ESPN is promoting its coverage of the UK's 2012/2013 FA Cup through a multimedia campaign called “Cup of Dreams,” which demonstrates how important the soccer tournament is to fans.
The main two creative elements play on the idea that when a soccer fan's team is doing well in the FA Cup, they can think of little else.
One creative element shows a man redoing the wiring on a building so it looks like the FA Cup. It began to appear on outdoor sites on Wednesday in a campaign tailored to the clubs playing in the tournament's third round.
The effort began on digital and mobile on Wednesday and then on UK TV networks ITV, Sky Sports, and ESPN later this week. An accompanying national newspaper print campaign will start on January 5.
The TV campaign will also include the film Play Room, which shows a dad organizing a constellation of stick-on stars in the shape of the FA Cup. Promos on ESPN's channels will include four additional creative elements.
ESPN and BDA Creative produced the campaign. At BDA, copywriters were Sally Bowness and Paul Maley, while executive creative director Pete Conolly led the creative direction. Richard Cousins directed the films, and the stills photographer was Dylan Collard.
Alex Lowe, associate marketing director at ESPN EMEA, said the FA Cup “has a rich and glorious heritage that we celebrate proudly at ESPN.”
First and foremost, we are fans ourselves. We understand the passion,” he said. “And through our new FA Cup campaign, we aim to capture and bring to life a fan's anticipation, obsession, and optimism for the tournament ahead of each round."
Arena Media managed media planning and buying. The campaign will run through the end of this season's tournament in May 2013.
ESPN's four-year deal to broadcast the FA Cup began with the 2010/2011 tournament. The Disney-owned broadcaster shares the rights with ITV, whose contract also ends with the 2013/2014 season.
ESPN broadcasts 23 games from the UK Barclays Premier League, but the network missed out on the rights from the 2013/2014 season after it was outbid by BT in June.
This article was originally published on the website of Campaign, the sister publication of PRWeek at Haymarket Media.
