The second installment of TeamWorks Media’s hip-hop PSA campaign for the Big Ten Conference premiered nationally last week during Big Ten Men’s Basketball Games. The campaign,”Welcome to the Big Stage,” features rapper Talib Kweli performing material he wrote for the spots.
TeamWorks created one spot for national broadcast and also spots customized for each of the conference schools.
“The Big Ten came to us with an idea, to put out a project that explains what the Big Ten is all about, in a way that people can relate to, that’s a little edgier than what’s been done,” said TeamWorks VP/production Mike Sear.
“A lot of conferences get stuck in an old-fashioned way of doing things,” he continued. “This was taking the handcuffs off. Talib has huge credibility in the hip-hop world as a lyricist, and he was awesome to work with.”
Sear is executive producer of the spots, which shot back-to-back last year in New York and were finished in-house at TeamWorks, wrapping post on the second series this past fall.
“In year one we tried to create a gritty, darker feeling as opposed to year two, which is slicker with a more robust song,” Sear said.
Freelance designer Bill O’Neill created the digital backgrounds against which Kweli performs, a crowded stadium this time around and an underground club in last year’s pieces.
“Big Stage” is part of a larger body of work that TeamWorks has generated for the Big Ten. Recently they produced a sportsmanship series for Big Ten Football, and a 20th Anniversary series for Women’s Basketball championships, with the same model of a national PSA and spots tailored for each school.
