NBA, EMBASSY JAKARTA REALIZE INDONESIA'S HOOP DREAMS

By WW Staff

Reference ID: 08JAKARTA1632   
Created: 2008-08-28 05:50 
Released: 2011-08-30 01:44    
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED  
Origin: Embassy Jakarta

                
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RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1632/01 2410550
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 280550Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9909
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2963
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 3002
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5338
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 2425
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 4857
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3419
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHJS/AMCONSUL SURABAYA 2254

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001632
 
 
SIPDIS
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/PD - RFerguson-Augustus, ECA - GAmeri,
NBishop, ECA/PE/C/WHA-EAP - RHarvey
 
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPAO SCUL ID
SUBJECT: NBA, EMBASSY JAKARTA REALIZE INDONESIA'S HOOP DREAMS
 
JAKARTA 00001632  001.2 OF 002
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Using the first-ever visit of a National Basketball
Association (NBA) player to Indonesia as a platform, Embassy Jakarta
reached Indonesian audiences with a combination of sports diplomacy
and commercial advocacy.  A gala reception at the Ambassador's
residence and a basketball clinic on the Embassy courtyard brought
together diverse Indonesian audiences, including athletes
(particularly young athletes), musicians, entrepreneurs, and
basketball aficionados.  The events garnered tremendous positive
media coverage -- both domestically and internationally -- and
highlighted one of America's most popular cultural exports --
basketball -- to both key opinion makers and to the general public.
High-profile events such as these have improved U.S. favorable
ratings in Indonesia, as demonstrated by a recent BBC World Service
poll showing an increase in favorable numbers from 21% to 32%.  END
SUMMARY.
 
¶2. (U) U.S. Embassy Jakarta combined sports diplomacy with Foreign
Commercial Service (FCS) outreach in cooperation with the NBA on
August 25 and 26, 2008.  The events were made possible by the visit
of Indiana Pacers' star Danny Granger and several NBA
representatives to Indonesia at the invitation of a high-school
basketball league in Surabaya.  With the support of Embassy
Jakarta's FCS and the Public Affairs Section, Post was able to
capitalize on the NBA's first official foray into Indonesia.
 
FCS CONNECTS WITH NBA
 
¶3. (U) In preparation for their inaugural visit, the Embassy's FCS
formally signed the NBA as an export client, which enabled FCS to go
out to the business community and look for ways to help the NBA meet
potential buyers, partners, and research the local market.  The NBA
is a powerful U.S. brand and, consequently, several additional
corporate sponsors offered to help with various aspects of the two
events.  These companies included Nike, Spalding, and DHL, who all
provided sports gear and other promotional items, and even Krispy
Kreme, which supplied donuts decorated to look like basketballs for
the event at the Ambassador's residence.
 
HIP-HOP & BASKETBALL ROCK AMBASSADOR'S RESIDENCE
 
¶4. (U) Ambassador Hume hosted a reception at his residence on
Monday, August 25, that reached a much younger audience interested
in sports and music, and brought the NBA together with key
businesspeople and potential Indonesian sponsors.  The guest list
included basketball players and coaches, hip-hop musicians and
producers, young entrepreneurs and business leaders, celebrities,
and representatives from print and broadcast media, including
influential sports writers and sportscasters.  More than 200 guests
attended, most of them much younger than the usual guests to an
Ambassadorial reception.
 
¶5. (U) Highlights of the event included basketball-themed posters
and banners, large-screen televisions playing video footage of the
NBA "100 best shots," an attention-grabbing performance by local
hip-hop musicians and a free-throw contest on the Ambassador's lawn,
with the winning guests awarded Nike and NBA-donated gear signed by
Granger.  In addition to the print and society press, Jak-TV, the
television station with NBA broadcasting rights for Indonesia, had
three crews at the event and produced an exclusive, hour-long
special, which is expected to air during prime-time on August 31 and
September 6.
 
 
NBA CARES ORPHAN EVENT
 
¶6. (U) On August 26, Granger and former NBA player Marty Conlon ran
a "skills clinic" in the Embassy courtyard for 30 orphans, half boys
and half girls, from two orphanages in Jakarta -- one Catholic and
one Muslim.  Granger and Conlon were joined by IVLP alumnus Fictor
Roring, the head coach for the Indonesia Basketball League's number
one team.  The clinic was covered by dozens of media outlets,
including eight Indonesian national TV stations and several
international outlets, including CNN. Wire service pictures of
American basketball star Danny Granger coaching orphans ran on the
front page of papers all over Indonesia and were also picked up from
Belgium to China.
 
LONGTERM TEAMWORK
 
JAKARTA 00001632  002.2 OF 002
 
 
 
¶7. (U) FCS sees its signing of the NBA as an effective model to
promote business interests and develop international partners and
buyers of U.S. entertainment services.  The NBA provides FCS with a
new export client, able to advance intellectual property as a brand
and simultaneously team with State to showcase U.S. Corporate Social
responsibility (CSR) and transformational diplomacy with
disadvantaged youth.  FCS Jakarta will highlight the event in
Commerce communications and prepare a short video describing the
role of FCS as a bridge to assist the Embassy in using CSR and the
public diplomacy power of entertainment/sports companies while
delivering commercial services for business development.
 
¶8. (U) CONCLUSION: This program cut across a number of Post's MSP
goals and worldwide PD objectives.  It increased mutual
understanding and respect, promoted shared values, countered
extremism among at-risk youth, and reached the huge youth market in
a way that many of our more traditional programs cannot.  In
addition, the Embassy was able to help FCS' goal to promote an
American company, attract sponsors, and build the NBA's brand as
they did not have the local expertise or support to do so on their
own.  The massive positive media coverage served as a
force-multiplier for this message, with images of the nearly
seven-foot American NBA star teaching young orphan girls wearing
traditional Islamic garb transmitted worldwide as a symbol of U.S.
outreach to the Muslim world.  Moreover, the Embassy assisted this
American company promote a uniquely American cultural product to
reach a new, growing market in the world's fourth largest country.
 
HUME

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