Barclays Center in Brooklyn

I went to the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn last night, the new facility in the heart of Brooklyn where the "new" Brooklyn Nets play basketball.


It's an amazing facility, state of the art.  But I don't just mean from a "stadium" perspective, I mean from a marketing perspective.

It really is the perfect showcase for brand marketing, and let me tell you it is non-stop.  Every digital banner in the place is constantly promoting sponsors, and every "time out" has a featured brand.  Even the cheerleaders have a hair and makeup sponsor.  It's amazing.

But even more amazing is the big brand that is getting a total boost from all of this:  Brooklyn!

I feel like Brooklyn is not only becoming the new Manhattan, it's becoming the new London, Tokyo, Paris, and Madrid.  The city is alive and booming, or so it seems from a marketing and positioning perspective.  This is the place to be, and the new Barclays Center is front and center showing off Brooklyn's vibrancy.  And by the way, it's located on top of one of the most convenient subway stations in the world.  Smart planning.  Nice showcase for the Barclays brand as well, which in the US does not have as much of a consumer facing as in other parts of the world.

It doesn't hurt, either, to have a little celebrity cache.  Kris Humphries is on the team of course.  And Jay Z is a big backer.  One of the big kick off concerts came from Brooklyn's own Barbra Streisand.  Building the Brooklyn brand!

I loved every minute of it.  What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU