AWARD CATEGORY: Viral Promotion (First Place)
CAMPAIGN: Battle of the Bands & The Quest for the Crystal
AGENCY: ESPN
CLIENT: Paramount Home Entertainment
Never underestimate the power of team spirit.
ESPN learned that first hand after it drove awareness and sales for the DVD release of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” with a play on ESPN college football. The campaign was built on the premise that college students would rally around their respective football teams in big numbers to support their team’s participation in the promotion.
The agency hired film crews that spent two weeks filming seven of the top college marching bands. It placed the videos on an Indiana Jones-branded environment on ESPN.com, where people could also find movie trailers and information on how to buy the DVD.
Then it put the word out that students could vote for the band that best performed the “Indiana Jones” theme song, and the college football team they thought would win the national championship trophy. Clips of the band performances and other promotions that sent people to the Web site aired on various ESPN TV properties, including college football games and on College Football Live, College GameDay and SportsCenter. In addition, a co-branded spot featured clips from the Indiana Jones film and footage of the bands set to the film’s theme song. Print ads in ESPN the Magazine and co-branded media on ESPN.com also supported the promotion.
Once people voted for their favorite band performance or college football team, players could enter a sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to an ESPN-televised Bowl game and receive copies of the “Indiana Jones” DVD box set signed by the star of the film, Harrison Ford.
Word spread fast. More than 2.89 million page views were logged, with people spending an average 1:30 on the site. More than 184,200 votes were cast for the bands and 57,007 sweepstakes entries came in. The end result: more than 3 million DVDs sold in the first week of the release.
Network
