The Best Marketing Stunt in Sports Last Year - LIGHT THE BEAM

Last Halloween, The Sacramento Kings made waves with a gigantic purple laser beam extending from their home arena, Golden 1 Center, to the sky after an 118 - 105 win over the Hornets in Charlotte, 2,700 miles away. Local Sacramentans were more confused and concerned than anything, not understanding the new marketing idea and certainly not aware a Kings victory across the country was the reason for a Batman-esque purple beacon above downtown. The idea was simple,the team installed a 300-watt laser-powered purple beam powered by six laser cannons -- that received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration -- over the grand entrance at Golden 1 Center after every Kings win until midnight PT. "At first, I thought it was corny," Kings coach Mike Brown told ESPN. "I was like, 'What is this?'”. Kings forward Harrison Barnes told ESPN "I didn't think there was much chance that it was going to stick.”

Little did they know, the ‘Lighting the Beam’ would become a lightning rod for a? desperate fanbase galvanized by the team’s first playoff berth in 17 years. Led by All-Stars De’Aaron Fox and Domantis Sabonis, the Kings finally had winning basketball in Sacramento and the league’s best marketing spectacle to boot. What made the beam such a success from a marketing perspective?

1. New fans popped up in droves for the exciting young team. Now that the team was winning, you had new Kings fans and loyal long-time fans alike joining in creating content and impressions for you with their own ammunition to market the ‘Beam Team’. Heck, I made the 90 drive out to Sacramento for a Raptors game last season and was secretly disappointed we won because I couldn’t post about the beam. Customer acquisition without the phone calls or ad campaigns.

1. Social media engagement fuels itself. The memes (I will find a few of the best to include with the post) were hilarious and mostly fan-made. The best marketing gets your fans involved and lets them drive the bandwagon.

1. Players themselves wanted to win and light the beam. In an NBA era where almost every player has a personal brand, you could see true buy-in to the Kings marketing and no player was too cool to hit the comically large Kings-branded, purple and silver buzzer to send the home crowd into a frenzy after another win. No memo had to go out to the players’ agents to get them on board, the beam had created a culture they truly wanted to be a part of.

1. The media coverage was organic and frenetic. With only 5 nationally televised games (4 was the lowest) last year, creating buzz is not as simple as winning basketball games for the Kings. The beam brought attention from the national media, along with an uptick in coverage, merch sales and ticket sales. Organic traffic and attention is an indication your brand is doing exceptional things.
2. It was over the top. The Kings said their victory beam would be the brightest full-color laser equipment in the world and would rise further than our eyes can see. This wasn’t dipping their toes into an idea, this was a cannonball and the Kings leaned further and further into the theatrics of it as the season went on. Great marketing doesn’t equivocate its brand message, it dares to be different and brings its fans along for the ride.

1. It picked a wholesome fight with rival teams. In a league that can get competitive, petty and fans often glorify unfriendly competition, the beam allowed teams to exchange memes and tweets in a funny and wholesome way, jabbing at each other in victory or defeat. Great brands know how to rally their own supporters and create friendly competition without getting nasty.

A massively successfully marketing stunt paired with the most competitive Kings team in almost two decades has the league marking their calendars when they play Sacramento, and marketers from the 29 other teams taking notes.