Handing Over Platforms for Good: Burger King and Larry Nance Jr.
Two very different “brands.” One common strategy.
In the midst of all the madness, two examples of savvy communications popped for me this week. Both employed a similar approach. Simple, yes. However, it’s not as common as you think. I’m talking about Burger King…and Larry Nance Jr. of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. It’ll make more sense in a minute.
Let’s start with BK. As a brand, they’ve been tremendous marketers over the course of the past few years. Their efforts in the UK this year have been particularly notable. They’ve embraced a voice and theme of generosity in the midst of the pandemic. It’s broken through on multiple occasions where they’ve called on Britons to visit independent restaurants and support local. Earlier this week, they took it a step further. This tweet says it all:
Simple. Smart. Salient. Providing a massive platform for these brands and endearing BK to the masses in the process. The PR has been off the charts, and there are few holes to poke in this one. It shows the brand has heart. It helps others in a genuine, tangible way. And, oh yes, there are positive benefits for the BK brand too. Loved it.
Similarly, but in an altogether different sphere, we saw a 27-year old kid from Akron step up big in support of Ohio businesses. Larry Nance Jr., a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers, adopted the “BK approach” in this tweet that offered up his various platforms - social, on-court and otherwise - to struggling Cleveland businesses.
— Larry Nance Jr (@Larrydn22) December 16, 2020
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Good on Larry. A great way for a player to step and support his community. Genuine, old-school and praiseworthy. The icing on the cake is the corresponding impact on Nance’s personal brand.
I wouldn’t tire of seeing more of this kind of marketing as we head into the holiday season. A couple late bright spots in the marketing world.
