FanDuel and agency Wieden+Kennedy have teamed up with retired NFL super star Rob Gronkowski for a ‘Kick of Destiny’ campaign revolving around challenging the recently retired (for the second time) NFL super star tight end to kick a 25-yard field goal on Super Bowl Sunday.
Despite Gronk’s 11-year career and his five appearance in The Big Game, he’s never needed to hone his kicking skills on the grid iron, but that is all about to change on 12 February in Arizona.
The live event will take place at an undisclosed location near Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium (the site of Super Bowl LVII) and if Gronk succeeds all those with a $5+ Super Bowl wager via FanDuel (placed after the start of the campaign up to kickoff) will share a $10m pot.
This brand marketing story, which launched on 9 January and will culminate on 12 February during the third quarter of the Super Bowl mixes live action with commercials and began on 9 january with the launch of an ad titled ‘Kick Of Destiny – Agent’’
The launch spot was supported by digital, social and OOH elements and by a follow-up commercial featuring former team mate and Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri (referenced in the debut ad) which dropped on 17 January as the brand gradually ups its media presence in the lead up to the Big Game.
A third ‘Media’ interview style spot followed on 31 January.
“We are looking to leverage all of FanDuel’s media during the NFL playoffs to create a narrative that culminates with the Super Bowl,” explained W+K New York Group Creative Director Gerard Caputo. “While this is a Super Bowl assignment, it’s also about the full journey that builds to that big moment. We see lots of big commercials every year with celebrities and borrowed interest, which are very entertaining, but we want to engage more than just entertain. In addition, we wanted FanDuel to feel truly part of the game and put something on the line as the leader in the category and a growing sports entertainment brand.”
The campaign was created for client FanDuel by a team at agency W+K New York which included Chief Creative Officer Scott Dungate, President Jiah Choi, Group Creative Director Gerard Caputo, Senior Copywriter Barry Katz, Senior Art Director Alex Kaplan, Art Director Hannah Campbell, Head Of Integrated Production Nick Setounski, Executive Producer Sam Kilbreth, Senior Producers Bianca Cochran, Tania Pirozzi and Rodrigo Nino, Senior Art Producer Diana Pam, Print Producer Wayne Treptow, Group Account Director Ryan Johnson, Account Director Perry Kayla Fox, Account Supervisor Nico Rodriguez , Account Executive Will Parker, Senior Project Manager Alex Doomany, Global Group Strategy Director Téphane Missier, Senior Strategist David Ceng, Communications Planning Director Zack Green, Senior Comms Strategist Javaad Beg, Senior Business Affairs Manager Paul Fitzgerald, Business Affairs Manager Ivian Nunez, Traffic Supervisor Sonia Bisono, Traffic Manager Jacqueline Crane, Head Of Studio Chris Whalley, Studio Manager Jill Kearton, Senior Studio Artist Nate D’alessandro, Design Lead James Hughes and Junior Designer Tyler Smith.
The production company was Arts & Sciences with Director Mike Warzi, Managing Partner Marc Marrie, Managing Director Mal Ward, Executive Producer Christa Skotland, Head Of Production Milena Milicevic, Line Producer Joey Zadwarny, Director Of Photography Autumn Durald, Production Designer Eric Archer and First Assistant Director Jason Lombardo.
Others working on the project included Editorial Company Arcade NY, VFX Company Parliament, Colorist Outfit Company 3, Design & Animation Studio Los York, with sound design and mix by Brian Goodheart, original music from Walker, the photographer was Emily Shur (Giant Artists), with retouching by 150Proof & Co.
Comment
By going early, this campaign seeks to drive interest well ahead of the Big Game.
You can’t keep The Gronk is the shadows…..even when he’s retired (for the second time) he is still playing for high stakes in the Super Bowl.
Few brand ambassadors would ever dare to take on this kind of challenge: but Gronkowski (an iconic tight end turned familiar pitchman) is one of those few – after all, he has the mass market appeal, the energy, the goofy personality, the attitude and, potentially, the athletic ability to give it a go.
But, after endless Big Game ad appearances (such as for Groupon, T-Mobile and EA’s Madden) might we have already seen too much of marketing Gronk?
We will leave it up to you to decide!
Interestingly, FanDuel archrival DraftKings will also make an ad appearance at the 2023 Super Bowl with a spot starring Kevin Hart (we’d like to see him try and kick a field goal).
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