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Welcome to another edition of The Baseline!

Every Wednesday and Friday morning, I share the blueprint for basketball culture, covering industry insights, marketing strategies, and creator tools and resources…

CREATOR BLUEPRINT

The Atlanta Hawks had the most-viewed schedule release content in the NBA without using an athlete or celebrity.

Instead, they found a 12-year-old kid who makes bird calls on TikTok.

Samuel Henderson had already taken over the internet with his ability to recreate dozens of bird sounds, generating tens of millions of views.

The Hawks saw an opportunity nobody else could own.

Their team name aligned perfectly with Samuel’s superpower.

Standing on Atlanta’s Jackson Street Bridge, Samuel announced opponents through corresponding bird calls.

Knicks? Rock pigeon. Wizards? Bald eagle. Lakers? Herring gull. Celtics? American crow. Raptors? Canada goose.

The simple concept generated 16M+ views across social and earned coverage from USA Today, CBS, Yahoo Sports, and even Good Morning America.

Brands, creators, and sports properties like Sprite, Ticketmaster, Duke Men’s Basketball, State Farm, and even other NBA teams organically jumped into the comments to praise the collaboration and give the Hawks credit for one of the best schedule releases.

But the bigger lesson is how the Hawks found the idea.

Their social team had to be deep enough in the internet to know Samuel existed, recognize the brand connection, and move quickly enough to turn a creator opportunity into an authentic and potential viral collaboration.

We joke about being chronically online, but that’s becoming a marketing superpower.

Sometimes you just need to know what the internet already cares about and find the connection only your brand can make.

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

👨‍💻 ChatGPT Work - Unlike standard chat prompts, which output text or answers for you to act on, ChatGPT Work acts as an independent agent on the desktop app, allowing you to delegate entire multi-step tasks rather than just asking conversational questions.

📧 beehiiv - The all-in-one creator platform built to help creators and brands grow, manage, and monetize their audiences.

🖇️ Link In Bio - A newsletter featuring the latest trends, insights, and expert case studies on working in social media from top brands and creators.

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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 | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