Who: GoDaddy Canada, Juniper Park\TBWA, Wavemaker (media) and North Strategic.
What: “A Raptor Tale,” the latest chapter in the website hosting company’s long-running association with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. This year’s iteration, which coincides with the franchise’s 25th anniversary, features retired NBA star Muggsy Bogues, who finished his career with the Raptors in 2001.
Previous campaigns have included “Powell on the Piano” starring Norm Powell, “Itty Bitty Ballers” starring Jonas Valanciunas, and “C.J.’s P.J.’s” featuring C.J. Miles—the latter of whom was traded while his campaign was still in market, forcing GoDaddy to hastily amend the commercials.
(Fun fact: The Message was actually speaking with GoDaddy’s then country manager Jill Schoolenberg on NBA trade deadline day Feb. 7, and broke the news to her that Miles—and Valanciunas—had just been traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. “Well, on that note I must go,” she responded.)
When & Where: This year’s campaign debuted on Oct. 1 and is running on TV and online throughout the NBA season.
Why: As with previous campaigns, the goal here is to demonstrate just how easy it is for entrepreneurs to set up a website featuring e-commerce capabilities using GoDaddy. This year’s campaign is supporting the launch of the new GoDaddy Websites + Marketing tool.
“It offers a vast selection of modern templates that suit unique business needs, a first of its kind smart recommendation tool called GoDaddy InSight, and built-in marketing tools to help businesses grow,” said GoDaddy Canada vice-president and country manager Anne de Aragon.
How: The campaign features a book called A Raptor Tale, a bedtime story for children written by Bogues that chronicles how a friendly raptor helped his team win a championship. We just bet he’s a fun guy.
Bogues says his grandchildren encouraged him to sell the book, so he used GoDaddy to create a dedicated website. All proceeds from the $35 book go to the MLSE Foundation, which works to empower children through sports and recreation.
So did the C.J. Miles trade lead to using a retired player this year? GoDaddy insists the trade wasn’t a big deal for them and that they chose to work with a retired player in recognition of an important anniversary. “The Raptors are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, so we thought the timing was right to partner with a Toronto Raptors [alumnus], Muggsy Bogues, to launch our new campaign A Raptor Tale,” said de Aragon.
And we quote: “We knew that over the years Muggsy loved reading books to his children and grandchildren, and we knew people across the country would get a kick out of the book, so the idea really just clicked,” said de Aragon.
