Fugleberg gets NBA title ring

MINNEAPOLIS - Tom Fugleberg - a native of Polson and Associate Creative Director of Olson+Company, Brand Champions in Minneapolis - didn't see a second of playing time during last season's NBA Finals (and for good reason, as he'll tell you that he has what amounts to a negative vertical leap). Yet at the Detroit Pistons opener on Nov. 2, the NBA franchise presented with a coveted title ring.

For the past five years Fugleberg has headed the creative team responsible for the Pistons' marketing efforts. But what may sound as simple as a few funny ads and a zippy slogan at first, is actually being credited for fueling the team's unlikely rise to the championship.

"When we first began working with the Pistons, we saw a franchise that had fallen into the trap that so many pro sports organizations fall into," says Fugleberg. "They were selling players that either got hurt or were traded (e.g. Grant Hill), they promised victories that never came, they reduced their role in the community, and worst of all, they abandoned their signature red, white and blue uniforms for teal … no team, much less Detroit, would ever wear teal."

Enter Olson+Company and an idea that would reconnect the team with its city and return it to its rightful owners - the fans.

"We made the players and coaches, the management, the fans, even the dance squad and mascot promise to 'Go to work. Every night' (the team's theme line). Win or lose. Not for themselves, but the greater cause - the city of Detroit," Fugleberg continues. "And we told them if everybody did their part - whether that was Ben Wallace hustling after a loose ball on the hardwood, or some season ticket holder showing up with an extra large 'P' painted on his gut - we couldn't help but ultimately succeed."

To help everybody do their part, Olson+Company created and led a marketing initiative that continues to be, as an understatement, "integrated." Beyond the humorous, award-winning TV, radio and outdoor campaigns, game tickets take on the form of time cards, and fans have to literally "punch in" to gain admittance. Original theme music has been written and produced so the team can enter the arena to its own anthem.

The corporate sales force has installed a work whistle to be blown anytime a ticket plan is sold. They've even developed cartoon called the "Interplanetary Pistons" that features the world champs "Goin' To Work" to defend the universe (currently airing on the WB in Detroit). All I all, it's an effort that has resulted in a prestigious Gold EFFIE (the industry's premier award for marketing effectiveness); the Pistons being recognized as both Brandweek's and the Sports Business Journal's "Marketers of the Year;" and now, of course, the championship ring.

As for the ring, Fugleberg adds, "It's a tremendous honor. Players define their entire careers on how many they get. To see the words, 'Goin' To Work' immortalized on the side of it, and to be presented one for our work is truly humbling - I think anyone who knows me knows I never would have gotten one for my jumper."

Fugleberg is a graduate of Polson High School and the University of Montana.

For more information, you can call Fugleberg directly at (612) 215-9811.