Microsoft leveraged its NFL rights by pre-releasing its hero Super Bowl commercial which features the first woman to ever coach in the Super Bowl.
The computing/IT giant’s Big Game ad is focused on offensive assistant coach Katie Sowers who is not just the first female coach for the San Francisco 49ers, but also the first woman to coach in the NFL Playoffs and on 2 February will become the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl
Developed with agency McCann, her story seeks to empower and inspire the next generation of elite female coaches and women who aspire to lead.
The commercial saw Microsoft and McCann work with director Peter Berg (the director of American Football hit show Friday Night Lights) to enable Sowers to tell the story of her journey from a backyard in Kansas City to the top of the NFL.
Pre-released ahead of the Big Game on the brand’s social channels on 28 January, the biographical, storytelling spot sees Sowers use the Microsoft Surface tablet to map out plays and get the most from her team.
2020 sees the Microsoft and the NFL in year six of an extended $400m five-year deal which sees the Surface as the official league tablet and one of the few branded products regularly seen within the bowls of the NFL’s stadiums as coaches use them for real time game insights.
Indeed, the Super Bowl spot follows on from a previous social video promoting the Surface Pro 7 posted on 3 January 2020 which is also fronted by Sowers.
The campaign was created for Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Brand, Advertising and Research Kathleen Hall, GM Global Advertising Deana Singleton, Director Social and Media Partnerships Jenny Leahy, Senior Marketing Manager Danna Brokaw, Senior Marketing Manager Ashley Castellanos, Senior Marketing Manager Veronica Mao, Global Brand and Digital Marketing Manager Kecia Classen and Senior Marketing Communications Manager Natalie Thompson by a team at McCann New York.
The agency team included Co-Chief Creative Officers Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy, EVP, Global Executive Creative Director Shayne Millington, Creative Director Dabo Ché, VP Creative Directors Gabrielle Shirdan, Geoff Bentz and Nic Howell, Associate Creative Directors Nick Ciomperlik, Ricardo Muñoz, David Perea and Nickie Thongton, EVP, Executive Creative Director Chris Mitton, plus Executive Creative Director Michael Aimette.
On the business leadership side of the agency’s work were Managing Director Kevin Nelson, EVP, Executive Account Director Tina Galley, SVP, Executive Account Director Rosemary Calderone, Account Director Ellie Choi and Account Supervisor Alex Cho.
The communications team was spearheaded by Chief Communications Officer Jeremy Miller and project management by SVP, Director of Project Management Stella Warkman and Senior Project Manager Lauren Kosche, with strategy handled by EVP, Global Director, Strategy and Research Ash Farr and Strategy Director Jordan Berger.
Production was handled by SVP, Head of Integrated Production Carolyn Johnson, Senior Producer Rebecca Magner, Senior Producer Nina Roussarie, Producer Morgan Edstrom, Art Producer Caroline Sollmann and SVP, Executive Music Producer Eric David Johnson and business affairs by Business Manager David Halberstadt.
The production company was Film 47, the director was Peter Berg, with editorial by No6 // Rock Paper Scissors, audio by Sonic Union, Post/VFX by thod Studios NY, Colour by 3 LA, music by JSM and WE Communications by Chelsea Hawkins
Comment:
Big Game ads have historically featured men, but the last few Super Bowls have seen an increasing number of women fronting Big Game commercials.
Among the more notable 2020 Super Bowl ads starring women are P&G brand Olay’s which is sending its all-female cast into space.
While deodorant brand Secret is running a ‘Secret Kicker’ spot (see case study).
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These spots aim specifically to speak to the women watching the Big Game and to reach the NFL’s female fans (the NFL said in 2017 that 45% of its fans are women and they comprise around 50% of Super Bowl viewership).
But, until now, not brands have put a female NFL Super Bowl coach at the centre of the creative.
It was back in 2013 that Microsoft and the NFL penned a partnership which made the Surface Pro the ‘official tablet of the league and Microsoft the league’s ‘official technology sponsor’. Then in 2017, Microsoft re-positioned Surface Pro as the ‘world’s most versatile laptop’ and for the 2018 and 2019 football seasons, the Surface was dubbed the ‘official laptop of the NFL’.
At the core of Microsoft’s partnership with the NFL is the tech tactics and skills support Surface hardware and Microsoft software provides to numerous strands of the football experience.
Players and coaches use them as on-field tools, franchise administrators use them for data collection, managing logistics and recording notes off the field.
Plus, the ‘NFL Experience’ app enables fan get closer to the game with notifications, the ability to pick teams, fantasy football scores and player updates.
Microsoft’s partnership with the USA most-watched sports league seeks to promote the company’s technology to consumers.
Last season’s Microsoft ‘Create Change’ campaign focused on NFL players using Surface to promote community-enhancing efforts and saw Microsoft emphasise how Surface can impact the lives of regular people.
While this season’s ’Make Believe Happen’ showcases the tech behemoth’s current ‘ professional-and-personal strategy’ as it continues the Surface story consumers see on the field, with NFL players using Surface for personal pursuits. The creative idea is that, just as Surface is not one dimensional’, neither are the world’s most famous athletes.
Links:
Microsoft
https://www.instagram.com/microsoft/
https://www.youtube.com/user/Microsoft
https://www.facebook.com/Microsoft
McCann New York
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