ESPN and Dos Equis help erase the line between game time and commercials

ESPN’s Chris Fowler may find himself in an unusual position when he’s in the middle of one of the college football games scheduled to air on ABC or ESPN. He might look at a monitor during a commercial break and see himself talking to millions of viewers, even though the channel is only showing ads.

That’s because Fowler, known to sports fans for years of hosting ABC’s Saturday night college football games and hosting ESPN’s long-running “College GameDay,” is an integral part of a new ad campaign from Heineken’s Dos Equis that aims to make beer a crucial part of the gaming experience . In addition to commercials featuring Fowler as a coach, Dos Equis has been holding a sweepstakes that could reward participants when teams “go dos” and attempt a two-point conversion.

“We’ve seen a lot of it in some of the most watched games of the season,” Fowler said during an interview.

TV networks have long experimented with blurring the lines between certain parts of popular programs and the commercial breaks, as anyone who has seen a Subway sandwich become part of the dialogue on shows like NBC’s “Chuck” or CBS’ “Hawaii Five” 0′ could see. to give evidence. But the current Dos Equis campaign is spotlighting some of the new techniques media companies are testing to combine programs and pitches in a way that prevents viewers from switching to other options.

“We want college football fans to feel like Dos Equis is ingrained in the sport, so it’s critical to be woven into the live game experience, not only during commercial breaks but also on the field,” said Jonnie Cahill, Chief Marketing Officer at Heineken. USA, in comments provided via email. For example, during a recent broadcast of a college football game featuring the Georgia Bulldogs and the Alabama Crimson Tide, Dos Equis appeared not only in commercial breaks but also with on-screen graphics when teams went for two-point conversions during the game. “We love the way we weave into the entire fan experience and tie it back to the brand,” says Cahill.

TV companies have long tried to do this kind of thing, but past work often came in the form of a “one-off,” or something that was difficult to repeat or show multiple times. For example, in 2010, ABC ran commercials for Stouffer’s that featured the casts of shows like “Ugly Betty” and “The Middle” dining on Nestle brand frozen entrees. More recently, Wells Fargo has been running a campaign with Steve Martin and Martin Show, with commercials that seem to be popping up regularly during the new cycle of Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” which stars the two actors. But the ads make the most sense when they run during programs featuring the characters the celebrities play.

The new ad effort featuring Fowler can air in many college football games and during general sports programming on ESPN and ABC, and still have some contextual relevance to viewers. “We believe these places will resonate with college football fans wherever they run,” Cahill said.

It’s not enough to make well-known network faces available for advertising. Fowler says he won’t participate in commercial campaigns unless he really feels connected to the product being advertised. “I’m going to enjoy it if the brand makes sense, if I like what it stands for, if the experience of making the commercial is fun. All those things are super important,” says Fowler.

Disney goes to great lengths to ensure its talent wants to participate in specific advertising efforts, said Christina Carey Dunleavy, vice president at Disney CreativeWorks, an internal agency that helped produce the new Dos Equis commercial. The company “wants to make sure the talent involved believes in what they’re talking about,” she says.

The campaign’s emphasis on ‘going for it’ appealed to Fowler. “The message is consistent with what I believe in life: make bold choices, listen to that inner voice, listen to your gut and go for more,” he says. When Fowler first joined ESPN in 1986, he did so for a college sports highlights program called “Scholastic Sports America” ​​— something that confused some of his acquaintances, he recalls. Some people told him, “That’s a small cable network. They are new. There is no future in that,” he continues, “it turned out well – not because I could see the future, but because it felt good at the time.”

Disney believes more advertisers will want to consider similar concepts, says Carey Dunleavy, especially as more marketers see value in alliances with so-called “influencers,” or enthusiasts who are able to build relationships with larger groups of fans or consumers. “I think you’ll see more,” she adds.