He didn’t know whether to scream “Oh!” or “Uh-oh!”
Either would have sufficed.
Kurt Schwartzkopf is the chief marketing officer for the Nuggets, so basically, he’s the guy behind A.I., the guy who promotes the Nuggets’ stars in advertisements. On Monday, Iverson was everywhere in Denver — on banners, billboards, on the sides of buses — really, everywhere except in Denver. That day, the Nuggets traded their all-star guard to Detroit in exchange for another all-star, Denver native Chauncey Billups.
For Schwartzkopf, Manic Monday was also Panic Monday. He was giddy that Denver acquired “a marketer’s dream” in Billups, but first he had to unmarket Iverson.
“Yeah,” Schwartzkopf deadpanned, “it’s been a busy couple of days.”
Before you could say “Cheikh Samb,” Schwartzkopf whipped up a list of “everything we had in the marketplace with A.I.,” which included every other pole banner outside of the Pepsi Center (the Carmelo Anthonys will remain) and numerous spots on , which was an Iverson-free zone by Wednesday.
Simultaneously, Schwartzkopf and his staff began cooking up ideas to Chauncey-ize everything they do.
“You’re welcoming home a hero,” Schwartzkopf said.
They had already printed the game program for Friday’s game, but they reprinted the preprints, this time with Billups on the cover. They talked about going to Billups’ alma maters — George Washington High, University of Colorado — and getting students and student-athletes to pose for “Welcome Home” videos.
They prepared a huge “Welcome Home” banner, which will hang Friday in the grand atrium entrance, where fans can sign it and leave a message for Denver’s new No. 7. The video folks compiled footage of Billups for a touching retrospect of his accomplished career. And each fan will receive a Copper Mountain lift ticket, and a schedule magnet. (This has nothing to do with Billups. Ever the promoter, Schwartzkopf just wanted to get out that info.)
There will also be a “voice mail blast,” featuring a personal message from the former Nugget Billups, saying “I’m back!” to current season-ticket holders and “Come back!” to former season-ticket holders. It’s against company policy to release financials, Schwartzkopf said, but he did say that ticket sales for Friday have doubled each day since Monday, and about 2,000 seats remain.
“My job,” he said, “is to get the arena full.”
He now has some help from an old friend.
