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State Farm targets basketball fans during NBA trade live stream

State Farm Insurance sponsored Yahoo?s mobilized live-stream coverage of the National Basketball Association?s trade deadline with humorous video ads that had a sports theme. 

Yahoo?s the Vertical with Woj live stream coverage of the NBA trade deadlie, and in a continuation of its sponsorship State Farm brought its comedic ad campaign The Hoopers to the feed. The vignettes feature a mock classic sitcom intro with various well-known players in basketball as a family living next door to a helpful State Farm insurance agent. 

"We are focused on providing ongoing NBA news and storytelling for fans, so creating an experience and content that lives across screens is an important part of this," said Adrian Wojnarowski, host of Yahoo's The Vertical with Woj. 

Farming up ratings
The NBA trade deadline marked the first live production on Yahoo?s online destination for basketball news. State Farm leveraged the live streaming to continue connecting with the demographic, broadening awareness for its The Hoopers campaign as well as procuring a connection to consumers interested in that content. 
The Hoopers video opens with a family photograph sitting on a mantle in a home featuring NBA players Chris Paul, Deandre Jordan, Kevin Love, Kevin Garnett and Damian Lillard as various members of a typical sitcom family. The family lives next door to good neighbor, a Stat Farm agent. 

The neighbor helps the family in various series of crisis such as a kitchen fire and boat damage, all depicted through an opening sequence with music. Each family member is played by one of the basketball stars, who take on a typical costume for the character.

For instance, Mr. Jordan plays the mother and dons a wig, earrings, blouse and a skirt, while Mr. Love takes the roll of the son and through CGI is made to look as the he is young. Mr. Garnett fashions an old style golfing hat with a gray beard while falling asleep on the couch and Mr. Lillard is edited to be a baby. 


The content fits perfectly with the live stream, and its viewers are likely to think of the video in a positive light, creating a favorable brand image. 

Streaming abilities
Allstate Insurance similarly paired college football rivalries with its well-known Mayhem campaign to ignite a battle on Twitter that will see the losing teaming get shredded in a live stream (see more). 

CBS? long-running reality game show, Big Brother, also pulling out all the stops to drum up ratings for its latest season, focusing on mobile to give fans access to exclusive content and live feeds on CBS All Access (see more). 

"With The Vertical, we are offering fans the ultimate access inside the NBA," Mr. Woj said. "We drive breaking news cycle, deliver high-level, insider analysis and bring the biggest newsmakers in the sport for interviews on our stream in real time. 

"As we continue to bring consumers breaking NBA news, insights and analysis, today's NBA Trade Deadline show marks the first live production for The Vertical and is a prelude to future live shows surrounding the NBA Draft and summer free agency," he said.