Helping a Brother Out

Good theme Jacob! Great school! I’m going there myself for my EE! So, as a fellow San Diegan, you probably know how little we get exposed to good basketball and have the flake show shoved down our throats constantly. I can’t answer most of your questions on that basis! But, i know that Portlanders are great, willing to help out, and that Blazers fans are even better than the average person in Portland! Good luck man.

And the internet scribe known as Mortimer brought up this point…
On page 32 Professor Jorga stated…
Mr. damir proclamed “I hate refs.”

Seriously though. People (read: me) buy things from the Blazers such as season tickets (section 331 row: H seat: 10), jerseys (Aldridge #12), and the like because they enjoy the product, not the advertising. If somebody needs to see one of the numerous RWU campaign ads to get interested in the Blazers, then the haven’t been fans for very long. And that is something I wouldn’t know about.

1) I guess this is a no for me because I was 100% engaged with the team before this campaign started. They sort of invited me to a party that I was already at.

2) yes to all except maybe merchandise, I didnt see a lot of Rise with us T-Shirts…

3)both seemed a little corny in my opinion. I guess I will just say that neither effected how I feel about the blazers/nba in any way

4)I definetely like the behind the scenes approach, the more exposure I get about the blazers the better(at least with this likable team)...

5)Never thought about it like that before, so I guess my answer is no.

6)Yes, I definetely felt a team approach to the campaign. Everyone got appropriate exposure according to their influence on the team.

7)Yes. It definetely fit our young team well, it just seemed cheesy to me.

8)I definetely thought the organization raising a “Rise With Us” banner into the stands was way over the top, and a little painful to watch.

I hope that helps some. Good luck!

1) The campaign has not made any difference in my interest in the Blazers. They had a slogan last year, too, and I cannot remember what it was. Will I remember this one in a few years? Probably only because of the silo controversy, if at all.

2) I think they have been consistent with the message.

3) I think the Where Amazing Happens campaign is probably more noticeable, as the music is a very strong identifier for that campaign, and they have a lot more teams and players and “amazingness” to highlight. Neither of them matters all that much to me, though.

4) While I think the behind the scenes approach would have worked fine with dozens of other possible slogans, it did work well for the “with us” aspect. I liked the tv ads- they caught my attention and I would stop and watch them even if I was fast forwarding through a recorded game. Probably because the first one I ever saw was Travis and his “Oh, my, there go the game!” Who wouldn’t like that? I also looked more up on the Blazers website. But again, that was more because of the human interest aspect than the “Rise With Us” aspect. Some were better than others.

5)The Rise with Us theme to me is much more about the youth of the players and leaving the sucky past behind than pioneering or innovation.

6) Overall, yes. But many of the ads did highlight individual players. I think that’s okay.

7) Yes.

8) Sometimes it feels like the marketing department is trying too hard. But then they’‘ll put together something like the video that played at the end of the Phoenix game (also a “Rise with Us” video), that summarized the whole year, and it was great.

1. I’m going to feel connected to the team no matter what the campaign is. So no, it didn’t engage me any more that ANY campaign would. Did it work for your average Portander? I dunno. Several friends and neighbors (non-fans) didn’t understand it; they thought it was a joke. So I guess it worked in that I had to explain it to them and get them up to speed on the potential of the team (beyond Greg Oden).

2. I wasn’t really paying attention, so I can’t comment on consistency. I gotta say though, raising the banner at the home opener was one of cheesiest things I’ve ever seen.

3. I definitely prefer the “Where Amazing Happens” ads. Something about the music and visuals get to me. Simple, but effective.

4. No. They looked cheap and amateur, and most of the time the guys looked awkward. The only one I watched more than once was with Travis “there go the game” Outlaw—and that one I could watch a hundred times. Ads in previous years were more memorable.

5. No. It didn’t connect with Portland values in any way. If they were aiming for that, it flew right past me.

6. I liked the “us” part of the campaign simply because I prefer emphasizing a team rather than promoting stars. Yeah, the NBA is big on superstars, but it’s not my cup o’ tea. (I will be disappointed if future campaigns are centered on Greg, even though he’s a natural in front of a camera.)

