Life was easier for Steve Nash when he wore number 13 for the Phoenix Suns, before last year’s blockbuster trade to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The two-time NBA MVP also had a contract, through his Meathawk Productions video house, to create and star in a pair of viral videos for BC Hydro. The 39-year-old Nash used the contract, which was worth almost $200,000, to dip his toe in the water of post-basketball possibilities. Namely, acting. The contract ran March 29 to August 31, 2011. “Both viral videos will feature Steve Nash playing a comic role as a 1970s cop out to bust energy wasters from the neighbourhood in his down time,” said the scope of work, released via Freedom of Information. “All production will occur in high definition [HD] and employ a tongue-in-cheek approach to convey the serious message of energy conservation, each film will be approximately 90 seconds in length.”
BC Hydro thought it was ideal to use a local professional athlete with a global brand who already committed to Team Power Smart when it launched in 2007.
“Steve Nash is an active Team Power Smart member and has been contributing to the success of the program since its inception. Meathawk has agreed to do both these Power Smart videos. The effectiveness of the videos that they have done has led to their being one of the top viral media production companies in North America,” said a January 4, 2011, internal email by Team Power Smart lead Brent Billey.
“Their ability to get videos into the social media outlets is a strength that they have mastered. We feel that no other production company has these strengths as well as the dedication and enthusiasm that Steve has in working with BCH.”
Agency of record DDB cautioned that there was a risk “the celebrity” might want to take a creative direction not aligned with Power Smart’s brand.
“Ultimately we could end up in a situation where we would not want to use the end product, in essence putting our investment at risk. Despite this risk, the recommendation from the agency is to proceed.
“By working under this arrangement Steve Nash agreed to promote the end product via his own media channels and contacts. This is unique and very valuable to the intent of the work – which is to draw earned media, high viewership [impressions], leading to attention on Power Smart.”
Meathawk was paid $199,457 for the campaign, a fraction of DDB’s $11,669,980 in payments from BC Hydro in the year ending March 31, 2012. By comparison, Nash got $8.9 million in his last season in the Valley of the Sun. DDB also received $2,368,845 for work with the BC Lottery Corp. and $392,690 from the BC Pavilion Corp. (PavCo). Its Karacters division got $472,463 from PavCo.
Open stadium applause
Speaking of DDB, its Canadian CEO Frank Palmer is a director of PavCo, under chairman and former advertising colleague Peter Fassbender. Fassbender is running for the BC Liberals in Surrey-Fleetwood. If he wins on May 14, he’ll be gone from PavCo. If he loses and the NDP wins a majority, the result is likely to be the same.
PavCo runs BC Place Stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre, the province’s biggest public buildings, which are both important to the culture and economy of downtown Vancouver. They’re also neighbours to thousands of condo owners, but the PavCo board of directors is closed to the public that owns it.
Fassbender says open meetings would inhibit frank and open discussion. A funny thing for the mayor of City of Langley to say, indeed.
Down Interstate-5 in Seattle, the Washington State Public Stadium Authority could teach PavCo a lesson about openness.
The public organization that oversees CenturyLink Field and its exhibition centre meets monthly, and the public is welcome to watch. It also releases meeting minutes, without zealous redactions.
For example, the minutes for a January 24 meeting – approved March 28 – show that the Seattle Seahawks Pro Shop is to reopen in June after renovations; impacts of the proposed new basketball and hockey arena were discussed; Delaware North was chosen as the new concessionaire; Kenny Chesney will play a full stadium concert on June 1; and the facility will follow NFL policy regarding a ban on off-duty police officers carrying concealed weapons.
