FedEx Corp. has reached agreements with five international NBA players to promote its international shipping capabilities in an advertising and marketing campaign titled “Go Around the World with FedEx.”
This year’s line up of “FedEx Global Leaders” features two new players, Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko (Russia) and San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (Argentina) who will join returning endorsers: reigning two-time NBA MVP and Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash (Canada), San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (France) and New Orleans Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic (Serbia).
This campaign serves to connect FedEx’s global shipping business and international routes to the NBA’s global popularity and increasing number of international players. Opening night NBA rosters for the 2006-07 season featured a record 83 international players from 37 different countries and territories and 28 of the 30 NBA teams feature at least one international player. The 2007 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played in Las Vegas on Feb. 18, will be broadcast live on TNT.
During the 2006-07 season, the players will be used in a variety of national advertising and marketing executions.
The FedEx Global Leaders selected to participate in the NBA All-Star 2007 will also be joined by other NBA international stars to host basketball clinics for fans at the FedEx Global Village at NBA All-Star Jam Session, the five day NBA All-Star interactive fan festival.
The FedEx Global Village is an interactive basketball, media and cultural area that will consist of an “Around the World Court,” a half-court with shooting locations marked by famous international landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower; a newsroom designed for international media events and interviews of the NBA international stars following the daily basketball clinics; a video gaming area featuring the international versions of NBA Live ’07; five computer kiosks allowing visitors to explore NBA.com/China, Espanol, France, Global and Canada; and five plasma TV’s that will display international game coverage from China, Australia, Spain, France and Serbia and will feature headsets with audio calls of the games in the respective languages.
FedEx is giving fans the opportunity to win a free trip around the world as part of a new online sweepstakes promotion, which launched on Jan. 2 on their newly renovated page on NBA.com (NBA.com/fedex). Contestants will vote on top plays of the week from international NBA players and in addition to the trip around the world, they will have the chance to win weekly prizes such as autographed jerseys.
