• by Karl Greenberg , May 5, 2009

Coca-Cola, Kia, T-Mobile and Haier America are backing the National Basketball Association's "NBA Nation" grassroots effort. The spring and summer program -- in its third year, with T-Mobile USA and Kia Motors as presenting sponsors -- centers on a mobile, 20,000 square-foot basketball playground holding co-branded consumer activities and competitions visiting eight markets.

The events will host programs like the Kia Motors Performance Challenge, T-Mobile myFaves Court, and Haier Shooting Stars. The effort also has interactive exhibits, videos, digital games, replicas of players and autograph sessions. The tour, which starts Friday at Atlanta's annual "Sweet Auburn Springfest," also features NBA Legend Darryl Dawkins as its first-ever ambassador.

Mark Tatum, EVP marketing partnerships for the Association, says the road show will get marketing mileage in each city because at each stop the program is part of a local festival. "These are already established crowds, so we have a built-in marketing base, and we are included in the marketing they do in local TV, print and radio" -- and, he adds, the local NBA franchise. Host cities for the May through July tour are Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, New York, Washington, DC, Chicago and Dallas.

Tatum adds that NBA will also advertise the tour. "It's a very comprehensive media plan; we are going to be promoting through a new form of advertising -- "tweeting" -- with Twitter posts on event locations," he says. "We will also have messages on Facebook."

Interactive ads include banners featuring NBA star LeBron James. Tatum adds that this year's NBA Nation tour will be the largest. "As we get back out into the marketplace and hit markets for a second and third year, word of mouth continues to spread, especially as we add activities like the Showdown."

Sponsors will promote their own products at the Tour events. Kia's skills challenge event, where fans dribble and shoot against the clock, offers a grand prize of the newest young-skewing Kia cars: Soul and the forthcoming Forte. T-Mobile is offering fans a chance to win a G1 SmartPhone or Nokia Express Music phone. New sponsor Haier is dangling a high-definition TV as a prize.

"We will reach teenagers, college students and lots of families and kids; it really does span the demographic, and it is determined by events we go to." The NBA Nation will be part of Taste of Chicago, and will be at New York's South Street Seaport in June. "You will see a good mixture of kids, families, young adults."

Also part of the Tour is a new NBA grassroots program, The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown, which features slam dunk competitions at the eight NBA Nation cities, and an online component, www.NBA.com/dunk. At the Web site, fans who can't participate in person can upload videos of their own dunks and then vote on their favorites in the competition. All-Star NBA player James will help select the winning dunk from among the online video submissions.

Tatum says the Sprite Slam Dunk extends into the amateur realm what had been a televised centerpiece of the All Star game. "For us, this is a continuation of the success Sprite had with the Sprite Slam Dunk showcasing the best dunkers on the NBA on national TV during All-Star weekend," he says. "It's one of the more talked-about events for fans. So this blends it for the first time into a nationwide search for the best amateur dunker."

The winner from each city advances and picks up a $1,000 prize along the way. The runner-up wins $500. Four finalists will be featured at the NBA All-Star game next year in Dallas. They will compete during All-Star game activities for a $10,000 grand prize.