Being part of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s historic 2023–24 season and first playoff run in four years was an unforgettable experience. Collaborating with an incredible team, I helped bring the postseason to life through bold visuals and fan-first design. From 3D arena animations to vibrant rally graphics and dynamic digital content, our campaign was crafted to energize the city, unite the fanbase, and showcase a team on the rise. This campaign wasn’t just about basketball, but rather it was about building a shared story of hard work and foundation and creating one of the most electrifying atmospheres in the NBA.
Client
Oklahoma City Thunder
Year
2024
INDUSTRY
Sports
CATEGORY
Campaign
CHALLEGE
How do we get fans excited for the first playoff run in four years while also keeping their expectations realistic?
STRATEGY
We approached the 2024 playoffs not just as a series of games, but as a chapter in a larger story - the ongoing journey of Oklahoma City basketball. Our campaign messaging focused on effort, growth, and gratitude, inviting fans to reflect on how far the team had come while inspiring hope for the road ahead. Visually and tonally, we emphasized:
A reflective and grounded tone rooted in humility and hard work
Optimism for the future, locally and beyond
Long-term perspective: this isn’t just about this postseason, it’s about the process
Unity and energy: galvanizing the fan base with a sense of shared purpose
Through a mix of digital content, paid ads, and in-arena visuals, we created a cohesive campaign that made fans feel like part of something bigger than the scoreboard.
REsULTS
The campaign successfully tapped into the emotion and momentum of the Thunder’s return to the playoffs, balancing excitement with realism and grounding every message in the team’s ongoing growth. Our creative narrative and visuals resonated across platforms:
Estimated 10M total impressions across paid media
Coverage on 980+ media platforms during the postseason
Reached an audience of over 268 million
Generated $7.95M in publicity value
Most importantly, the campaign helped reshape how fans and the broader NBA community viewed OKC: not just as playoff contenders, but as a young, rising team building something meaningful for the long haul.
Paid Media
Our primary objective was to build excitement and create connections with the new, young fan base. We also focused on maintaining connections that increase ticket sales/conversions among both the existing and new audiences. Used channels and platforms where the younger generation is active, specifically for sports media, to increase awareness and conversions.
Total impressions across all paid tactics were estimated to be around 10M.
OOH efforts garnered nearly 5M impressions during their total run time.
Fan activation paid promotion earned 1.5M impressions.
Ticketing and tune-in digital efforts had 2.4M total impressions.
Paid social had a total reach of 4.3M across all campaigns (ticketing, tune-in, fan development activations, and lead generation).
Social & Owned Media
In addition to our paid efforts, we utilized social media and owned assets to raise awareness of all Playoffs activations (ticket sales, merchandise, fan engagements, tune-in, etc.) to those in and outside of the arena. This included:
Digital
Thunder Webpage: 570,103 page visits during Playoffs
Thunder App: 70,000+ active users
In-Arena
Digital Signage, GNP Ads, PA’s: Visible to 88,263+ attendees across 5 home games.
Pregame: Average open rate of 48.38% for the 2023-24 season.
Post Game Emails: 9 emails reached an average of 362,857 accounts per send.
In-Arena Experience
To build an overwhelming, thrilling experience in our area for fans, we develop in-arena assets.
T-Shirts
T-shirts have become a well-known and loved tradition during Thunder Playoffs, evolving into much more than a shirt but a point of pride. This fan-focused activation electrifies the environment of our arena, fostering a sense of unity between fans in the stands and players on the court. This year, we produced 104,466 shirts during Rounds 1 and 2 and celebrated the production of 1 million Playoffs shirts in Thunder history. 20,000 copies of the shirt design directly below were printed for Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals. Unfortunately, the Thunder lost Game 6 in a nail-biting game and the shirt was not able to be used. The other shirt designs below were developed for use in the Conference Finals series if the Thunder had moved on.
Fan Bammers
They don’t call us “Loud City” for no reason. Fan bammers are an impactful tradition and it’s clear that our fans have no problem using them to uphold our “Loud City” namesake. We incentivized fans to use their bammers as much as possible without the fear of wearing them out by offering fans an exchange at the end of the game. Over 4,000+ fan bammers were exchanged across 5 postseason games.
Snapframes & Arena Animations
Animations in the lower bowl of the arena help mark the moment for our fans and elevate the importance and prestige of the Playoffs.
Snapframes have become a staple in amplifying our brand presence and energizing our fans during game nights. To activate our fans and maintain their enthusiasm throughout all four quarters, we recognized the need for widespread messaging in-arena. By adhering to our Playoff campaign verbiage guidelines, we successfully incorporated messages promoting “loud and sustained energy” in 65+ snapframes on both the upper and lower levels of Paycom Center.
Grassroots Seeding
Through two rounds of the Playoffs, we were able to seed 16 districts across the state with the tools to express and influence the Thunder fandom. Through our efforts, we worked to empower each business to embrace the moment and connect with their audience through our brand. During Round 1 & 2 we distributed over 26,735 items, which included the Small Business Kits and team poster you see below.
