Case Study: Toronto Raptors Playoff T-shirts
Case Study: Toronto Raptors Playoff T-Shirts
“Working with Entripy gave us the flexibility we needed to be able to pull off this ambitious and creative concept. The speed of Entripy’s service was critical for us to be able to provide our fans with a memorable experience at each playoff game.”
Brand Manager, Toronto Raptors
Summary:
Outfitting an entire stadium with custom t-shirts is impressive, but printing and delivering 25,000 custom t-shirts only 48 hours before game time? That’s outstanding! Whether you loved the designs or hated them, the Toronto Raptors playoff t-shirts sparked conversation across the nation. Behind the scenes, Entripy.com, Canada’s leader in custom printed t-shirts, ensured the Toronto Raptors’ marketing vision was fulfilled.
The Scope
- Print 25,000 custom t-shirts just-in-time for each home game
- Two location prints on each custom t-shirt, screen printed in under 48 hours
- Sponsors unknown until 36-48 hours before game day
- Multiple t-shirt colours and designs required to create unique stadium pattern
- Shirts could not be pre-printed
Goals
The Toronto Raptors wanted to generate buzz around the franchise’s 2016 playoff run and provide Toronto fans with a unique and engaging experience that had never been seen before in the NBA. While providing free custom t-shirts to fans is a tactic commonly used by NBA teams to energize the crowd and strengthen the team’s home court advantage during the playoff season, the Toronto Raptors wanted to up their playoff game and deviate from the NBA norm of single team colour playoff t-shirt.
They created a series of unique buzz-worthy designs that represented the team’s stance as “outsiders” from the North. The innovative designs included an angry snowball, a cartoonish beaver and a flaming 6 (a nod to Toronto’s area code). Each home game was to have a different custom t-shirt design. Some games had two different designs, printed on two different t-shirt colours. Some games had three t-shirt colours; white, red and black. The custom t-shirts were to be draped over every chair in the Scotiabank Arena to create a unique pattern or message across the stadium.
“Most teams will have one slogan or logo that they print on one colour t-shirt and use throughout the team’s entire playoff run. No one has ever printed multiple designs on different coloured t-shirts for each and every home game and laid out t-shirts in a systematic design; spelling out YYZ or creating a giant maple leaf,” says Entripy’s VP of Client Development Manny Brar. “This was something completely unique for an NBA team and a unique request of a screen printing company”.
To execute their creative marketing strategy, the Toronto Raptors turned to Entripy Custom Clothing, the preferred custom apparel and promotional products partner of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE).
The Challenge
Each home game required 25,000 custom t-shirts, one for every fan at the Scotiabank Arena and a few thousand for fans gathered in Jurassic Park, a fan gathering area outside the Scotiabank Arena. Most games required two different custom t-shirt designs on two different t-shirt colours.
While the designs for the first two playoffs rounds were pre-determined, the custom t-shirts could not be pre-printed for a number of reasons:
- MLSE could not warehouse thousands of t-shirts in the Scotiabank Arena.
- Due to the nature of the playoffs series, there was uncertainty about how many games would be played and how many t-shirts would be needed for each playoffs series. In the first round, the Raptors were leading 3-2 in the series and didn’t know if shirts for the game seven home game would be necessary. If shirts had been pre-printed and the Raptors had won that sixth game, the t-shirts would have been outdated for the next round and would have gone to waste.
- In some cases, t-shirt sponsors were not determined until 48 hours before game time.
The Result
Entripy’s just-in-time production model and ability to produce super customization in a condensed time frame allowed for the successful delivery of 25,000 custom t-shirts in under 48 hours for each Toronto Raptors home playoff game. Entripy’s established relationships with blank apparel suppliers all over North America and in-house production provided the Toronto Raptors with the flexibility they required to sell sponsorships for each home game.
“Each shirt had a front print and a sleeve print, which was the sponsor’s logo,” says Brar. That meant each game required 75,000 prints.
While traditional screen printing companies would need to know the designs and sponsor logos weeks in advance as they outsource screen printing to a third party, Entripy’s on-site production meant that the Toronto Raptors’ partnership team had flexibility in their timelines, allowing them the time they needed to sell sponsorships for the next game and get that additional revenue. “As soon as that sponsor came on board, we could print their logo,” says Brar.
Entripy staff worked round-the-clock in four eight-hour shifts to screen print the custom t-shirts in time for the game. 400 yellow Entripy boxes were delivered to the Scotiabank Arena in the early hours of game day morning, allowing staff the required 10 hours to place the t-shirts in a systematic illustration in the stands. “We did that whole process 11 times,” says Brar. “Four home games in the first round, four in the second and three in the last round. That’s 825,000 prints in a six-week span.”
Conclusion
Entripy’s ability to control all aspects of the custom apparel production cycle – from sourcing blank garments from suppliers across North America through to production, packaging and delivery – without outsourcing any part of the process, enabled the successful execution of the Toronto Raptors playoffs t-shirt project. The just-in-time production model allowed the Toronto Raptors to push the creative envelope and put their stamp on the NBA for arguably the most engaging and noteworthy playoff t-shirt campaign.
In today’s high speed world, businesses require the ability for super customization in condensed time frames in order to react quickly to various events and trends. The Raptors playoff t-shirt project is a great example of Entripy’s ability to provide clients with a quick turnaround advantage for their custom projects.
Press
City TV, Dressed for Playoff Success.
Toronto Star, Raptors’ Playoff run has had its fair share of colourful moments.
Globe and Mail, Putting their stamp on Toronto and beyond.
GQ, The Business of Free Playoff T-Shirts
Toronto Sun, Raptors stay ahead of league in creativity.