Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up. - Rocky Balboa

Each year, NBA teams are given the opportunity to make a statement about the culture of their hometown through the design of the City Edition uniform. For the 2018-2019 season, Philadelphia chose to celebrate the city’s greatest champion Rocky Balboa, with a set that resembled his trademark grey sweatsuit. That season, we won the title of highest City Edition uniform sales across the league, beating out teams like the Toronto Raptors and the Miami Heat.

Even with the momentum of and partnership with the upcoming Creed film, we knew we needed a concept to capture the hearts of Philadelphians as much as it could ignite a global fanbase by making use of the film’s iconography. Social listening gave me an understanding of the way movie fans talk about the Rocky films. One of the top three topics of conversation for Rocky fans around the globe was the locations in the film, and it was number one for Philadelphians.

These insights led the Creative and Content teams to a campaign that placed players in Rocky landmarks while sporting their uniform — Ben Simmons in the Front Street Gym, Markelle Fultz in the Victor Cafe, Robert Covington training in the Italian Market. Our own MVP, Joel “The Process” Embiid, even took to the Art Museum steps to promote the uniform in a campaign that fans are still talking about.