US sports broadcasting behemoth ESPN rolled out a summer ‘Only In Fantasy’ campaign featuring sledging and smack talk to promote its ESPN Fantasy Football platform through creative which tests relationships as well as sports knowledge.
The live action campaign, which was developed in harness with agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP), highlights the inherent humour of the game through unlikely rivalries and alliances by highlighting players’ humorous antics and the risks associated with being in last place or losing to loved ones.
The campaign is built around a series of short-form, high-impact spots which air across the USA: each forms a comic vignette telling a story about how fantasy football can be a major part of daily life and relationships.
The ads intentionally feature unlikely situations – like co-workers referring to one another by their fantasy team names and married couples discussing their fantasy football disagreements in therapy – all of which are posited to happen ‘only in fantasy’.
The various spots, which come in stand-alone and paired formats, began airing on the channel and across ESPN’s social platforms from 18 July. The ads run across linear TV and online video and are supported with media running across radio, podcast, digital ads and OOH and further spots are planned to roll out in the coming weeks.
According to the agency the creative situations drew on insights from the brand’s research which found that the fantasy football community connection between family, friends and co-workers is a key reason people continue to play.
ESPN VP Brand Marketing Seth Ader commented: “After our record-breaking season in 2021, this year we’re highlighting what makes the game so great: community, camaraderie and truisms that occur only in fantasy football. Fantasy is a place where people from all walks of life come together, build long-lasting relationships, and enjoy some healthy smack talk along the way. The campaign employed a new approach to marketing, with a series of 15-second spots, featuring fantasy players in various locations and life stages.”
“The world of Fantasy Football is filled with so many hilarious truths, it’s undeniably fun to play. And this was an undeniably fun project to work on. Only in fantasy are the rituals, smack talk, last place punishments, punny team names, and the relationships it puts to the test, the very things that make it so enjoyable to be a part of,” explained BSSP Creative Director Robyn Tenebaum. “Our extremely-passionate-about-fantasy team wanted to highlight how Fantasy Football is the only place where this kind of stuff exists, and it’s played only on ESPN.”
The campaign was created for ESPN EVP Commercial Marketing Networks & ESPN Laura Gentile, VP Brand Marketing Seth Ader, Senior Director Brand Marketing Peter Mulally, Associate Director Brand Marketing John Lobo and Marketing Assistant Brand Marketing Lenny Washington by BSSP.
The agency team which worked on the campaign included Executive Creative Director Sinan Dagli, Creative Director Robyn Tenenbaum, Design Director Dennis Remsing, Art Director Cedric Thurman, Senior Copywriters Justin Cannon and Julia Waicberg, Senior Producer Cade Wallace, Head Of Strategy Jake Bayham, Account Director AJ Marino and Account Supervisor Amanda Burtnett.
The production company was World War Seven with Director Mama, Director Of Photography Damian Joaquin Acevedo, Executive Producer Megan Pfaffenroth and Line Producer Kelly Crooks.
Editoiral was handled by Work Editorial, VFX by Exile, colour by Company 3 and sound design by Th3rd Sound.
Comment
This marketing burst follows on from previous ESPN fantasy campaigns by BSSP such as the 2019 ‘1+1=ESPN Fantasy Football’ and it is an interesting contrast to other memorable comic fantasy football campaigns such as the 2013 ‘NFL Fantasy Football Ad – Had a Bad Day’ spot.
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