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Basketball culture isn’t built around the rules of a skills competition or the format of an all-star game, and the fans that flooded San Francisco for NBA All-Star Weekend illustrated that difference.
Amid the blocks between Union Square and the Moscone Center, along the path from Chase Center to Pier 48, and on the BART and Muni lines from SFO to Oakland Arena, fans carried branded shopping bags, lined up outside once-vacant storefronts, and turned driveways, civic plazas, and warehouses into courts and concert venues.
For multiple days, they kept the city alive as NBA and WNBA players, entertainers, actors, and other luminaries wove their way in and out of venues. Around each corner was an appearance, signing, exhibition, or panel… and someone leaving with branded merchandise.
ADWEEK spent just a bit more than three days in San Francisco, taking in many of the activations, activities, parties, and, yes, the occasional All-Star event. Here’s a sampling of what we saw:
Google Pixel House
When a brand sets up a house at one of these events, you’re typically lucky if there’s a bar, a networking session, a few panel discussions, and an after-party. It typically isn’t curated to interact with AI.
Partnering with The Robot Company creative consultancy (a subsidiary of LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Company), Google Pixel created an environment that echoed a player’s house but asked visitors to interact with it through Google Pixel’s Gemini AI. (We asked what happened to Dawn Robinson from All-Star Game performers En Vogue). The space also hosted multiple events, including Brand Aces’ Battle of the Platforms matchup between players representing publications, including Slam, Boardroom, and Togethxr.