Visual Concepts Inc.

Music City USA…here I come…again!  I was back on the road again with Spalding Sports, a Visual Concepts client for nearly 20 years!  Spalding scheduled a Production Day with Vince Young, Quarterback for the Tennessee Titans, for July 22^nd while Vince was back in Nashville preparing for NFL Training Camp.  Typically we’ll shoot commercials, shoot photos for print ads, posters, catalogs and for www.spalding.com.  Spalding will also uses these days to shoot video for various marketing projects and for exclusive content on www.spalding.com and Spalding YouTube.  But the goal of this trip for Spalding wasn’t so much about marketing or branding, this trip was different.

This trip was all about community.  Giving back is extremely important to Spalding and to Vince Young, and together they have been making a difference.

We began the day at 8:00am at the hotel.  Spalding pulled their bright orange and blue sticker-wrapped pickup truck to the hotel loading dock.  We loaded the truck and two rental cars full of Spalding product, nearly 400 footballs, and headed off for the studio.  Setup started at 8:30 and Vince arrived 11.  I conducted a quick 20 minute interview with Vince, talking a lot about why community is so important to him and what is partnership with Spalding has done for him.  We also discussed a few Fan questions as part of a new viral marketing campaign that lets the consumer submit their interview questions for Vince Young via YouTube.

Afterwards, Vince posed for a short photo shoot with the latest Spalding product and by 12:30pm Vince climbed in the Spalding truck and we were off.  Over the course of the next few hours we chased the Spalding truck around Nashville, Tennessee to completely surprise a few community organizations.  We first showed up at Father Ryan High School to interrupt a football practice.  Vince gave a motivational talk to 75 young men and shook each of their hands as he gave each of them a Spalding J5V Advance football.

From there we followed Vince to the Andrew Jackson Boys & Girls Club to visit a group of nearly 100 unsuspecting boys and girls.  Seeing how they welcomed Vince was something that gave me chills.  I couldn’t help but to smile from ear to ear as the screams pierced my ears.  Vince walked in to hugs and high fives and eventually got them all to quiet down.  When you looked in the corner of the gymnasium you could see the balls they were currently using, torn all the way to the bladder.  Instantly you know why you were here.

He spent his time talking to them about the importance of respect, education, good behavior, and how all of those things will allow you to accomplish anything you can dream of.  He gave out nearly 100 Spalding Rookie Gear footballs, 1 for every kid.  Before you knew it balls were whizzing around the gym, and some were still in the box!

Then, Vince autographed every single one!

We left the Boys and Girls Club at around 3:00 pm and then went to a local Academy Sports store.  Here Vince stocked the very first shipment of Spalding VY footballs and took pictures with totally shocked shoppers.

It’s not everyday I can take part in something that means so much to so many people.

Rob Blanchard