Dos Equis Activates ESPN College Playoff Tie-In Via 'Game Day Greatness' Ads, Experiences & Sweepstakes

Dos Equis activates the inaugural year of its College Football Playoff (CFP) rights with a multi-platform ‘Game Day Greatness’ campaign that aims to premiumize the game day fan experience through ads, a ticket giveaway, Snapchat integrations and a tailgating helicopter.

As the build up towards the College Football National Championships gets under way, Dos Equis, the first ever Official Beer Sponsor of the College Football Playoff, is encouraging all fans to go for game day greatness.

A more interesting game day calls for a more interesting beer. Go for Game Day Greatness. #StayThirsty https://t.co/IPVmJzBYJ0 pic.twitter.com/WD2amFKe6X

— Dos Equis (@DosEquis) September 24, 2016

The activation is led by an integrated ad campaign that promotes a programme offering fans a chance to scoop unique game day experiences through the NCAA football season and even win tickets to the national championship itself.

The ad campaign, created by Havas New York, marks the debut of French actor Augustin Legrand as the latest iteration of Dos Equis’ ongoing lifestyle stunt obsessed brand character ‘The Most Interesting Man In The World’.

Led by a new commercial, which began airing on 19 October, leveraging the Heineken owned brand’s College Football Playoff sponsorship with ESPN with ‘The New Most Interesting Man in the World Traversing the Sand and the Serengeti’.

The ad features a fresh set of stunts: ranging from driving swamp boats down sand dunes, dueling shogun-style, and, in a nod to football, kicking a coconut through a goalpost of two giraffes with the voice over saying ‘he played college football in high school’.

He’s then seen watching college football on the Serengeti with friends next to a helicopter RV.

This, the first full length commercial featuring the new Most Interesting Man, launched during ESPN SportsCenter.

There is also a cut down version of the core spot focusing just on the fictional heroes college football skills.

An additional version utilizes ESPN’s emerging VFX technology to transition from the Serengeti into a live football game in real time.

This is the first VFX execution in college football and the first time a beer brand has used the technology.

The brand, which will release two further football-themed commercials later in November, also amplified across the brand’s digital and social channels.

The new Most Interesting Man in the World traverses the sand and the Serengeti. Watch now.

A video posted by Dos Equis (@dosequis) on Oct 25, 2016 at 7:30am PDT

Linking the brand’s ad campaign to its on-site activation, the helicopter RV featured in the commercial will also be stationed on-site at the CFP National Championship on 9 January 2017 in Tampa, Florida for tailgaters to get in on the brand’s high octane tailgate action.

This is part of Dos Equis’ commitment to premiumize and elevate the experience on-site with interesting and unique tailgates throughout the season.

For example, the New Years’ Six bowl game tailgates will all also include hot air balloon rides.

Further supporting the ads is the Dos Equis ‘Gameday Greatness’ ticket competition sweepstakes: offering fans and consumers a chance to scoop VIP passes to the College Football Playoff National Championship.

An on-pack phase celebrated the release of the season’s first set of CFP rankings with exclusive CFP packaging on cans and bottles of Dos Equis Lager Especial and Dos Equis Ambar.

The specially-marked bottles carry a code to give fans an opportunity to enter the Dos Equis ‘Go for Game Day Greatness’ sweepstakes which includes a grand prize trip for two to the CFP National Championship in Tampa.

Further prizes ranging from tailgating grills, tents, entertainment centers and TVs are also up for grabs.

Fans can also enter online or via SMS text message. (for full details see www.xxgoforgamedaygreatness.com)

Furthermore, a Snapchat campaign strand urges fans to ‘Stay Thirsty’ with the Most Interesting Man through filters and lenses.

A national lens was made available on Snapchat on 22 October, while Dos Equis will become the first-to-market beer brand integration with Snapchat when it runs a national Snapchat filter during the National Championship on 9 January 2017.

The campaign was developed in harness with agency Havas and the PR phase of the activation is being run by Edelman Public Relations.

‘2016 has been a groundbreaking year for the brand with this sponsorship, multiple partnerships with Snapchat, and the evolution of The Most Interesting Man in the World, and we’re committed to elevating the beer drinking experience for fans whether at the stadium, at home or at their local watering hole,’ outlines Dos Equis marketing VP Andrew Katz.

‘Dos Equis is known for their breakthrough creative,’ adds ESPN’s Gil Beverly, VP ESPN College Sports Marketing.

‘This leveraging of the Most Interesting Man is an example of elevating a smart campaign through the combined power of ESPN’s leading platforms and through the positioning of being “The Official Beer of the College Football Playoff”, to drive greater impact with this engaged, passionate audience.’

Comment

The historic, multi-year agreement between the beer brand and official CFP broadcaster ESPN saw Dos Equis become the Official Beer Sponsor of the CFP when it was signed back in December 2015.

The deal’s rights package includes on-site, on-pack and integration rights and markings for the Playoff, plus all six New Year’s Bowl Games and the National Championship game itself.

College football is the second most popular sport in the USA (according to a recent ESPN Sports Poll) and the TV audience for last year’s CFP game broke records as the largest cable telecast of all time (according to ESPN/Nielsen TV).

Dos Equis is partnering with the CFP as a proven platform to reach and engage 21+ consumers.

‘Working with the College Football Playoff and ESPN is a remarkable opportunity to help our consumers “Stay Thirsty” during one of the biggest sporting events in America,’ explains Dos Equis marketing VP Andrew Katz.

It was only back in early September, months after Dos Equis said goodbye to its original ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ Jonathan Goldman (who had played the role in the beer brand’s ads since 2006) by sending him on a one-way trip to Mars,

the beer brand announced that French actor Augustin Legrand was now set to play the brand character role.

Legrand was first introduced via a short video featuring the actor to give viewers an idea of what he looks like in the role and what adventures he’d soon embark upon.

Dos Equis describe the new ‘Most Interesting Man in the World’ as a ‘rough and tumble guy, who remains a jack-of-all-trades hero that one would expect from the man bearing this infamous title’.

‘The meaning of ‘interesting’ has evolved over the past decade, and this campaign features a new character and look and feel that opens the door to a world of interesting possibilities for today’s Dos Equis drinker,’ said Dos Equis marketing VP Andrew Katz when explaining the change.

The brand says that the character’s adventures will continue to unfold in real time and offer consumers opportunities to experience versions of the Most Interesting Man’s exploits for themselves.

Links

Dos Equis ‘Game Day Greatness’ Hub:

https://xxgoforgamedaygreatness.com/

Dos Equis Web:

https://www.dosequis.com/

Dos Equis ‘The Most Interesting Man’:

http://www.dosequis.com/the-most-interesting-man

Dos Equis Facebook:

www.Facebook.com/DosEquis

Dos Equis Twitter:

https://twitter.com/dosequis

@DosEquis