Soft Selling ESPN

I had a bit of a rant about Setanta earlier in the year about how they came storming into the football broadcasting market and expected football fans to dish out over £10 a month to see additional live games. Now that they're gone, ESPN have come along and are trying to shift the monopoly of Sky Sports. The big difference between ESPN's strategy and that of Setanta is that ESPN have taken a much gentler approach and have tried not to become just another broadcaster that wants consumers money.

In the 60 second spot below, ESPN have tried to reflect the passion of being a football fan. There is no mention of any monthly fee, just a delivery that indicates the channel is a passionate follower of football. The ad seeks to emulate the oath of football that exists in so many towns and cities across the country. The call to action in the final frame, enables ESPN to develop a brand experience for consumers through their customer service or online presence. After football fans rejection of Setanta last season, the knowledge that ESPN is not merely trying to take our money is one that I believe will gain the broadcaster a lot of support.



Obviously to try and maintain its dominance Sky has created a series of ads depicting the feeling football brings and how they share this passion. A similar execution to that of ESPN, it may be difficult for viewers to differentiate between the two broadcasters and therefore due to the high level of brand awareness for Sky Sports, the UK brand may just come out on top. A clever piece of strategic advertising from Sky.