When Dean Stewier, the former CEO of Nike Inc. and Under Armor Inc. , to Phoenix Suns as CEO, Marketing and Communications in 2019, the team was ranked last in the Western Conference.
The Suns have hired a new coach, Monty Williams, heading into Stoyer’s first season which has been postponed for a while due to COVID-19. The team returned to playing in the bubble that summer and set an 8-0 record, setting the tone for the following season, which ended in the NBA Finals where they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks.
In many terms, the team has been much better than its previous seasons, when NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley joked “inside the NBA” about the team’s problems, claiming solid seats and no-nonsense Nacho in the ring. But while the team shines on the field in the NBA playoffs this year, now in the semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks, its off-court collaboration, according to Stoyere, has taken team merchandise sales to “a higher level.” The NBA.com story showed the Suns ranked eighth in popular team merchandise, and the teams that make it out of the top ten include the Los Angeles Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies.
These projects help increase the importance of the franchise in other markets and around the world – the kind of connection that teams like the New York Yankees have, with one of the world’s most popular sports logos, and Paris Saint-Germain, which boast partnerships with Jordans and Goats that make up for young sneakerheads in Europe and beyond. .
“When we took over that side of the business we were in the bottom third of the league, but about a week ago the league released their end-of-season sales report, and we [in the] “The upper class over a period of more than a year,” Stoyer said. “I was very fortunate in ownership and senior management to seize the opportunity and allow me to capitalize on all of this. I think they were among the first teams to bring all of their integrated marketing channels together to drive all of our stories.”
Stoyer took over the marketing work for the franchise and put together a small in-house design team to manage the designs, believing a shirt is strong when done right. “I learned that from my days at Nike and Under Armour,” he said.
He continued, “I learned the importance of emphasizing purpose in everything we make, putting the fan ahead of anyone else, and the athlete at the center of everything we do.” “When we lead with the voice of our athlete and coach, we communicate with the fans with honesty and authenticity – and this extends to the natural collaboration between artists, designers and players. When we make for a purpose, there is never a lost word, stitch, or frame that can distract or detract from the message we are trying to convey” .
The Suns has released a collaboration with Warren Lotas, Jeff Hamilton, and LRG, and it will be releasing this month with Kill the Hype.
The NBA and fashion have been synonymous for decades. The sport has undergone many changes in style, from the glamorous 1970s to sneakers and apparel endorsements, the hip-hop and street fashion era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the GQ period of the early 2010s in response to the league’s dress code, and now the era of “stylistics”. The Tunnel” in which designers strive to be the brand of choice for athletes as they enter the tunnel.
Individual athletes get the most attention, attending runway shows in New York City, Milan, and Paris and recording collaborations, endorsements, and red carpet moments. But the difference is not far from the fashion ecosystem.
NBA franchises launch product collaborations with officially licensed groups of more than one team. It’s a regular event going back years with brands like The Very Warm and more recently with Rowing Blazers, Grungy Gentleman, Standard Issue Tees, Keizer Clark and more. Imatta, the designer and manufacturer of eyeglasses, received the NBA license last year, and this month launched sunglasses, visors and goggles for the league.
“We picked teams that we wanted to work with initially, but when we got involved with the NBA and the franchises, more teams got in touch,” said Mark Keizer, Keizer Clark founder and designer.
His Los Angeles-based brand has produced vintage and rugby-inspired clothing for the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, and San Antonio Spurs.
NBA, Keizer Clark capsule collection.
photo courtesy
“We’re used to designing a group and knowing that’s what we want to do, so we add the teams layer and the league,” Keizer said. “We got caught up in their licenses and partnerships and tried to design around them to make sure we didn’t get too far on our toes.”
Keizer Clark has been cast on numerous NBA players over the years most recently Boston Celtics star Jason Tatum ahead of the team’s semifinal series versus the Milwaukee Bucks. Keizer sees the group as a complete moment as Boston is his home city.
“It wasn’t about stealing money,” Kaiser said. “For us, this is a great opportunity whether we make money from it or not. I have always believed, as a brand, that it should be validated by retail buyers, editors and celebrities to get the consumer to believe in your brand, design and price point. The league was fueled when we did cardigan sets, because they They’ve never seen her before.”
