Raptors star Scottie Barnes on not changing his name, endorsements and winning

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First, to clear up any confusion, Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes is not changing his name. Last week's TSN Raptors broadcast featured a clip of Barnes “announcing” in a false media availability that he was changing his social media name (Instagram and TikTok) to Scottys Barnes. Raptors broadcasters Jack Armstrong, Matt Devlin and Kayla Gray played alongbut to no one's surprise, this segment has become part of the branding of Barnes and Scotties Facial Tissues, which has been manufactured in Canada since 1956 and is the leading facial tissue brand in the country.

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Barnes and his team are constantly being offered products to approve, but he says “Say the correct name” Scottis' campaign was a “no-brainer” because it was associated with his name and creativity.

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“I loved it, it was really intriguing,” Barnes, looking fresh despite suffering back-to-back road defeats the previous two days, told Postmedia in a one-on-one video interview Monday.

“I heard this idea and it was just great. When I heard this idea, I thought, 'Okay, let's do it.' There was some mystery to it. I think it made people think, 'Is this real?' Scotties with an “s” at the end just confused people. And then I just gave them an idea of ​​the Scotties brand,” he said.

Barnes said he liked the reaction to the clip. “I got a lot of feedback that it was just fun. People actually thought I had changed my name, but at the end of the day my name is still Scotty Barnes, not Scotties, but it was funny and got the reaction we wanted from people,” he said.

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Lots of possibilities

The former star player and NBA Rookie of the Year quickly realized that playing for Canada's only NBA team opened up a plethora of marketing opportunities.

“I didn’t know that much about Canada coming in, so I didn’t know about the market and what it was all about,” Barnes told Postmedia.

“But it's actually a completely different market, and it's one of the best markets in the NBA. There's so much you can do here. It's just amazing. It's certainly different than any other NBA city, where there's the whole country, there's different brands, but they're evolving into (Canadian) brands,” he said. “So, the market is huge and there's so much for us as players to explore and just get creative with.”

Barnes enjoys having fun while cheering him on off the court, and he believes it helps fans get a better understanding of his personality in a way that they can't do by just watching him play basketball.

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“Whenever I do things like this, I always try to test myself to see how funny and silly I can be. I just try to be creative, whatever the sensation, just try to test my stuff in an area where I can show another side of myself that doesn't always get seen,” Barnes said.

The real Barnes is back

Speaking of which, Raptors fans haven't seen much of Barnes happy and successful over the past couple of seasons. Barnes played with an infectious joy early in his NBA career when the team was still competitive, but two tough seasons often left him frustrated by injuries or losses.

The old Barnes is back this year and the Raptors are playing well, off to one of the best starts in the NBA. He says this is no coincidence.

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“It was pretty frustrating. It tests you, your character, what are you going to do when you wake up the next morning? How are you going to act? You just have to keep testing yourself and loading up, knowing there will be better days,” Barnes said of the previous two seasons.

But success brings more awareness, whether it's marketing connections or the exposure the NBA Cup will bring to Barnes and the Raptors. The team's success also leads to greater recognition for Barnes as both a star and a defensive player.

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Victory is everything

“Winning is everything… Once you start winning, it will lead you to other conversations,” Barnes said.

“Even if I did the same thing in any other year (like he’s doing this year when he was one of the best players in the NBA), we (weren’t) winning, so I wasn’t part of the same conversations that I should have been part of,” he said. “So winning gives our team recognition for what we can do. People see we have a lot of talent here. Everything else will come… everything else will just fall into place.”

But his name remained the same.

@WolstatSun

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