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Global sports platform ESPN has launched two new campaigns to build hype and anticipation for the new era of College Football.
Helmed by advertising agency Arts & Letters, “There’s Never Been A Season Like This” and “This One is Different” celebrate this year’s season and the new and expanded format that comes with it.
The latest efforts are marked by two spots, with the playoff spot initially airing on November 18 and the National Championship going live over the past weekend.
Each spot is designed to build excitement, giving fans a front-row seat to the Championship showdown in a way they've never experienced before.
ESPN VP of Sports Marketing Curtis Friends shared his thoughts behind the campaign, saying they promised that the season will be a whole new experience.
“[A]nd as the expanded 12-team playoff unveiled itself, the fan excitement was undeniable […] Building off that feeling, we dialed up the pageantry and intensity in the creative campaign to speak to the energy and high stakes that is the College Football Playoff leading into the National Championship game,” Friends added.
Arts & Letters Creative Director Mike Behrends reinforced Friends’ sentiment, saying that both the Playoffs and National Championship campaigns were designed to “amplify the dramatic ending of a new college football season.”
The advertising agency is no stranger to making compelling and effective sports ads.
Through sleek and striking visuals, it exemplifies masterful brand storytelling that not only brings awareness to the ESPN brand but also generates a new kind of excitement this football season.
A Season Like No Other
Unlike the playoffs spot, the National Championship ad is heavier on visual effects, with animations courtesy of Elastic Pictures.
It starts off with each team written on the playoffs bracket, as its gold plaques slowly transform into something else.
“There’s never been a path to a national championship like this. As the final teams take the field, everyone will know this one is bigger,” the narrator shares.
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The plaques then clip on each other and meld together like a machine, with glimpses of different games seen on tiny LED screens.
It is then revealed that the plaques have transformed into a golden championship trophy.
“In the end, one team will have done something no other team in the history of College Football has ever done,” the narrator says, as she announces the date for the National Championship airing this January 20.
Previously, ESPN and Arts & Letters teamed up for a UFC spot that celebrates the "Art of Combat."
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