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Strategy August 29, 2019

Kawhi Leonard Teams With Something Inked to Donate A Million Backpacks

Students in Southern California were the lucky recipients.

By  John Corrigan

Two months before his first game with the Los Angeles Clippers, NBA superstar Kawhi Leonard has already made a big splash in Southern California.

The two-time NBA champion, along with the Clippers Foundation and non-profit Baby2Baby, recently announced they are gifting one million backpacks to students across the area, Sports Illustrated reported. Every student in Moreno Valley Unified, Inglewood Unified and Los Angeles Unified School Districts will receive a new backpack, according to the Clippers.

“My goal this year is to make a meaningful contribution both on and off the court," Leonard said at Cloverdale Elementary School last week. "This felt like the right way to get started. It was important to me to make this announcement in my hometown of Moreno Valley at my former elementary school, but the benefits this program will have across all of Los Angeles makes today even more special.”

Nashville, TN-based Something Inked (asi/466856) received an order for 500,000 branded backpacks that needed to be shipped in 30 days. The distributor creates the majority of free playoff T-shirts given out by NBA and NHL teams, so there was already a relationship with the Clippers organization.

“Sports is a market that is ever changing,” Bill Feldberg, vice president of business development at Something Inked, told Counselor. “The fan experience is more experiential than ever before with items of the game, specific fan sections of the arena, social media promotions, etc. Giveaway items are now an extension of the teams and the league’s brand, so they have to be quality items that rival actual souvenirs, but also be different enough that they don’t take away from the pro shop sales, while still staying within a very specific budget. It’s not an easy task, but one that we have learned how to juggle over the years.”

Feldberg said they reached out to several suppliers and factories – both preferred and non-preferred, Top 40 and ones outside it – to sample several bags both domestically and overseas. Ultimately, Feldberg said, the bag chosen based on quality and pricing was made from a supplier in China.

David Schneiderman, vice president of marketing services at Something Inked, traveled to China once the production began to physically make sure that everything was on track. “We knew we had a tight timeline and absolutely zero room for error, so there were many late night calls for our team to ensure that everything was going smoothly,” Feldberg says. “Production was running 24/7 to make the deadline. Getting things boxed correctly and on the water in time was one of the most difficult parts. We also had to hope there were no hang ups once it landed in customs.”

The 500,000 backpack order was shipped on time, and the remaining backpacks are currently being produced, Feldberg said. “We are known by our clients for making the impossible happen with the worst possible timelines from having to put things on planes, boats, renting U-Hauls and delivering ourselves to really any scenario you can think of,” Feldberg says. “So in our world, this project wasn’t that out of the norm for us – just a few more variables to factor in.”