Entertainment Lions For Sport > Branded Content for Sport
GTB, Dearborn / FORD / 2020
Overview
Credits
Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?
The Ford EcoSport is the brand's SUV targeted at young people who love sports, which is why it has been sponsoring NBA TV broadcasts as well as the Brazilian basketball league. With that in mind, we used the sponsorship to create a unique experience for fans watching all five games of the local league finals at home in a partnership with Fox Sports, removing the noise of shoe squeaking – something so unique to basketball games, some people noticed it. With the stunt, we presented EcoSport's anti skid technology directly at people's houses, with no need for a test drive.
Background
The Ford EcoSport is the official sponsor of basketball TV broadcasts on ESPN and Fox Sports in Brazil. It doesn't matter if it's the local league of the NBA, every game you turn your TV on to watch. Plus, the brand also sponsors the Brazilian basketball league, and wanted to activate this deal to present EcoSport's newest safety feature – the anti skid technology – creating an experience that would happen during the game and could catch people's attention.
Describe the creative idea
Shoe squeaking is something that every basketball has. Be it a pro league game, a match played on the streets or a quick shootout with friends in your backyard. So, to introduce basketball fans to Ford's anti skid technology, we removed the noise of shoes skidding on court – something they are so used to listening to during games on TV that they noticed something was different once we turned the sound off. The stunt happened in all five games of the local league finals , and at the end of each insertion the commentator talked about it, highlighting the car's feature with the help of a live banner on TV. That way, we modified a traditional sound on live TV broadcast of basketball games to turn it into a new media and reach sports fans with a new experience.
Describe the strategy
The EcoSport is an entry level SUV, targeted at people who love sports. So, with the finals of the local league happening simultaneously with the NBA finals, basketball was one of the main topics in the country and we took over TV broadcasts of the games to impact and surprise fans watching them.
Describe the execution
In a partnership with Fox Sports, we installed a series of different microphones all over the court to capture the sound of shoes squeaking on the court. That way, we could select the audio channel containing that sound and turn it off during live TV broadcast. People watching the game at home noticed something different and after 1 minute of game without any sneaker sounds, the commentator explained the stunt, with a pop up banner on TV offering discounts and inviting people over to our website.
Describe the outcome
We had an increase of traffic to our website during all five games of the local league finals, peaking every time the stunt happened. Those numbers increased as high as 83%, and with coverage on other programmes on Fox Sports and ESPN, as well as on sports websites helped us reach over R$10MM in earned media. During the games, Google searches for "AdvanceTrac" – the name of the anti skid technology – went through the roof, with a 175% increase.
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