How do you measure fit, before you invest? From Manchester City’s £1 billion kit deal with Puma, to the Chicago Sky’s first-ever cosmetics partner (COVERGIRL), to the award-winning American Express x Golden State Warriors ‘Empowered’ campaign—one thing is clear: sports teams know how to make partnerships pay off. They’re the gold standard when it comes to driving fan engagement and purchasing power.
We’re going to talk you through a new approach to partnership exploration and validation, one that took 3 days and a fraction of the budget this type of research usually requires. To bring the methodology to life, we’ve put ourselves in the shoes of the Chicago Bulls, an NBA team looking to find their next incremental partnership opportunity.
By combining OneCliq (our cultural context engine) with Upsiide (our research platform built for innovation testing), we analyzed fan conversations and validated ideas at scale. The result? A case study that reveals what fans actually want from brand partnerships and how to deliver against the insights.
OneCliq Discovery & Exploration
1. Explore what works works (and what doesn’t) with brand partnerships
We started by running a series of OneCliq reports, analyzing tens of thousands of NBA fan conversations with OneCliq. One example stood out: NBA All-Star Weekend. Despite its star-studded lineup, fans felt it was gimmicky and overly commercialized, like it was built for the ads, not the fans. The backlash was clear: when partnerships feel inauthentic and overly commercial, they flop.
“this new format was sold as a way to make it more competitive, when in reality it was just a way for the NBA to make more money with commercials.”
On the flip side, Hello Kitty Night was a hit. Fans loved the nostalgia, the collectible merch, and the family-friendly atmosphere. The difference? It gave back to the fan experience rather “than detracting from it.
“I have to be there! hello kitty and the phoenix suns!?! my two favorites 😍
The insight: Authentic, culturally aligned activations win hearts and make noise.
2. Isolate a brand partnership format: mystery boxes
Who doesn’t love a good unboxing video? Or a McDonald’s Happy Meal? A theme emerged across partnerships that’s well-trodden but effective; fans love the element of mystery. From surprise collectibles to nostalgic unboxings, “mystery boxes” sparked excitement online and amplified fan engagement. Across online conversations, we saw the thrill of the unknown come up again and again.
So we hypothesized: what if teams leaned into mystery boxes as a partnership format?
Upsiide Testing & Validation
3. Test 10 brand partnership options with Upsiide
To validate brand partnership fit, we put 10 potential mystery box partnerships into Upsiide. Chicago Bulls fans swiped on what they liked and doubled-down on the ones they liked most. Which left us with the following (drum-roll, please…).
Nike Jordan merchandise was the runaway winner, which is unsurprising given its history with the Bulls and broader applicability to NBA fans.
But the unexpected niche opportunity was LEGO Bulls Bobbleheads. While it wasn’t well-loved by everyone, it resonated deeply with those aged 35-55. We ran 40 quick AI-enabled video interviews through Upsiide to confirm why: LEGO reminded people of childhood, created shared moments with kids, and offered something unique to take home. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of these themes came through in our OneCliq research as well.
And in a matter of minutes, Upsiide’s Market Simulator validated that this partnership opportunity would drive incrementality for the Chicago Bulls. In fact, the LEGO Bobbleheads drove higher incremental share of choice than classic sports partners like New Era and Wilson.
TLDR: is it time to challenge ourselves to do research differently?
In just three days, we connected online conversations to real revenue opportunities. There are absolutely times where this type of rapid, agile approach to insights work won’t fly, but we’re on a mission to find opportunities for smart, savvy research minds to lean into technology and prove their impact.
With new tools that help us go deep, at a speed and scale never before possible (like OneCliq) – and tech platforms that can prove idea potential in an afternoon (like Upsiide) – it’s time to get creative and push the boundaries of what tech can do.
Ready to explore how cultural insights and agile testing can fuel your next big idea? We’ll talk you through it.