Name Game: How TeSlaa Drove Ford Into Sports Culture

Quick turnaround and teamwork yield big-time buzz

Raised in Michigan as a Detroit Lions fan, Isaac TeSlaa dreamed of playing at Ford Field. So, when the Lions traded up to get him in the 2025 NFL Draft, TeSlaa’s dreams came true, raising some eyebrows in Ford country.

The name TeSlaa presented the Blue Oval with a reactive opportunity, especially when we heard through the grapevine that Isaac already drove a Ford.

TeSlaa playing for Detroit at Ford Field is lightning in a bottle. To capitalize, we knew preparation was key. Before a football was snapped, we hatched a proactive plan: Get Isaac in a Ford electric vehicle and, at the right moment, have some fun with his name.

As a rookie, Isaac would take a few months to get going in the pros, right? Wrong.

In the season opener, he caught an electric one-handed touchdown and went viral. He followed that up with another one-handed grab the next week, leading the Detroit Free Press to proclaim, “TeSlaa may have the greatest first two catches in NFL history.”

The stars had aligned and the decision was made to activate on Week 4 against Cleveland.

This is where the benefit of preparation came in. Ford was already familiar with the creative and the idea had been approved by all those who needed to see it, including legal.

There was, however, one pretty big hurdle: No one had told Isaac yet. Just 72 hours before launch, Mindshare negotiated a brand ambassador contract, delivered a 2025 F-150 Lightning and got the green light on our “TeSlaa Drives a Ford” creative.

Digital OOH was rotated into a pre-existing buy, in-stadium assets were leveraged with the automaker’s Ford Field/Lion’s partnership and thousands of shirts were printed for game-going fans to get their paws on.

For our social media moment, we had five minutes with Isaac and his truck as he entered Ford Field for gameday. The images were received at 10:40 a.m. The post was approved and published by VML within an hour.

Earned media pitching and forum engagement helped drive awareness beyond NFL audiences. However, more importantly, we had capitalized on the moment, naturally placed Ford into sports culture and never mentioned our competitor.

Leaning into playful rivalries is never an easy decision for a brand. But with trust built between Ford and its agency partners, as well as buy-in to keep things lighthearted, Ford was on board to jump on the moment.

In my experience, the best reactive ideas are proactively pitched and well prepared, so all stakeholders are on board and comfortable with the idea. If you can get the creative framework agreed upon in advance, the real-time realities are a lot easier to manage.

In the crazy world of social media marketing, preparation isn’t always possible. But when you sense a reactive opportunity, don’t wait to share it. Or else your rival might grab it with one hand.