ESPN: Who's in?

This case study explains how American cable channel ESPN promoted the new playoff finals for College Football, by explaining the format and building excitement.

ESPN: Who's in?

ESPNWieden and Kennedy; NowWhat; Global Strategy Group; SSRS; Langer Associates; Point Logic

Summary

Over the past decade, College Football became second only to the NFL in popularity, despite being the only major American sport without a playoff to determine a true National Champion. Heading into the 2014-2015 season, College Football would finally get its playoff and ESPN acquired exclusive broadcast rights at an estimated $7B. In order to maximize the ROI of this rights acquisition, the business was tasked with creating a Super Bowl-caliber event through a year-long integrated marketing campaign.

Existing research identified two key...

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