Presenting partner YouTube TV has again ‘taken over’ the MLB World Series with a campaign that spans in-game spots, traditional advertising and striking in-stadium branding.
Territory: USA
Agency: Hook
Objective
Building on its original 2017 World Series activation (see case study), the live TV streaming service leveraged its Presenting Sponsor status with broadcaster Fox with an integrated ‘World Series presented by YouTube TV’ activation which primarily sought to further drive awareness of the new brand and secondarily drive new subscriptions.
Activation
One of the most notable strands of the brand’s activation around this year World Series, between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, sees broadcaster Fox insert augmented reality ads for YouTube TV which onscreen before the first pitch and during the seventh-inning stretch.
This sees the YouTube TV commercial appear as if it is being broadcast from the stadium’s giant video screen.
These ‘stadium screen’ spots start with a 90-second video that segues straight from the live game action.
This lead spot, which introduces a new ‘Watch Like a Fan’ slogan, is narrated by Mila Kunis.
It blends footage from Fox, FX, Fox Sports and National Geographic programmes available on YouTube TV with footage of viewers watching those shows.
Also, during the game, Fox cut in with 10-second ‘double-box’ executions themed to link to the real-time game situation such as pitching changes or extra innings.
For example:
> During a mound visit the commercial section of the screen said “Let’s talk strategy, put us in coach.”
> Before a power hitter comes to bat, the ad says “Knock it out of the park with cable-free live TV.”
> With men in scoring position, the copy reads “Bring cable-free live TV home.”
Fox and MLB also worked with YouTube TV to create a contest for YouTube ‘creators’ to produce baseball-themed video and the winner of the competition will throw out the first pitch in Game 4.
Fox is also giving out ‘YouTube TV Fan Awards’ at games,
How bout this one my guy just earned himself the @youtubetv Fan Award for Most Colorful Commentator…
look out for a DM from @YouTubeTV (n be sure to follow them) to collect your GOAT trophy #YTSponsored pic.twitter.com/lAvrBXi2W8— David Ortiz (@davidortiz) October 24, 2018
Great post! Maybe one of the greatest of all time…This deserves the YouTube TV Fan Award for #MOOD.@YouTubeTV will DM your inbox soon (be sure to follow them). In the meantime, get back to watching the game live on YouTube TV! #YTSponsored pic.twitter.com/fj39fOLJS1
— Jessica Mendoza (@jessmendoza) October 25, 2018
while the campaign is further supported by (predominantly) fan focused social content.
We're all fans here. https://t.co/Us5Bh46JNu pic.twitter.com/g68o6pXrzk
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) October 24, 2018
*sweats nervously and thinks about nachos* #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/FFPqagVM6u
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) October 25, 2018
When the battle goes from coast to coast, anything can happen. All the action starts tonight when the dominant @RedSox take on the determined @Dodgers.
Watch the #WorldSeries LIVE on FOX with YouTube TV. pic.twitter.com/27PjnG2ubl
— YouTube TV (@YouTubeTV) October 23, 2018
If the 2017 work was focused on raising awareness of the new streaming service, this year’s campaign is more of a celebration of the offering.
It aims to celebrate subscribers, plus the power that sport and television has to bring people together, to elevate mood and excitement and deepen love and engagement.
“The first year was, OK, here’s what it is, and this year, we want to celebrate what it delivers, which is more of what you love,” explains YouTube marketing global head of entertainment, emdia and experience Angela Courtin.
According to Courtin, the central spot acts as a “is a love letter to our fans and fans of TV” adds Courtin (who sees this as a fairly direct counterpoint to competitor Hulu’s ‘Better Ruins Everything’ campaign).
Plus, this World Series sees the return of the YouTube TV red button logo placement behind home plate – which is positioned and framed to have the effect of reminding TV viewers of watching a YouTube video.
Outcome
According to Angela Courtin, global head of YouTube TV & originals marketing, the campaign generated “double digit” lift in awareness and brought in a wave of new subscribers that “far exceeded” YouTube’s expectations.
Comment:
The AR, stadium screen spots are certainly pretty inventive.
And they build on the superbly positioned brand ‘play button’ logo behind home plate so ensure that the brand feels like it is fully integrated into the stadium and present amidst the action.
Like last year, this activation will generate plenty of debate heated debate among baseball viewers and sports marketers.
As with its work leveraging the 2017 series, YouTube TV’s activation is both groundbreaking and controversial.
Some considered it smart, and it certainly cut through, but others feel it is too intrusive.
Although we’d argue that it is clever integration that never actually detracts from what the fans love.
Yet some still rail against the decision of MLB and its broadcasters to agree to the ‘presented by’ status was seen by some as the moment when baseball’s advertising rubicon was crossed.
If statistical results are anything to go by, then YouTube TV has plenty of evidence to demonstrate that its strategy is a successful one.
After all, last year’s World series activation resulted in major increases in both big signup increases and brand awareness lifts.
Little wonder then, that, after last year’s success, March saw the Google owned brand double down on it sports strategy when it signed an expanded two-year deal with the MLB to ‘present’ the World Series through 2019.
YouTube TV, which promotes the live sports it carries, is also the sponsor of the NBA Finals.
These are the kind of partnerships that have also helped the MLB hold steady in terms of ad revenues through the season.
A report in early October from Kantar Media showed MLB national advertising spend totalled $230.5m in the 2018 regular season
These statistics run through to 26 September, so don’t include the final season ending match-ups, the playoffs, or the World Series.
This matches 2017’s $230.6m and is up from 2016’s $225.2m.
According to Kantar, Softbank Corp was baseball’s top spender at $10.1m during the 2018 regular season, followed by General Motors, Berkshire Hathaway, Ford Motor and Verizon Communications.
Links:
YouTube TV
https://tv.youtube.com/welcome/
https://twitter.com/YouTubeTV
MLB
mlb.tv
http://mlb.mlb.com/mobile/atbat
