The NFL released a five-minute Public Service Announcement featuring more than 50 current and former NFL players and coaches which encouraged fans to stay home and offered suggestions and illustrations on how to make the best of the situation.
Created by 72andSunny and set to music by The Mighty Rio Grande, the film was narrated by former Chiefs and Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez (a 14-time Pro Bowl selection and the NFL record-holder for total receiving yards by a tight end) and it shows slices of players’ lives which are similar to what everyone else is experiencing: puzzling, exercising, creating social media content and spending time with family.
The overarching message is: “These are challenging times for the world, but with every challenge comes an opportunity to come out stronger. We will get through this together. #StayHomeStayStrong”
It closes by driving viewers to learn about ways to boost your immune system. – https://bit.ly/39pCap4
The film features Davante Adams, Mark Andrews, Jerome Baker, David Bakhtiari, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Orlando Brown, Derek Carr, D.J. Chark, Bradley Chubb, Kirk Cousins, Johnathan Cyprien, Thomas Davis, Carlos Dunlap, Julian Edelman, Zach Ertz, Julie Ertz, Brett Favre, Larry Fitzgerald, Taylor Gabriel, Tony Gonzalez, Shaquem Griffin, Shaquill Griffin, Robert Griffin III, Lawrence Guy, Marlon Humphrey, Derwin James, Marvin Jones Jr. Cameron Jordan, Greg Joseph, Alvin Kamara, Ryan Kerrigan, George Kittle, Jarvis Landry, Darius Leonard, Ray Lewis, Curtis Martin, Thomas Morstead, CJ Mosley, Steve Nelson, Sean Payton, Harrison Phillips, Frank Ragnow, Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders, Nick Scott, Juju Smith-Schuster, Michael Strahan, Mitchell Schwartz, Shaq Thompson, Juan Thornhill, Troy Vincent, Fred Warner, JJ Watt, Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson and Ciara.
With production agencies and editing suites shut down around the world, the league and agency and league knew the PSA would need to be built out of footage sent in from players and coaches.
The ad was developed through compressed timeline and created from an estimated 90 minutes of total footage and the creative brief was tighter than is typical to ensure consistency in terms of quality and shot so that the agency could stitch a narrative together into a coherent piece of creative.
“We had a very clear brief that we sent them,” explained Ellis. “We wanted them to tell us the one thing that [they were] doing at home that is helping everyone in their family stay focused, safe and strong. And then we gave them some ideas on areas to explore as well.”
Glenn Cole, 72andSunny co-founder and creative chair, added that it was important not to send overcomplicated directions to such a diverse group of creatives which spanned athletes shooting themselves on their smartphone or photographer taking pictures in n-home studios.”
“A lot of the work was done in the first couple days just ironing out the brief,” said Cole. “I think the result is from the very narrow focus or, in this case, video challenge we gave them.”
The spot followed some quick fan research from the NFL to develop an understanding of what football supporters were feeling during the coronavirus crisis and how sports fit in with the current realities.
“It became clear to us that there were two things that were important for us from a fan perspective. First was to be responsible and make sure that everyone out there understands what [the NFL is] doing and why,” said NFL CMO Tim Ellis.
“And then, secondly, give us some level of escapism. Give us content and something that can take our minds off of all the things that we’re thinking about on a day-to-day basis.”
Comment:
Could this kind of approach change the way sports marketers work in the future?
Cole and Ellis believe that it might.
“I think that’s going to have a great holdover effect because, in the usual office experience you can get a little loose on the strategies,” Cole said. “This will make us stronger, more effective marketers.”
Especially in terms of what marketers and talent are learning in terms of functional skills, being practical, efficient and effective and in terms of engaging people.
Thus far, since it was posted on 26 March, the spot has generated 7.5m organic views across the NFL’s own social channels (including 5.3m on Twitter, 1.4m on Facebook with 23k Likes and Loves, 545,000 on Instagram and 113,600 views on the NFL’s YouTube channel in its first seven days.
The NFL is also one of many US sports organisations making major financial contributions to charities fighting the coronavirus crisis with an initial $35m donation to 10 organizations including the American Red Cross, Meals on Wheels, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and United Way.
Indeed, across the sporting world companies are ramping up fundraising, design, manufacturing and facilities support to help with COVID-19 relief.
For example, the NBA is making a $50m commitment and other sports leagues and teams around the world are building programs to help various charities and organizations working on relief through fundraising, promotion and facilities and helping staff manage reduced income.
Nike ran its own PSA campaign, committed an initial $15m to charities and is also promoting indoor activities and exercises through the brand’s app and making premium access free.
Adidas is also running a comprehensive, ambassador-led, creative social media platform for health, wellbeing, engagement and entertainment during social distancing.
MLB apparel manufacturer Fanatics is gearing up to produce one million masks using the its baseball team material, while hockey brand Bauer is repurposing its facilities to make medical face masks.
Links:
NFL
http://www.nflshop.com/source/bm-nflc…
72AndSunny
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