the end of the football season in February 2024.
Fanatics
Around this time of year, one of the pillars of Fanatics business is moving NFL jerseys. What better place to show off a broad spectrum of them than a neighborhood dry cleaner, where you can throw 32 teams’ worth of gear on a conveyor belt and let staff pull garments and talk about players and teams’ chances for 2023?
But this is marketing: You can’t just show a three-figure jersey, tout the merits of the player in it, and hope the right fan is watching. There needs to be an emotional hook, something the viewer’s going to remember long after the jersey carousel stops spinning. Enter the dry cleaner’s first customer, who goes unidentified at the beginning of the spot before his big reveal as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin at the end.
With Hamlin expected to play this season after suffering an in-game heart attack on Monday Night Football earlier this year, the Fanatics Cleaners staff are grateful for more than just the return of football. In the meantime, Fanatics is posting tickets for autographed jerseys on its social pages and sending fans to cleaners around the country to claim their prizes.
Hoka
Your core product is a pillowy running shoe embraced by both high-level athletes and older consumers looking to minimize impact on their feet. How do you connect both audiences, and how can you get the NFL involved?
Hoka struck that balance by reaching out to Philadelphia Eagles cornerback James Bradberry and linking his professional story—and a Hoka-clad training regimen—with anecdotes about his mother and grandmother. Hoka shows Bradberry using its shoes on the treadmill, but also handing them out to older fans.
