Sports broadcaster ESPN teamed up with agency Arts & Letters to promote the 2021 NBA Playoffs through a high-intensity 60-second commercial called ‘Time Will Tell’.
The campaign rolled out in mid-May on the Disney-owned sports broadcasters own stations and channels at the start of the league’s new Play-In stage of its Playoffs season climax and promotes the NBA on ESPN.
It aims to offer an insight into how the postseason tests players and teams like never before: how the pressure has never been greater and the stakes have never been higher.
As some of the NBA’s biggest stars – such as Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo – step into a dark zone of otherworldly concentration and single-mindedness were the world seemingly consists only of themselves, the ball and the hoop, the commercial states “Welcome to gut-check time. Where coming close doesn’t count. The Playoffs. They either make you or they break you.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’ve already done it. Or if you’re just getting started,” said Arts & Letters’ Nana Dadzie’s. “This is the time to make a run or run out of chances. Because it’s either get-one-step-closer-to-trophy time. Or just time to go home. Time will tell.”
The video features, in order of appearance, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Jimmy Butler, Nikola Jokic, Lebron James, Damian Lillard, Trae Young, Julius Randle, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Clint Capela, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, Ben Simmons, Paul George, Luka Doncic, Zion Williamson, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, John Collins, Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown.
“We wanted to show the intense mental focus it takes to be a championship team in the NBA by creating a surreal void with VFX to isolate the players and get into their heads,” explained Arts & Letters Creative Director Molly Jamison.
The campaign was created for ESPN’s EVP Of Commercial Marketing, Networks and ESPN Laura Gentile, VP Of Sports Marketing Emeka Ofodile, Director of Sports Marketing Lucas Ferraro, Manager Of Sports Marketing Ruba Sbeah and Coordinator Of Sports Marketing Maximo Reyes by a team at Arts & Letters Creative Company.
The agency team included Founder/Executive Creative Director Charles Hodges,
Director of Strategy Andy Grayson, Managing Director Rich Weinstein, Creative Directors Molly Jamison and NJ Placentra, Art Director Albert Song, Copywriter Whitney Repole, Executive Producer Keith Jamerson, Producer Griffin Morrow, Music Supervisors Cam DiNunzio and Casey Wheeler, Group Business Director Theo Abel, Business Director Hill Shore, Business Manager Darius Watkins, Strategy Directors Zack Stergar and Alex Morrison, Strategist Nana Dadzie, Director of Business Affairs Lenora Cushing and Business Affairs Assistant Jennifer Kmetzsch.
Other members of the team included Executive Producer Whitney Green, Director of Operations Adam Katzenback, Lead Producer Joe Hobaica, VFX Director Geoff Castillo, Lead VFX Artist Colin Stackpole, Animator Josh Jouppi, Editors Eric Schoenbrunn and Pat Blumer, plus Assistant Editor Stuart Mauck.
Further input came from Wave Studios with Aaron Reynolds, Vicky Ferraro and Eleni Giannopoulos.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.