NBA All-Star Weekend 2025: Best Brand & Fan Engagement Tactics

Jordan Activations Riff on ‘Banned’ Legacy

Nike sub-brand Jordan hosted the Jordan Fam Fest, organised by “Bay Area icon” and former NFL player Marshawn Lynch. Activations referenced Jordan’s 2025 reprisal of its 1987 ‘banned’ Air Jordan campaign, created after the NBA barred basketball legend Michael Jordan from wearing his newly created namesake sneakers on court. They included an ‘Unbannable Air’ slam dunk challenge.

Puma’s Retro Gaming Push

German sportswear brand Puma extended its recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) collection with an in-store gaming space, which visually referenced the lair base of TMNT characters (as seen in its 1987 children’s cartoon series) with faux brick and graffitied walls. Inside, visitors could play TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (a 2022 remake of its 1980/90s Nintendo games).

Foot Locker’s The Clinic Returns

Marking the second consecutive year of American footwear retailer Foot Locker’s reprised partnership with the NBA (see NRF, Retail’s Big Show 2025: Key Themes), the brand continued its community coaching initiative, The Clinic. Visitors could participate in skills and drills challenges and attend Q&A sessions with NBA player Karl-Anthony Towns and WNBA player Sabrina Ionescu.

Adidas’ Polygraph Activation Plays on Anthony Edwards Campaign

Foot Locker’s All-Star Weekend space also hosted activations from partner brands. German sportswear giant Adidas hosted a polygraph test where visitors could test their sporting confidence by claiming to be a better player than NBA star Anthony Edwards. The activation referenced Adidas’ October 2024 No Lie ad, which saw Edwards complete a polygraph, declaring himself basketball’s “top dog” and Adidas’ AE 1s the best basketball sneakers.

Converse & Nike SB Tap San Francisco’s Skate Subculture

Seeking to cross-pollinate basketball fandom with San Francisco’s local skateboarding scene, American footwear brand Converse partnered with US non-profit The Skatepark Project (founded by famed American skater Tony Hawk) to renovate San Francisco’s UN Skate Plaza.

Harnessing insider knowledge, it was designed by American architect, Olympic skateboarder and Converse skate team member Alexis Sablone and features skateable sculptures designed to be accessible to skaters of all abilities, from beginner to advanced.

To inaugurate the renovation, Converse recruited American inclusive skateboarding charity Skate Like A Girl to host a day of community programming including trick competitions and demos from Converse’s skate team.  

Similarly, Nike’s skateboarding sub brand Nike SB launched an obstacle course for skaters during NBA All-Star Weekend. Competing skaters had to traverse ramps, jump across circular platforms and balance across a rail suspended over water.

OffBall’s WhatsApp Communities Supercharge Second-Screen Engagement

Creating a new form of live sports commentary, American sports publisher OffBall partnered with social media platform WhatsApp to trial a new app feature, The Chat, during All-Star weekend.

Modelled on the intimacy of a group chat, The Chat was populated by American sports journalists Shea Serrano, Jason Concepcion and Jasmine Watkins, who provided real-time commentary (including memes and pop culture observations) during NBA All-Star fixtures. Though not able to contribute to the chat directly, fans were able to engage using WhatsApp’s ‘react’ features, such as emojis.

For more on publishers harnessing the closed-platform allure of WhatsApp, see WhatsApp Channels & News Media’s New Frontier in Pop Culture Pulse: October 2024.