ESPN & partner agency BSSP on celebrating fantasy football’s passionate communities
In its latest marketing campaign, developed in partnership with ad agency BSSP, ESPN chose to celebrate real stories from fantasy football leagues. Welcome back to Convene. Challenge. Change., an editorial partnership between The Drum and The 4A’s, where we tease out the dynamics in brand-agency relationships that lead to stand-out results.
Last week, a Chicago Cubs fan was spotted at Wrigley Field dressed as a clown, face paint and all. Attached to the front of his shirt was a sign that read: “I suck at fantasy football.”
This Cubs fan in the Wrigley Field bleachers seemingly finished last place in fantasy football. pic.twitter.com/6TrUQxiK83
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 20, 2024
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To some, this might seem like a cruel, if silly, punishment for someone who’d clearly come in last place in his friend group’s fantasy football league. But to others, it’s a perfect example of the camaraderie, competitiveness and hilarity that imbues fantasy sports with their charm.
And for the marketing team at ESPN – the world’s largest fantasy sports platform, catering to around 20 million players around the world – it represents a learning opportunity: just the kind of lovably bizarre fan behavior that can help the brand to hone its strategy for reaching and engaging the fantasy football community.
“We obsess about understanding sports fans,” Seth Ader, vice-president of brand marketing at ESPN, recently told Marla Kaplowitz, president of the 4A’s. “And one of the insights that we've discovered is that fantasy football is about a lot more than football. The more we talk to fans, the more we understand that the thing they love is the way that fantasy football unlocks connection and community for people.”
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Fantasy football groups form across the social spectrum, Ader said; he’s seen leagues formed between work colleagues, school chums, childhood friends, former armed service members. “And what's so special to them,” he said, “are the traditions that are baked into some of these leagues” – traditions like, perhaps, forcing your friend to dress up like a clown in a stadium packed full of people, publicly declaring his shame.
These types of stories serve as inspiration for the media giant’s latest ad campaign. Developed in partnership with ad agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP), the campaign is a celebration of real-life fantasy football leagues, and their unique rituals.
One spot, for example, highlights a real group of friends in Tennessee (played by actors) who determine their draft order each season by eating spicy wings; the first one to reach for a cooling glass of milk is the loser.
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For BSSP CEO Tracey Pattani, the biggest takeaway from the campaign is that, when it comes to marketing, reality is often stranger – and more insightful – than anything that could be dreamed up in a creative strategist’s mind.
“Real people are so much more interesting than us sitting in a room, like, developing stories ourselves,” she told Kaplowitz. “I mean, it’s just literally a treasure trove of stories out there that we can spotlight.”
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BSSP and ESPN will continue to explore new ways to lean into the spirit of community and tradition that has blossomed around fantasy football.
This week, the two organizations collaborated to release customizable greeting cards as a way for players to playfully celebrate their opponents’ victories – or rag on them for their losses.
“That’s just one example of how we can expand and extend the play experience beyond the platform,“ she said, “and learn about what is valuable to audiences in their desire for that spirit and fun and competition.“
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