Earlier this week, the Golden State Valkyries debuted their new mascot, Violet (nicknamed “Vi"), on what they highly-promoted as “Birdwatchers Night.” The NY Liberty’s Ellie the Elephant has set a new pop-culture standard for mascots in the W, so we’re not surprised that Violet’s big reveal was also marketed as a really big deal.
The purple-colored raven (according to the team, “ravens are commonly known as Valkyries’ helpful and savvy counterparts in Norse mythology") made her mystical debut during halftime against the CT Sun. She strutted her stuff decked-out in custom team merch, with fans receiving “birdwatching binoculars” courtesy of DoorDash…which, BTW, is a collab that seems to have fallen off of most media outlets’ radar. It was a cool moment, for sure, with intrigue and curiosity building around the violet-colored, gold-speckled egg that appeared a few days before the debut to help spark excitement.
Image source: Golden State Valkyries
But with all of the buzz (flapping?) around this intro, the “Birdwatchers Night” fanfare, and the generally eco-conscious culture of California, we couldn’t help but wonder…
How could they have partnered with a local bird protection organization, like Audubon California, to not just capitalize on the moment’s commercial visibility, but also do a lil’ something good for the community at the same time?
Here’s the playbook we might’ve gone with:
🐦⬛ Birdfluencers: Find the overlap of Valkyries fans and birders who are social media influencers, and invite them to the game with some sweet courtside seats. In exchange, ask them to start looking for and posting about birds indigenous to CA and/or the Bay area in the weeks leading up to the reveal. A nest here, some in-flight shots there, plenty of sparkly purple accents. Plant subtle hints with educational content coming from CA Audubon, and a big reveal of the partnership across all of the influencers’ platforms at the same time on game night. Birders, meet ballers.
🚮 Cleanup collabs: Throughout the season, hold Valkyries-sponsored beach or shore cleanups, in partnership with CA Audubon, to remove plastics and trash that are harmful to local birds. Get one player from the team to join each cleanup (star-power always brings volunteers out of the woodwork), with everyone involved having a chance to win box seats for an upcoming game. Each cleanup would also be an opportunity for another brand sponsor to get in on the action.
🪶 Birds of a feather: You know what they do — they flock together. We’re pretty sure Vi wouldn’t mind a cohort of other flighted friends, so why not create some sidekicks based on bird species native to the Bay?
Each one would have its own personality and focus. Maybe one’s awesome at dunking and is obsessed with air quality. Another’s all about giving her teammates encouragement from the sidelines, and keeps an eye on the crew’s natural habitat (and its predators, aka, opponents).
Just think of all of the cool engagement opportunities they could create throughout the arena and the city — fans could interact with the mascots, learn about the local ecosystem, maybe even play a game of RAVEN instead of HORSE together at local parks.
There’s SO much we could do here, and we’re itching for the chance to give more partnership ideas like this some real-life wings. 😉
