By D. Ray Tuttle
The Journal Record
10:25 PM Friday, March 26, 2010

Nearly a year ago, as Schnake Turnbo Frank PR began work on a project to bring a professional women’s basketball team to Tulsa, it was easier to talk about the things they did not have than what they had, said Russ Florence, president and chief operating officer of the Tulsa-based public relations firm.

Florence spoke about “Major-League Marketing: Bringing the WNBA to Oklahoma” during the Oklahoma State University Creative Branding Conference last week at the Tulsa Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center.

On April 22, 2009, the Tulsa-based public relations firm decided to launch a campaign to bring the Women’s National Basketball Association to Oklahoma and base the WNBA franchise at the BOK Center in Tulsa.

“We did not have any players. No name. No coach,” Florence said. “I am a sports guy. I love all sports and particularly am a baseball guy. Yet, here we were with this crazy notion to bring a WNBA franchise to Tulsa.”

Florence, holding up the distinctive orange-and-off-white striped basketball at the podium, said he was aware of the league and “this orange and white basketball.”

“Which, by the way, is called orange and oatmeal — for those you who are into colors,” he said to laughter and applause.

But working in a market with limited exposure to major league sports is no laughing matter, he said.

”It was a huge challenge,” Florence said. “We were in a market with a vague familiarity with the league itself.”

But, like eating an elephant, the agency moved forward “one step, one person, one meeting” at a time, he said.

The mission was to secure enough investors and capital to launch the franchise.

The league, only in its 13th season a year ago, was an unknown entity to the PR firm, too. So, learning about it was the first priority.

“We learned how diverse the league is,” he said. “Fifty-eight percent of fans who follow are female, 42 percent male, 33 percent African-American and 13 percent Hispanic.”

Time’s short

Despite a compressed time frame, the agency’s campaign collected enough investors that just three months later, on July 22, they made their announcement.

The franchise would be owned by a group of investors led by businessmen Bill Cameron and David Box.

Credibility was important, so the agency ensured the campaign gained the needed credibility by recruiting city and state public officials with league officials for the announcement. Besides the lead investor, WNBA President Donna Orender attended with then-Mayor Kathy Taylor, among others.

Throughout the campaign, Schnake Turnbo Frank paid close attention to visual imagery like use of the WNBA logos, colors and the basketball.

“We always maintained that air of professionalism,” Florence said.

By the end of September, they named Nolan Richardson coach and general manager.

Richardson first gained fame by taking the University of Tulsa men’s basketball team to the National Invitational Tournament championship in 1980. Richardson later went on to coach the University of Arkansas, where the school won a NCAA national championship in the early 1990s.

While Richardson has been out of basketball for a number of years, his hiring brought credibility to Tulsa’s franchise, Florence said.

Throughout the fall, the PR firm began a sprint to the finish as the city gained a team. The Detroit Shock, which had been part of the NBA Detroit Piston’s organization, was bought by the investment group led by Cameron and Box and the team was moved to Tulsa.

Earlier this year the team adopted the same nickname from Detroit. “Tulsa Shock” was unveiled along with an art deco logo.

New ideas and branding make the difference in any campaign – and even more so in a difficult economy, Florence said. Despite the weakened economy, Schnake Turnbo Frank used social media products like Twitter and Facebook to successfully market and launch the WNBA brand in Tulsa. 

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