How the sporting world is saying goodbye to Kobe
Five months after announcing his retirement from the NBA, superstar Kobe Bryant is living his last minutes as a professional before his final game on Wednesday night at Los Angeles’ Staples Center against the Utah Jazz.
Known as the “Black Mamba”, Bryant has become a legend of the game, winning five titles champions on his way to becoming one of the most bankable athletes in the world. And whether you’re a fan of Kobe or not, his retirement signals the end of a sports marketing era.
Nike’s farewell
Bryant’s most loyal sponsor, Nike has launched a huge social media campaign named #MambaDay, to pay tribute to the superstar ahead of 13 April when he will play his final game.
First, the brand has unveiled a new ad introducing the campaign featuring more than 30 Nike athletes including Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Mohamed Farah, LeBron James and Neymar Jr, who all salute the Mamba describing him with their own perceptions and adjectives.
Following the ad, Nike has launched a campaign promoting the #MambaDay using a number of the brand’s ambassadors. On a special website dedicated to the campaign, only accessible via mobile, fans are able to create their own poster featuring their photo and their favorite adjective to describe Kobe Bryant as well as themselves.
To start, users must choose between to love or to hate Kobe, in order to select the “slogan” in a list of words. Then, they can take or upload a photo in black and white before downloading the poster for free.
Uniting all of its ambassadors to celebrate each one of them, this kind of tribute for any athlete has definitely never been seen or carried out by any brand before.
The Nike Family has spoken.
Give your last word and add to Kobe's legend. https://t.co/ffrHhYEbBt#MambaDay 4.13 pic.twitter.com/wlq3GrQWar— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) April 12, 2016
The rest of the world salutes Kobe
Launching the hashtag some time ago, #ThankYouKobe has most notably come to the fore on most social media accounts this week, bringing all the messages and memories about Kobe into this one hashtag which is being used across different social media channels.
From fellow NBA players, to the NBA, to news outlets, to players in other sports, no one’s been shy to show their feelings about the great man retiring.
Wednesday will certainly be known as Kobe’s day on social media with an Official Snapchat Story dedicated to the Mamba. All this is likely to attraction millions of impressions across all the various social media channels.
Only 12 more games left of the Mamba. #ThankYouKobe
Posted by Bleacher Report on Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Kobe has meant so much to this game and so much to my career. He took me under his wing during the Olympics and taught…
Posted by Anthony Davis on Saturday, 9 April 2016
Excited to wear these tomorrow!#mambaday #justdoit pic.twitter.com/OaU5fG1afH
— Grigor Dimitrov (@GrigorDimitrov) April 11, 2016
Only 1 more game remains. #ThankYouKobe
Posted by NBA on Monday, 11 April 2016
Back home with four quarters in his pocket #KB20 #ThankYouKobe pic.twitter.com/FlDJgdAj4k
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) April 12, 2016
6. More. Games. ???? #ThankYouKobe
Catch up on @KobeBryant's #MUSE at https://t.co/62fXgoGnWi.https://t.co/mJsM7dvU7V
— SHOWTIME SPORTS (@SHOsports) April 6, 2016
10 days left.. #ThankYouKobe pic.twitter.com/Srw6XtFDbn
— Athlete Destiny (@AthleteDestiny) April 3, 2016
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