7. Yes.

8. If I had to grade it, I’d give it a B-. Not too memorable (except for the silo controversy) but then, it didn’t backfire either. It was definitely overshadowed by The Streak, which excited fans and non-fans alike. That’s when my friends and neighbors started talking about watching games.

1. I suppose it has. It acknowledges that the team has not yet “arrived” but is instead in the process of improving, and implies fan participation in the present is an important factor in the promised improvement.


2. Difficult to say. I’ve seen it on TV, and it’s present on the website, but hasn’t been something I’ve paid much attention to in the latter format. I haven’t noticed it elsewhere.


3. At first, I thought “Rise With Us” was somewhat lame, but after watching the “Where Amazing Happens” campaign, it really made me appreciate the relative unlameness of “Rise With Us.”


4. Some of it. A lot of times, players are clearly reading from a script, and sound like it. The behind the scenes stuff where they actually catch team members interacting naturally is more interesting, as it helps fans see the players as people instead of just athletes.


5. I hadn’t considered this, so evidently for me there’s no connection.


6. To some extent, yes, the campaign’s language is inclusive, and oriented to the team rather than individual players. The team has other marketing efforts in place to showcase their marquee players, though.


7. Yes. The implication is that this is a team that is building towards a championship, not one which is looking to put together pieces primarily through trades (like in the Whitsett years), so the attachment fans have to players are less likely to be betrayed by having those players dealt.


8. The consensus is the team is building towards contention through the draft. The campaign is a good one, in that it acknowledged limited success this year while implying there’d be improvement and considerable future success.

1) Has the “Rise With Us” campaign engaged you and invited you to be a part of the story as it unfolds? If so how?

I was a Blazers fan before the slogan became “rise with us.” i think it is kind of a corny slogan but it seems original to me.

2) Was the "Rise With Us" theme was consistent across the platforms listed below? Why or why not?

TV/cable segments -yes
Website -yes
Signage (grain silo by the Rose Garden, ticket box office elevators, in-arena banner, etc.) -yes i can see the grain silo poster right out the window from where i work. sometimes i would get quite emotional upon seeing it.
Print (team poster, season ticket booklets, Rip City Magazine, etc.) -don’t know
Merchandise -don’t know

3) How does the "Rise With Us" campaign compare to the NBA’s "Where Amazing Happens" campaign? i like the music on that tv commercial “where amazing happens.” “rise with us” is a direct order, while “where amazing happens” is more of a description.

4) Did you like the documentary-like, behind-the-scenes approach?" Why or why not? yeah of course. any possible way of getting my blazer on. i guess i don’t really pay much attention.

5) Do you feel that "Rise With Us" connects with values often associated with Portland such as "pioneers" and "innovators?" Why or why not?  no because the team is going to be great, not invent anything new or go anywhere unmapped.  it will be a great "rising" i hope.

6) Does “Rise With Us” show off the organization’s pride in the entire team versus highlighting individual players? Why or why not? yes and no. there was one ad i saw on the side of the grain silo featuring Oden, Roy, and Aldridge but i don’t remember if that said ‘rise with us’ or not. i want the slogan next year to be “pursue everything,” but maybe they will go with something like, “it’s GO time.” i hope not because i like the way “rise with us” puts emphasis on everyone.

7) Do you feel “Rise With Us" speaks to a young team with a bright future? Why or why not? yes. i don’t know what else to say. it is evident to me what is meant by this slogan. especially because the blazers are getting better every year since having the league-worst record 21 wins not this past year, not last year. but the year before that i guess 2005-06? that was the year i got back into the blazers after i got disgusted with Trader Bob and the Jail Blazers. After Rasheed was traded.

8) Please share any additional thoughts on the "Rise With Us" campaign.
I have no additional thoughts about the Rise With Us campaign. i thought it was corny but it kind of grew on me i guess. well, now that the season is over i look back and get nostalgic. i can’t remember any of the previous ad slogans, so i’ll probably forget this one too.