During Butler’s inaugural visit to China, where his outstanding court performance garnered widespread attention, establishing a close connection between his story and the LI-NING brand spirit was imperative. The objective was to enhance brand awareness and draw attention to products. Concurrently, other NBA athletes were also active. To differentiate from competitors, effective management of communication pace and core messaging was crucial. A unified communication strategy was devised to drive product exposure, reach a broader audience, and boost overall sales of professional basketball products.

The newsworthiness of an event plays a decisive role in capturing media interest and proactive coverage. Even with richly planned commercial activities, achieving a significant leap in visibility can be challenging. To showcase the social value of this China tour beyond mere business arrangements and contribute to the development of basketball, the LI-NING team swiftly collaborated with Butler’s team to carve out time in his busy schedule, initiating a visit to a ‘Village BA’ in Guizhou Province. Jimmy Butler thus became the first NBA star to visit such a grassroots basketball organization. Within just eight days, this plan became a reality, with the establishment of contact with the village committee, itinerary planning, content strategy, and media invitations all completed. This endeavor was unified under the theme of “Pure Passion,” representing the shared love for basketball among Butler, Chinese grassroots basketball, and the LI-NING brand.

The campaign utilized a comprehensive media matrix with precision and effectiveness:

• Engaging with core state-owned and top-tier media to create newsworthy topics that boosted influence.

• Collaborating with Tencent and Migu, the official broadcasters of NBA and CBA, to target the basketball community.

• Conducting in-depth interviews with basketball KOLs and producing a documentary about Butler's China tour to enhance brand favorability.

• Engaging fans to convert basketball enthusiasts and Butler’s fans into brand users.

Content-wise:

• Highlighting the first NBA star's visit to “Village BA” to showcase LI-NING's support for grassroots basketball.

• Building Butler's grassroots story to promote basketball in the countryside and encourage children to chase their dreams.

• Aligning formats with user content consumption habits, including livestream, short video, graphics, etc., to maximize the campaign's impact.

Warm-up (30 May-13 July):

• Media messages were strategically embedded around Butler's outstanding performance starting from the NBA playoffs.

• The official announcement was amplified through media, fan communities, and KOLs.

Event (14-24 July):

• In-depth interviews were conducted with mainstream media, sports media, sneaker media, and KOLs. Content was planned from different perspectives, resulting in significant exposure.

• Butler's visit to Guizhou was arranged, combining the hot topic with “Village BA.” Butler played with villagers, exchanged gifts, and visited a Primary School, providing sportswear to children and inviting student representatives to the brand tournament. The theme of "Pure Passion" linked LI-NING Basketball, Butler, and Village BA to enhance the campaign and LI-NING Basketball relevance.

• Fans were engaged in stores to experience Chinese culture and drive offline traffic.

• Tutorials for youth players emphasized the importance of equipment.

• Content dissemination across various networks exceeded 20,000 pieces with an ROI of 3,840:1.

• The hashtag on Weibo garnered over 270 million views, while on Douyin it reached over 370 million.

• Trended 27 times on core media platforms, including Weibo, Douyin, Bilibili Hot List, among others.

• Video views reached over 128 million via official broadcast platforms.

• During the tour, every event was packed with enthusiastic attendees, creating a vibrant atmosphere. This close player-brand association effectively boosted LI-NING basketball's professionalism and the goodwill of the LI-NING brand. All products from the LI-NING 2023 Jimmy Butler China Tour series have been completely sold out.