The TD Experience

The

Experiential Marketing Campaign

The Better Model is a building model for interactive live brand
experiences involving anticipation, participation, and reflection.
We want to incorporate storytelling into a brand narrative using

B
high reachin content that is brand-relevant and audience-driven.

Brand
Personality

E Emotional
Connection

T Target
Audience

T Two-way
Interaction

E Exponential
Elements

R Reach
 Brand Personality experience for everyone. To begin,
The first, and quite possibly most we had to identify the brand per-
crucial compo- sonality that is the best fit for the
nent within the Boston Celtics.
BETTER mod-
el is the brand We have identified three
personality. The core brand characteristics of
brand personality the Boston Celtics, and then
curates a unifying from those three character-
personality and istics developed a brand ar-
voice for brands chetype to guide our mar-
to follow, which keting efforts. The three
allows for mes- characteristics are as fol-
saging to remain lows: electric, progres-
consistent and to sive, and legendary.
help target audi-
ences connect on The Boston Celtics have an
a more person- incredible fanbase, being in
al level with the the heart of Boston. There is
brand. This is possible as the brand nothing quite like New Englanders,
personality gives human-like char- and no one dedicates themselves
acteristics to the brand. Audiences to a team more. They bring ener-
identify with these characteristics gy to the games which feeds onto
and as a result feel as if they can see the court. The Celtics are the ben-
themselves in a brand. This is what eficiaries of this energy created by
ultimately leads to lasting fans, which allows them to have an
brand loyalty. The Boston
Celtics already have an in-
credible fanbase, and our
goal is to use the BETTER
model to extend that fan-
base even further, and im-
prove the overall in-game
 proud of, and this is why we have
selected progressive as the second
brand characteristic.

