With the college football season starting this week, ESPN has launched a new integrated College GameDay Built by The Home Depot campaign that captures the emotion of fandom and the unpredictability that inspires viewers to get up and tune in every Saturday for the show, currently in its 27th season.
With the tagline “Get Up. It’s GameDay,” the campaign features a series of 30 and 15-second spots with a revamped tone, music and look across multiple platforms, while pushing to GameDay’s new 9 a.m. ET start time on ESPN. From actor Will Ferrell’s comical disagreement with analyst Lee Corso to appearances from mascots and shots of some of the most creative fan signage, the ads use footage from previous editions, highlighting some of the funniest and most unpredictable moments of the show.
“We wanted to create a campaign that was as unscripted and unpredictable as the show,” said Scott Parker, vice president of consumer marketing at ESPN. “Given the spontaneous nature of college football, compiling some of the best and funniest moments among hosts and fans seemed like a perfect way to bring to life the truth that ‘anything can happen on GameDay.’”
The first two spots, “Get Up for 9 a.m.” (below) and “Anthem,” (above) debuted Monday and features Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard, and Chris Fowler.
The first depicts early morning (or late night to some) preparations for the show to the sound of The Lion King’s classic song Circle Of Life. “Anthem,” on the other hand, emphasizes various aspects of the show and taglines within the campaign. There’s also an extended 60-second version of “Anthem,” which will run on social media.
“We were fortunate enough to have Lee Fitting [College GameDay senior coordinating producer] give us an all-access look into GameDay and witness the chemistry Lee, Coach [Corso], Kirk, Chris, and Des share. You just can’t fake that stuff. We wanted to capture that same level of passion, knowledge and creativity in the stories we tell,” said Matt Johnson, group strategy director at 72andSunny. “We actually had guys at the agency whose job it was to watch every second of every GameDay show from the last three years.”
GameDay’s season opener on Saturday, Aug. 31, will be an unprecedented four hours (9 a.m. – 1 p.m.) of features, analysis and discussion from the campus of Clemson University. The No. 8 Tigers will open their season later that night against the No. 5-ranked Georgia Bulldogs during Saturday Night Football at 8 p.m. on ABC.
