Minneapolis-St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves public relations efforts are being recognized on a global stage, as the team was recently named a finalist in the 2018 SABRE Awards North America for their “New Era” campaign. The initiative was a multi-layered effort constructed to reveal numerous elements of positive change throughout the Timberwolves organization in the last 12 months. The project began with a promotional phase for the team’s new logo unveil near the end of the 2016-17 regular season. The constant drumbeat of media outreach, content creation, and interviews for several weeks leading up to the April 11, 2017 reveal on Fan Appreciation Night proved to be an optimal launching pad for other segments of the campaign. During the offseason, the team was able to create footprints at events that provided additional touchpoints, including a live mural painting at Art-A-Whirl in Minneapolis and ribbon-cutting events at outdoor courts throughout the state of Minnesota refurbished by the team to consistently remind fans of the “New Era” of Timberwolves basketball.
“It is a great honor to be named as a finalist for such a prestigious award within the public relations community,” said Brad Ruiter, Timberwolves Vice President of Communications. “We greatly appreciate the interest that our fans and media have shown in the different elements of the campaign. It’s truly been time of change over the last 12 months, which has led to great excitement for our organization both on and off the court.”
Other highlights of the campaign included separate unveilings of the team’s new uniforms and new court design, culminating with the re-opening of the newly remodeled Target Center. The Wolves’ home arena was recently named a nominee for Sports Business Journal’s Sports Facility of the Year award. The Timberwolves are a finalist for a Gold SABRE Award for excellence in public relations programming in the entertainment category. The team is up against campaigns from AARP Studios, Chicago Cubs, Studio Movie Grill and Universal Pictures. A full list of finalists for the awards can be viewed here. SABRE stands for superior achievement in branding, reputation and engagement. The SABRE Awards, hosted by The Holmes Report, is the world’s biggest PR awards program dedicated to benchmarking the best PR work from across the globe. Winners will be announced at the SABRE Awards dinner, which will take place at New York’s Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, May 1.