The Celtics have also had some of

the greatest players of all time, in-
cluding aforementioned Bill Russel
and Larry Bird. The Celtics' cham-
pioning of incredible players, and
their bragging rights for having
been one of eight teams to survive
the first ten years in the NBA have
earned them the title of legendary,
which is their third brand charac-
electric playing style. The elec- teristic. This leads to the brand’s ar-
tric energy represents the Celtics chetype which is trailblazer. On
as a whole and acts as a unifying and off the court, the Celtics have
brand characteristic. Additionally, been trailblazers in skill, action,
the Celtics are known for and very and social engagement. This brand
proud of their contributions to the personality is strong, and connects
community, as well as social move- with Bostonians as well as fans
ments including the Civil Rights across the nation.
movement. The Boston Celtics
proudly portrays stories of how
past players and the organization
as a whole have helped to champi-
on movements and act as a force
for good. The Celtics were even the
first NBA team to have an all black
starting line-up. Bill Russell was
appointed to a coaching position,
and became the first black coach.
Clearly, the Celtics have much to be
Emotional Connection es that we are incorporating into
We realized that connecting with the Celtics arena will be filled with
our target audience by bringing outsensory stimulating aspects that
feelings of happiness, excitement, will result in lasting impressions.
and memorabilia were crucial to Our meet and greet and greet with
establishing an emotional connec- the players and coaches, in particu-
tion. The emotions you experience lar, will be an experience our target
during a com- market will nev-
petitive sporting er forget. They
event can cover a will be able to
broad spectrum, create a personal
from excitement connection with
and elation to the players that
frustration, an- inspire, moti-
ger, and disap- vate, and are the
pointment. Our reason they love
main goal was coming to the
to create an at- games. We will
mosphere where create an envi-
the target mar- ronment where
ket would enjoy their experience we turn their dreams into reality.
no matter the outcome of the game. This experience will spark feelings
Win or lose we want them to leave of excitement, exhilaration, and
every Boston Celtics game satisfiedwill leave our target market feeling
with their experience. We wanted emotionally connected to the play-
to focus on the importance of en- ers. It will bring to life specific ele-
gaging our target market in a way ments that are unique to our brand
that has an influence beyond their and will give consumers something
conscious awareness and allows to talk about.
them to participate in experiences Target Audience
that create lasting memories. Each From our research on the Boston
one of our new in game experienc- Celtics and its fan base, we found
that this legendary team has some ries for the family unit.
of the most loyal and affluent fans
in all professional sports. More The specific family unit would con-
than 2.3 million people in the Bos- sist of two parents, a young college
ton area are Celtics fans, and the student, a teenager, and a younger
numbers are continuing to grow by child. This family is from Boston
174% over the past five years. The and has a deep love and passion
Celtics have also consistently held for local sports teams. The par-
one of the highest rankings in fan ents are both 45 years old and have
attendance at games. Because of the been married for almost 20 years.
Celtics’ long history, the franchise The father, who works a full-time
has gathered fans of all ages to its office job, has grown up a Celtics
games. fan and wants his children to de-
velop that same loyalty to the team.
Diving deeper into the fan base de- The mother, who works part time,
mographics, we found that multi- wants to spend time with her chil-
ple age groups are considered avid dren and husband making mem-
Celtics fans. While doing research ories. The college age student just
on our target audience, we found moved out of the house to attend
that 29% of fans are in the age range Boston University, and he played
of 18-34, while 25% of fans are be- high school basketball just like his
tween 35-49 years old. This fairly dad. His younger sister, who is a
wide demographic spread led us to teenager, doesn’t love sports but en-
create a target audience of a family joys spending quality time with her
unit. Instead of targeting a specific family. The youngest child wants to
person or age, we wanted to design be just like his big brother and play
the venue experience for a wide va- basketball one day. This family is
riety of people with a wide range of very close, and wants to spend time
ages. Focusing on this target market together bonding, strengthening
will allow us to create family expe- relationships, and creating mean-
riences at the venue that drive con- ingful memories.
nection and create lasting memo-
Two Way Interaction wall in the stadium so they can re-
Two-way interaction is produced turn and find their picture the next
through co-creation. We created time they come to a game. The face-
a polaroid photo wall that will es- paint station also creates a two-way
tablish a bond between our brand interaction. The artists at the booth
and the target market. This idea are very talented and can bring any
stemmed from wanting our partic- wild imagination in your head to
ipants to have a chance to create a life.
memory they could tangibly see and Exponential Elements
hold in real life. We wanted them to The next part of the BETTER mod-
have something that was personal el that will help to drive our expe-
to them and that they could create riential marketing campaign is
exponential elements. The pur-
pose of exponential elements is
ultimately to help spread word of
mouth surrounding our in-game
experiences as well as promote
shareability, one of the core ex-
periential marketing pillars we
have been focusing on with this
particular campaign. To put it
simply, exponential elements are
by putting their own unique spin like the icing on top of a cake, they
on it. The wall consists of countless make the experience that much
props that will help them transform sweeter. Often, they can provide a
into a super fan, player, and or a mix welcome surprise, and delight tar-
of both. There will be jerseys, wigs, get audiences by stepping outside
classes, mustaches, headbands, face of the box and bringing a sense of
masks, etc. The participants have novelty to experiences. We have
the opportunity to take two photos. intentionally designed several ex-
The first one they can take home ponential elements to continue ex-
and the second one will be put on a pounding on the value brought to
 Reach
One of the major goals of the Bos-
ton Celtics is to design meaningful
experiences that live beyond any
time spent in the arena. By design-
ing effective family experiences at
games, the hope is that these ef-
forts will reach beyond individuals
and cultivate lasting relationships
among family and friends.
the in-game experience. Key exam-
Social media is a major driving
ples include proposed changes to
force in the outreach to Boston
the arena and our providing sever-
Celtics fans. In utilizing social me-
al unique photo-ops. For example,
dia, we believe that keeping fans
our Polaroid Wall has exponential
involved and engaged outside the
elements. Fans have the opportuni-
arena is key to the franchise’s suc-
ty to take polaroid pictures,
and hang it up with their
name and date on a wall
within the arena. This leads
to brand loyalty as fans want
to return to see the Celtics
play, and find themselves on
the wall. We are essentially
allowing fans to become a
part of the arena, and thus
a member of the team. They
cess. Utilizing the hired photogra-
can tell their friends and fami-
pher to take candid photos of fans,
ly where to find them, generating
as well as posting these photos on
word of mouth, and post to their
their website, allows fans to en-
social media, propagating share-
gage with the brand and relive the
ability once again.
memories they made during the ful history. This walk reaches far
game experience. It also promotes beyond the game itself by encour-
greater shareability by encouraging aging self-reflection and shareabil-
fans to share their featured photos ity of the Celtics’ most memorable
on their own social media, tagging moments.
the Boston Celtics account and us-
ing hashtags. Asking players on the
team to do Instagram Takeovers,
with a walk-through of what a day
in the life of an NBA player looks
like, gives fans an inside view into
their lives and experiences. Using
polls and interactions with these
takeovers will promote reach far
beyond just the individuals who at-
tend the game; anyone can watch
the player experience from their
couch at home.

