Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From The Famous Group

The team leveraged AI around the creative launch

On Sunday afternoon, the Harlem Globetrotters tipped off their 100-year World Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City, complete with a new creative brand campaign leveraging the power of new technology and artificial intelligence.

The Globetrotters partnered with creative technology firm, The Famous Group, around an AI-generated video utilizing the company’s GenFx production, a solution it deployed a year ago in tandem with the Miami Marlins.

“I have long been a fan of the Famous Group and their groundbreaking work in the graphic space,” says Bronwen O’Keefe, head of brand marketing and content, Harlem Globetrotters. “I was particularly impressed with the work they did for the NBA, NFL anniversaries and some of the work they did for the MLB. What really stood out to me was that the graphic work not only wowed on a ‘I’ve never seen anything like that before’ level, but also how much storytelling played a role in their work.”

In the opening seconds of the video, the Savoy Ballroom — a Chicago-based jazz and dance venue — appears. The Globetrotters played exhibition games at the iconic club during their early days. (Photos: The Famous Group)

“It was an exciting opportunity to collaborate with such an iconic brand like the Harlem Globetrotters on their centennial season,” adds Eric Burak, EVP, production, The Famous Group. “From the first creative conversation with Bronwen, it was clear GenFx could help deliver the creative, tone, and storytelling they were aiming for.”

O’Keefe explains that she envisioned a creative video that portrayed a “passing of the torch, with our iconic red, white and blue ball as the core, spun by the giants of our past and present who continue to make our legacy shine.” She notes that The Famous Group led with that vision and “made it a million times better.”

Hemu Karadkar, executive creative director, The Famous Group, says the company began its initial brainstorming and creative discussions with the Globetrotters and O’Keefe in June, “sharing early GenFx examples as the creative direction quickly evolved.” He continues, “With access to their incredible archive of historical images and footage, we knew this production style could help tell 100 years of Globetrotters history in a fresh way.”

The Famous Group approached the project by “balancing the Globetrotters’ historic archives with new GenFx-created visuals to highlight both their legacy and today’s athletes,” according to Karadkar. Since there wasn’t a traditional photoshoot with former or current Globetrotters, the company formed a series of workflows using various foundation models to create the necessary shots.

(The Globetrotters’ red, white, and blue basketball served as a mainstay throughout the entire creative.

The minute-long creative begins with early newspaper clippings and the brand’s origin story, followed by an introduction of the famous red, white, and blue ball from the Globetrotters “as a visual thread to carry viewers through 100 years of history,” he says. Karadkar adds that through The Famous Group’s early work with MLB’s Marlins, the company has refined its GenFx pipeline, thus allowing it to “move efficiently” with the Globetrotters’ project, which also illustrated some of the franchise’s international stops across Europe.

“The piece evolved as we combined GenFx-driven moments with archival material to support Bronwen’s vision of a century-long, passing the torch narrative,” he says. “The result is a seamless blend of eras that feels both modern and historic.”

Through the creative, the Globetrotters’ O’Keefe says she hopes fans of the sports and entertainment brand “feel our mission to make them smile, to bring them closer together, to make memories worth repeating, and to walk away with a little more love in their hearts for this storied brand and for the players who built it over the past 100 years.”

When asked how the creative fits into the Globetrotters’ overarching marketing strategy around the brand’s 100th anniversary, O’Keefe says the Globetrotters wanted “to claim and celebrate the role the IP has had, not just in the world of sports, but in culture overall.”

The creative highlighted Globetrotter legends like Fred “Curly” Neal, who had a 20-plus year career with the brand.

She continues, “For 100 years we have been spreading joy wherever we go, but we’ve also used that as a tool to make the world a better place — from helping to integrate the NBA, to being named Ambassadors of Goodwill by the State Department back in 1951, to innovating the way the sport is played today.”

The Famous Group staff leading the project included, in addition to Karadkar and Burak, Executive Producer Gil Colon, Art Director Dan Olszewski, Creative Coordinator Debbie Yoon, Designer/Animator Mo Enayet, 3D Generalist Elpido Loveranes, and Producer Dustin Sussman. O’Keefe spearheaded the initiative for the brand.