Individual teams don’t have to wait for officially licensed collaborations for new products. The Los Angeles Lakers dressed up with artist Takashi Murakami for ComplexCon in 2019 and this year collaborated with Madhappy to benefit the Madhappy Foundation for the brand. The Philadelphia 76ers teamed up with retailer Lapston & Hammer on a “capsule 76ers crossover” that included collaborative product from Needles, Eric Emmanuel, Everest Isles, Blackstock & Webber, among others. Kith and the Knicks have released Nike Air Force 1 apparel and sneakers so far (the retailer has also designed Team City Edition jerseys).
Keizer believes that it is much easier to work with buyers for NBA stores and arena stores than it is to sell to fashion retailers because buyers know what consumers like and are confident in the number of fans that will enter their stores.
Lotas produced a clothing line called “The Final Shot,” inspired by the buzzing Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker’s hit over the Los Angeles Clippers. “We were looking to the end of the regular season last year to make a drop with the same determination starting in the summer of 2020,” said Stoyere.
“We treated it like an old-school shoe drop,” he added. A thousand people started lining up at 11pm for the 9am door. I later found out that people traveled from New York City, Florida, Texas because they knew that was the only place to get the product.”
LRG launched the apparel with The Suns in April and the team teamed up with Jeff Hamilton on a jacket to celebrate the NBA’s 75th anniversary. They made a small batch of 20 jackets to gauge fans’ appetites, and they did well enough for partners to launch another jacket this month. They’re also partnering with Kill the Hype on caps, which also launches in May.
Stoyer offered players a unique opportunity through Valley Thread, an in-house brand where Suns and WNBA Phoenix Mercury players can design their own capsule combos. Suns point guard Cameron Payne debuted the new line with his own designs. His colleagues surprised him by wearing his designs during their trip.
“We have been able to contribute to the business in general,” Stoyer said of the merchandise launch. “The intangible aspects of expanding your brand affect ticket sales, membership and revenue. I would be remiss if I didn’t scream how amazing our team was. We had to set the table for success off the field and making sure our brand was in a good place.”
Phoenix Suns point guard Cameron Payne in his valley string collection.
photo courtesy
But teams and fashion companies have different goals.
For example, Brett Johnson, artistic director of Monumental Sports and Entertainment that operates the sports franchises in Washington Wizards, Capitals and Mystics, as well as Capital One Arena where teams play, has been tasked with raising the brand to a luxury profile.
Johnson has partnered with Graff Jewelry to curate a selection of pieces for the Washington Wizards Welcome event, even though the company is not their official jewelry partner. The goal of collaborating with the jewelry company was to create a level of detail he wanted to pass on to players, property and VIPs in Monumental.
The designer also created a luxury travel set with merino wool tracksuits and a suitcase for the Washington Wizards Japan special game show centered on cherry blossoms, Japan’s signature flower, and for the 110th anniversary of the cherry blossom tree planting in Washington, DC. As a gift from the mayor of Tokyo to the United States. The set and show game plays well by one of the Wizards’ stars, Roy Hashimura, who was born in Toyama, Japan.
The Deluxe Collection may become available to the general public as well as teams, property and VIPs.
Johnson said he is also in talks with a watch company that does not currently have a presence in the Maryland metropolitan area and would like to bolster its presence at the Capital One Arena.
“What I commissioned is a complete rebranding,” Johnson said. “This is more than once. I come from the luxury sector and I want to stay in the luxury sector and I want to be the first to market and have that relationship and relationship with luxury brands. It’s different from what I’ve seen everyone do. I think it’s a great and different thing and I really hope that Be inspired and write a new chapter in the history of sports.”
When it comes to product, Stoyere and Johnson jump in different product styles that go beyond what’s expected of a typical dress-and-t-shirt merchandise store.
Johnson’s collection of The Wizards will debut with the cherry blossom stadium he designed for the team’s home game, and the next collaboration with The Suns will begin in May. In addition, Keizer Clark is launching a new NBA collaboration in June.
