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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

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Let’s dive right into it…

MARKETING BLUEPRINT

NBA 2K27 didn’t just launch a video game last week but activated their entire basketball ecosystem around it.

Creators, NBA assets, athletes, musicians, grassroots partnerships, and much more.

Their entire social content plan connected back to the “World of 2K,” a campaign that turned the world-building brands always talk about into something a video game can literally create.

Their newest product led with its first-ever co-ed City, while the marketing extended into every corner of basketball culture.

They tapped Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Haliburton, and Stephon Castle for gamified content, brought back their tried-and-tested “Guess Your Rookie Rating” series, and partnered with both macro and micro creators.

Because when content lives on the brand’s channels, content format with creator collabs matters more than follower count.

Team collab posts brought distribution into individual fanbases, while Vince Staples and the SLAM Summer Classic extended 2K into music and grassroots hoops.

NBA global channels expanded its reach internationally, cover stars Wemby, Caitlin Clark, and Derrick Rose anchored the campaign, and Ronnie 2K continued proving the value of an executive becoming a recognizable face of the brand.

That’s the 2K social and marketing playbook.

Don’t build one launch campaign but build an entire content distribution network around it.

Creators bring communities, teams bring fanbases, athletes bring star power and cultural partners bring new worlds, and 2K connected them all back to the game.

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Sharing the tools and resources that I’m using this week:

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading! Here are a few ways we can stay connected:

🤝 Partner With Me: I work with brands, athletes and creators across their brand strategy, digital media, creator programs, partnerships, and marketing growth. Interested in working together? Get in touch here.

📊 Be First: I’m building Future Blueprint Sports — the definitive discovery and intelligence platform for sports marketing and creator culture. Get early access today.

👋 Stay Connected: Enjoyed this newsletter? Share it with a friend or colleague. Also follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for more sports marketing and creator insights.

Thanks and see you later this week!

- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