In addition to social media, the in-

game experience can allow fans to
transcend their current experience
and relive their memories. The his-
toric walk in the arena would allow
older fans to look back at the history
of the Boston Celtics and remember
what those historic moments were
like. They can then share with their
families and friends their memo-
ries of these moments and encour-
age a sense of awe and intrigue at
the franchise’s long and meaning-
Brand
The Boston Celtics experience re-
lates to all four brand relationship
drivers as it focuses on building
relationships with and amongst its
loyal fans.

Relationship Identification
These improvements to the venue

Drivers
experience expose fans to every side
of the Boston Celtics, from meet-
ing the players, to taking photos, to
face painting and more. It also pro-
vides the Celtics franchise the op-
portunity to show they are
willing to listen to custom-
1. Identification ers and stay up to date with
what they want and what
matters most to them. Through this
improved experience, fans will be
able to understand what the Celtics
2. Inspiring do and what they stand for, on and
off the court.

Inspiring
This campaign highlights the im-
3. Helpful portance of remembering and hon-
oring the Celtics’ legendary histo-
ry, and by dedicating a space in the
venue for fans to relive those

4. Meaning moments, we are showing them

that culture and values mat-
ter. Legendary, as one of our Brand
Personality characteristics, empha-
sizes the importance of honoring rience allows families to feel com-
history and encouraging a sense of fortable to bring their loved ones to
pride and loyalty for fans. Giving the arena and know that there are
people behind the scenes footage micro-experiences throughout that
from players on Instagram, where can appeal to anyone.
they can share their stories and en-
gagement in community efforts, in- Meaning
spires fans and helps them connect The overall goal of this campaign is
to the players on a deeper level. to cultivate lasting relationships and
create memories for family units.
Helpful The whole experience is custom-
These improvements allow for the izable and individual, allowing for
pregame, game, and postgame ex- everyone to find something mean-
periences to be as effortless and en- ingful to them that they can share
joyable as possible. Creating a fam- with the ones they love. By creat-
ily-friendly environment through ing these memories, the experience
kids activities like the play area and encourages families to return and
the facepaint, as well as the polaroid continue interacting with the Bos-
wall, give families opportunities to ton Celtics, passing down the love
enhance their experience in con- and loyalty for the franchise for
venient and easy ways. This expe- generations to come.
Marketing Pillars
For this marketing campaign, we considered eleven experiential market-
ing pillars. These pillars are essential building blocks of successful expe-
riential programs. We chose to represent each pillar with different jer-
seys from the Boston Celtics. These pillars work together to maximize
engagement, allowing our campaign to recreate the Boston Celtic brand
while also delivering value to customers. The new in-game experience
was designed to elevate the experience for our target market by placing a
larger emphasis on making it more shareable, memorable, connectable,
and personal.
Shareable did photographer, and face-paint
We want the core of our experience station the participants will have
to be so unique and entertaining endless opportunities to share their
that the participants feel compelled experience.
to tell others about it. Sporting Memorable
Surprise elements like the play-
er/coach meet and greet will en-
hance the overall experience by
interweaving memorabilia into the
game experience. The participants

events are naturally a shareable ex-

perience, but with our additions we
are going to elevate the Boston Celt-
ics games to the next level. Through will never forget when they met
the polaroid wall, player/character their favorite players. Being able
look-alike cam, professional can- to interact with the players will set
apart the Boston Celtics from every with the other kids in the play area,
other team. suddenly you find a family that has
Connectable some of the same interests as you.
When you look across the stadi-
At sporting events participants ex- um and see someone with the same
perience multiple points of connec- elaborate face painting as you, you
tion with other participants. There instantly feel connected to them.
is no better feeling than when your All of these elements help the fans
team does something worthy of ap- feel connected to the team and one
plause and you celebrate with the another.

