Late October saw Cricket Australia roll out an integrated new campaign led by a series of spots to generate excitement and to drive ticket sales ahead of the start of the KFC Big Bash League.
The integrated campaign, called ‘League of Heroes’, runs across Australia and is spearheaded by a set of 60-, 30- and 15-second videos highlight the world-class skills, the excitement and the entertainment of the BBL.
The initiative was developed with creative agency M&C Saatchi (Melbourne) to promote the eighth season of the KFC Big Bash League (BBL) – which starts on 19 December.
The hero 60-second spot
is supported by a set of digital and social bespoke ads focusing on each of the BBL teams (and developed in collaboration with them) running across out of home, digital and social channels
Each of these features creative blending ‘the real’ with the ‘fantastic’: showcasing the BBL stars’ unique powers.
All executions aim to drive viewers to the ticket purchasing platform: “Get your tickets HERE: www.bigbash.com.au/tickets”.
“This season, more fans will be able to enjoy the fast-paced, non-stop BBL action than ever before, as the competition moves to a full home and away fixture,” said Cricket Australia’s Big Bash boss Kim McConnie.
“It’s been a pleasure working with M&C Saatchi on such an exciting campaign and we look forward seeing the League of Heroes come to life. As we look forward to another blockbuster summer of Big Bash, we can’t wait for fans to come and see their BBL heroes clash with their rivals in what will be a battle for the ages.”
Josh Eaton, account director, M&C Saatchi, Melbourne added: “BBL is the sports category leaders in family entertainment and this campaign reflects that. League of Heroes creates a platform to showcase the incredible sporting ability of BBL players while engaging fans on an entirely new level. Kids are going to love it.”
The campaign was created for Cricket Australia’s ECM Anthony Everard, marketing manager Michale Fisher and BBL head Kim McConnie, by a team from M&C Saatchi Melbourne.
The agency group including MD Andy Cairns, CSO Justin Graham, ECD Emma Robbins, senior creatives Jay Lazaro, Andy McInerney and Mathew Hine, account director Josh Eaton, account manager Kara Blair, head of integrated production Gene Kingi and agencyproducers Jessica Norton and Tony Le.
The production was handled by The Directors Group, the producer was Craig Griffin and the director was Bill Irving, with post production run by Mr Fox, sound by Bang Bang Studios and music by Dmitri Golovko.
Commented:
The eighth season of the BBL will feature 59 matches across 61 days from December to February in what is expected to be one of the biggest seasons to date.
The property is clearly going from strength to strength: a massive 80,883 crowd turned up at the MCG for the BBL 07 derby game between the Stars and Renegades.
In fact, last year’s tournament notched up an average attendance of 30,000 (and 8% increase on last year with 20 of the 35 matches sold out) and an average TV audience of around 1 million (making it the nation’s most popular TV viewing option 31 nights out of 35).
Plus, more than 121,000 fans attended the WBBL, which had an average television audience of almost 240,000.
The BBL is becoming a crucial cricketing brand (along with the IPL) and is now one of the world’s Top 10 most attended sports leagues (by average crowd).
Top 10 most watched sports leagues (average crowds, 2015/16)
1. NFL 68,278
2. German Bundesliga 43,331
3. US College Football Division I FBL 43,288
4. English Premier League 36,464
5. AFL 33,428
6. Indian Premier League 31,750*
7. Major League Baseball 30,517
8. La Liga 28,498
9. Big Bash League 28,279
10. Nippon Professional Baseball 28,248
And all this comes despite in a way that has most cricket fans older than 50 wince: from the team names and kit colours, to all the in-game gimmicks.
As well as title sponsor KFC, the tournament’s other key brand partners include CommBank, Majestic, New Era, Rebel, Toyota, Weet-Bix, Wrigleys Extra (as well as 7 and Fox Sports).
Links:
Big Bash League
https://www.instagram.com/bbl/
Cricket Australia
https://twitter.com/CricketAus
https://www.instagram.com/cricketcomau/
https://www.facebook.com/cricketcomau
https://www.youtube.com/user/cricketaustraliatv
M&C Saatchi Melbourne
