by Jackie Schlutz

With basketball season in full throttle, I find myself more and more engaged each game—in my phone.  That’s right, I’m the girl who has no idea what’s going on but will be a good sport and sit next to you on the couch. During a game last week, I noticed that one of my friends retweeted a tweet from éne-bé-a.  Immediately catching my eye, I clicked on the link in pure amazement. While basketball isn’t a favorite of mine, social media is; I was truly inspired by the way the NBA uses such a dynamic campaign to appeal to the Hispanic market.

The éne-bé-a, more recognizably known as the NBA, is the National Basketball Association. Not only does éne-bé-a serve as the Spanish acronym for the NBA, but also holds heavy weight through many social networking outlets. It serves as a connection to Hispanic players in the NBA and basketball, as a whole, giving Latino fans the opportunity to feel the excitement of the NBA in Spanish.

“Our success can be attributed to a winning combination of all of our marketing programs,” says Saskia Sorrosa, Senior Director of U.S. Hispanic Marketing at the NBA during our interview in October.  “But most importantly, the NBA has great basketball.” (LINK)

How does such an American sport gain its Latino audiences?  Sports, in general, is an easy outlet for anyone new to the country to connect to people, disregarding their race. Even with a language barrier, anyone curious enough can understand basketball. For the Latino culture, learning an American sport rapidly indulges them in American culture. Many Latin American athletes in sports today, have served as role models to both Latino and American culture, immediately integrating both cultures into one.

The NBA has also made strides towards the integration of cultures and encourages participation of the Latino population. In March 2010, the NBA introduced Noche Latina to its fully integrated éne-bé-a marketing campaign.

The campaign publicly celebrates the leagues Hispanic heritage with new uniforms, such as Los Spurs and El Heat, and various festivities throughout the game, all with Latino flare.  With more than 16 million Hispanic NBA fans, this campaign surely hit home and further established the strong, lasting relationship between the NBA and devoted Hispanic fans.

The power of social media, however, I believe is the medium that truly integrated Hispanics with the NBA. In 2010, the NBA co-branded with Univision to launch the éne-bé-a site and give the U.S. Hispanic market a first hand interaction with the NBA. The éne-bé-a’s online presence takes Hispanic consumer insights and translates them into relatable material across various social networking platforms. With more Hispanics involved online than in past decades, this campaign offers a well-rounded, interactive experience for Hispanics to connect and more importantly relate to the NBA.  As of today, éne-bé-a (página oficial de la NBA) on  has Facebook over 349,000 likes and continues to keep Hispanics engaged daily.

The diverse population of the U.S opens the doors for organizations, like the NBA, to build a foundation for many other cultures to embrace and to learn from. Similarly, at the Center for Hispanic Marketing Communication at FSU, we are exploring different ways to reach the Hispanic target and set up interactive experiences.

Today, I became a fan of éne-bé-a.