Personal
Our goal is to make every partic-
ipant feel like a welcomed guest.
Each participant can choose the
path they want to walk on in our
experience. A family with little kids
will most likely spend their time in
the kids play area at the top of the
person next to you. Even if you don’t arena. This is a welcoming space
know them personally, you have a
special connection with them be-
cause of your same passion and love
for the same team. You instantly
feel connected to them because all
of the sudden you have something
in common. That’s what sports are with countless activities to let the
all about. Our in game experienc- kids get their wiggles out and stay
es bring that consecutiveness to the entertained. A different participant
next level. When a fan is chosen for who is fascinated by the history of
the player look alike cam they in- the Celtics will spend some time
stantly feel connected to that play- engaging, reading, and walking
er. When your kids become friends through the historic walk. Anoth-
er participant will spend their time act wants, hopes, and desires. Each
getting their entire face covered in activity appeals to different types of
Celtic green in hopes of getting on fans that walk into the arena. The
the big screen. Each fan can person- participants get to petsonalize their
alize their experience to fit their ex- experience to their own liking.
 The TD
Experiencewith the Celtics
The Celtics have been at the heart of
Boston for decades. At TD Garden, fans'
excitement skyrocket as they watch the
game between whistles. But we are here
to help Celtics fans have an exciting
experience that includes so much more
than just basketball. This new and improved
fan experience starts with the venue.
Historic Walk
The BETTER model acts as a frame- personality in our experiential
work that helps us best connect marketing efforts allows us to re-
with and reach target audiences. main consistent as an organization,
The importance of brand person- which creates more authentic con-
ality cannot be expressed enough, nections with our audience. In this
and returning back to the brand section of our experiential market-
ing campaign, we want to focus in
on one of our three brand charac- Prominent figures will include the
teristics: legendary. greats such as Larry Bird, Bill Rus-
sel, John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, Kev-
The Celtics are one of eight teams in McHale, Sam Jones and more.
to survive the first ten years in the Plaques with players stats will be in-
NBA. Celtics fans are proud of the cluded allowing for fans to compare
team and its history, as well as the and contrast the greats, encourag-
incredible players ing healthy debate
they have had over over who is tru-
the years. That is ly the best of the
why for our next el- best. Logistically
ement of our cam- speaking, this will
paign we want to be an investment,
introduce an addi- but it will be a
tion to TD Garden: worthwhile one.
the Celtics Legends Yankee Stadium
Historic Walk. We has a similar fea-
will build in this walk of legends on ture in their hall of legends, and the
the east side of the arena and it will stadium has seen great success, as
extend across several portals. Celt- well as additional social media ex-
ics fans are all about history and tra- posure from fans photos, from it.
dition, the Celtics Legends Histor- If New Yorkers can do it, imagine
ic walk will give fans the ability to how much better true Bostonians
transcend time as they see banners can do!
championing their favorite players.

Look-Alike Cam
Humor is arguably one of the sim- playfully crafted look-alike game
plest yet most effective ways to on the jumbotron can bring smiles
make an experience memorable. A and laughter to TD Garden. This al-
ready popular stunt is executed by timeout. Traditions help fans have
various arenas around the nation. anticipation for the arena experi-
Because a doppelgänger cam is eas- ence and keep them coming back.
ily understood, it is funny and en- Some examples of look-alikes to do
joyable for all ages. This jumbotron are historic Celtics players, current
activity also gives unexpecting fans Celtics players, and famous movie
a chance to participate in the TD characters.
Garden experience. Because this
could easily become a well-loved The jumbotron screen would first
tradition of Celtic fans, game at- display a photo of the famous per-
tendees would amusingly look for- son/character, then a live feed of
ward to the look-alike cam during a someone in the arena who looks
like that famous person/character Celtics fans and fans attending for
would appear on the screen next to opposing teams will welcome the
the photo. The screen should also entertaining diversion if a game
have the name of the famous per- isn’t going the way they want. A
son/character displayed. Planning jumbotron look-alike cam will un-
and precision is required for this doubtedly be a crowd favorite at ev-
activity to be executed smoothly, ery Celtics game.
but the happy results are worth it.

Meet and Greet

If you take a moment to think back ize players, and dream of growing
to your younger days, nothing was up to be just like them one day.
more exciting about going to a pro- With our selected target audience
fessional game than being able to being families, it is vital that we
see your favorite player in person. think about the kids, as well as the
Children and youth especially idol- players. The awe of players is some-
thing that sticks with us, and nev- commemorate a wonderful fami-
er really goes away. For this reason, ly member, and just think of what
we want to create a magical and a great Christmas card it would
memorable two-way interaction by make! Additionally, this feature fits
connecting fans, of all ages, right in with the BETTER model
to their favorite players. we have outlined as it touch-
We propose that the es on the intense emotional
Boston Celtics host connection between fans
player meet and and players, and even
greets between four provides the opportuni-
and six times per ty for two-way interac-
season. Fans will be tion. The picture will also
able to stay after the act as memorabilia, and act
game on the pre-select- as a constant reminder of fans
ed dates and get their picture time spent at the Garden with their
taken with their favorite players. favorite Celtics. The photos are also
highly sharable, and will likely gen-
They currently do this already at erate immense traction and many
local elementary schools, but this impressions on social media for
would allow for more family-cen- the Celtics, without any additional
tered participation. Families will be costs for the organization.
especially drawn to this as a way to

