Hadi Teherany, the former sports marketing and entertainment director at Bensimon Byrne, has launched Adelaide Park, an agency aimed at developing authentic brand creative for star athletes and entertainers.
Getting involved in the creative helps “make sure that what brands are doing with celebrity clients is consistent with the celebrity’s values,” Teherany says. “A lot of times we’ve seen brands using athletes and celebrities the wrong way and it doesn’t translate well,” he says. “I’m able to create campaigns that are authentic to their brands.”
Adelaide Park’s largest client is the NBA Players Association, for which Teherany is focusing on organizing events at next year’s All-Star Game in New Orleans.
Teherany helped organize a number of events for the NBA Players Association at last February’s NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto. He left Bensimon Byrne, where he had been since 2007, after that event.
“I realized there was a full-time business that could be created that would focus on helping brands connect with athletes and entertainers and curate campaigns that would bring value to both sides.”
The agency kicks off with a video that describes Teherany’s “15 years of blood, sweat and tears” in organizing hundreds of events and dozens of endorsements, campaigns and photo shoots.
Adelaide Park employs two creatives and Teherany plans to hire a designer and videographer soon.
It’s named after the street on which Teherany lives and a park across the street where he spent time brainstorming possible names during the summer. The name serves as an ode to Toronto and to the importance of parks where star athletes get their starts, he says.
Teherany has been involved with NBA players for several years. He helped former Raptor and current Miami Heat player Chris Bosh become the first NBA athlete to obtain 1 million hits on YouTube. He has also worked with the likes of Drake and The Weekend.
The market has changed in the last three or four years, with brands now seeking athletes and entertainers instead of having to be pitched, he says.
However, it remains a challenge to ensure the brand matches the player. “People oftentimes will just try to peg people into anything because they’re available. To me, that’s totally the wrong approach.”
For example, former Raptor Amir Johnson, now with the Boston Celtics, has a reputation as a hard working blue collar player. “He wouldn’t be a guy I pitch to Mercedes Benz. That’s not his personality.”
On the other hand, he matched Joseph with Holt Renfrew’s spring campaign, which “made sense since he loves to dress up.”
As Teherany told Holt Renfrew: “You don’t need to go get the biggest man on the team for his name. You need to get the biggest guy in fashion.”
