Milwaukee Bucks’ Latest Promotional Campaign: Branded Fire Hydrants

If our name had not made this apparent, we must confess that we here at Promo Marketing love every inventive promotional campaign that businesses enact. Exactly two weeks ago, we took at a look at how Domino’s Pizza is helping its wares stay intact through its pothole-paving efforts. And, now, we have the added pleasure of relaying that the Milwaukee Bucks are also taking it to the streets through the implementation of 15 branded fire hydrants, with the franchise and city officials revealing five of them on Monday.

Our @cityofmilwaukee employees do great work for our city. Chad Schuster (center) is a Milwaukee Water Works employee whose initial designs of a Bucks-themed fire hydrant came to life. His designs will be featured on 15 hydrants surrounding the Bucks Arena. Great job Chad! pic.twitter.com/OGjU5peVT8

— Mayor Cavalier Johnson (@MayorMKE) June 26, 2018

Celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Bucks amassed a 44-38 record this season, good for seventh in the National Basketball Association’s Eastern Conference, behind solid team play and the further emergence of star Giannis Antetokounmpo as an elite player. Set to play their next slate of home tilts in what ownership has tentatively dubbed the Wisconsin Entertainment and Sports Center, the ballers figure to draw a bit more attention not only for their burgeoning team chemistry but also for the unusual, yet nonetheless compelling, promotional campaign that Milwaukee Water Works Chief Water Distribution Repair worker Chad Schuster conceived.

He and admirers of his artwork, including team president Peter Feigin, who dubbed the city employee’s decorative idea “a point of differentiation,” united two days ago for the unveiling of what will mark a four-year partnership between the local government and the Bucks. Featuring a basketball-like top, Bucks branding and various phrases (such as the squad’s trademarked “Fear the Deer” slogan), the hydrants mark the first fruits from an endeavor that Schuster had considered “a fun thing that wasn’t expected to go this far.”

Because the nearby arena’s overseers—members of the Wisconsin Center District—have already established a solid schedule of concerts and events to occur before the Bucks have their initial regular-season tipoff, the hydrants will represent a great opportunity for people to grow fonder of Antetokounmpo, nicknamed “The Greek Freak,” and his teammates. They could certainly use the extra bit of assistance via this promotional campaign, as despite their winning mark, the Bucks ranked 24th out of 30 teams in last season’s home attendance tallies.

Fire hydrants custom painted by city worker coming to Milwaukee Bucks arena district https://t.co/BHNkCdl541 pic.twitter.com/DUm7lezKjE

— JSOnline - NewsWatch (@js_newswatch) June 25, 2018

The branded examples represent a tiny percentage of the roughly 19,500 fire hydrants in Milwaukee, but their proximity to the Bucks’ venue could make that math a moot point, especially if this unique promotional campaign proves a way to put more fans in the stands and move more merchandise. If the hydrants help Antetokounmpo and his supporting cast welcome a few more backers, we might just adopt “Cheer the Deer” as our personal nod to Schuster’s handiwork.