Professional Candid Photos

What’s better than a candid photo? zi pictures look like they belong in
We all want them, but too often we the Metropolitan. And that's just
end up “posing” for them. That de- for ourselves, we’re not even con-
feats the purpose of the candid shot. sidering how hard it is for parents
And let’s be honest they make us to get a good photo of their kids
look more awkward than anything whether candid or not. With that
else. Or we have the opposite prob- in mind we decided to create a way
lem, someone got a candid shot, to take candid shots of our fans.
but it makes those awful paparaz- Every game we would bring in 10
- 20 photographers who were just
starting out and were looking for
ways to build their portfolio
to walk around and take
photos. In exchange
for their service,
they would get
free tickets
to the
game.

They will
be stationed
at the doorways
so that as guests enter
TD Garden they can cap-
ture that initial excitement
from both new and return-
walk on the court. The facial expres-
ing fans. After that they
sions the parents explain to grand-
could roam around taking pictures
ma and grandpa, but are never able
of people trying the famous Crazy
to capture in a picture. After each
Dough Pizza or dancing as they try
game the photos would be available
to distract the free throw shooter.
for download for that night's tick-
et holders with that game's unique
They would be able to capture the
hashtag. One photo would be se-
fans' emotions as they watch that
lected to be the fan of the game
buzzer beater shot hit nothing but
and the subjects of the photo will
net or watch as their favorite play-
receive free courtside seats. This
er gets that alley-oop dunk. They
would encourage fans to share their
would capture the excitement in
photos and ultimately drive word
the son's face as they see their idol
of mouth. This adds an Exponen-
Polaroid Wall
Have you ever been to a sporting We will have a wide variety of arm
event and wanted a good picture of sleeves, headbands, clip on beards,
you and your group? Well we got and the #7 jersey.
you covered. The polaroid booth is
a new experience you won’t want Within seconds you and your
to miss out on. The backdrop will group can look like the whole Celt-
change for each game. Each back- ic squad. The fun doesn’t stop there.
drop will be unique to the time of We will take two pictures for you.
year and who the Celtics are play- The first one your group can take
ing. This isn’t just every other pho- home so you can always remember
to wall, ours will contain props to your experience at the legendary
make you look like the players. For Celtic game. The second picture we
example, if your favorite player is will put on the massive photo wall.
Jaylen Brown then you’re in luck. You will have the chance to come
back, find your picture on the wall, days. You will always be a part of

Facepainting
and reminisce about the good old the TD Garden and the Cletics.

Another element to our unique parents. Parents can get matching

arena experience is facepaint. We leprechauns with their children or a
have all seen face painting at carni- boyfriend can have a rainbow lead-
vals and festivals, and maybe even ing to a girlfriend's pot of gold. Face
a tailgate before a football game. painting has the ability to stretch
However, there are not any NBA the boundaries of the imagination.
teams that provide such a fun and It encourages creativity and brings
interactive activity for people of all out the kids in all of us.
ages. That’s right, it’s not just for the
little girls, but also for the teenage This is a unique opportunity to rep
boys, the parents, and even grand- the Celtics from anywhere in the
arena, and is meant to be a fun and next to the polaroid wall so that af-
engaging activity to participate in as ter you get that perfect green clover
a family or an individual before or painted on your face you can slide
even during the game. And the fun over to the polaroid wall to capture
doesn’t stop there, the face painting the moment and create a memory

Kids Play Area

station will be strategically placed never to be forgotten.

As part of our plan to improve the since it can often be difficult for a
venue experience at the Boston young toddler to stay still in their
Celtics TD Garden, we want to assigned seat. There would be kid
implement a kids play area at the basketball hoops for children and
top of the arena. This space would their families to play with while
provide ample room for kids to utilizing the space. We would also
run around and use their energy, provide places for parents to sit
and relax to watch their kids play. els while keeping the venue experi-
This space is designed for families ence family-friendly.
to enjoy the game on multiple lev-