ESPN turned to Broadstreet for the second year in a row to design and deliver the most important communication event for its Customer Marketing and Sales organization. After producing a musical for the previous year's upfront, Broadstreet turned to ESPN's most brand-centric, internationally recognized property, SportsCenter.
In the words of George Bodenheimer, Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports, "SportsCenter best represents the ESPN brand and is central to all that we do."
Entrusted with the heart of ESPN's brand, Broadstreet created and produced, "SportsCenter: Upfront Edition" a live version of the popular program aimed to resonate with both sports fans and "ad fans."
At the Nokia Theatre in New York City, Broadstreet recreated the SportsCenter studio, complete with signature graphics and HD video. An original script was developed to communicate the new programming opportunities for advertisers in SportsCenter fashion chocked with stats, commentary and highlights all moving at light speed to the delight of the most crackberry addicted, Attention Deficit Disordered attendee.
Hosted by real life SportsCenter anchors, Steve Levy and Scott Van Pelt the show featured traditional SportsCenter devices such as "Fact or Fiction," in depth interviews with ESPN executives and exciting highlight videos previewing what to expect from ESPN-all peppered with the kind of self deprecating irreverence only Levy and Van Pelt could contribute.
The result for attendees was a fast paced dive into the programming and platform pool at ESPN. Viewers enjoyed a truly branded experience that propelled them into the media and the message. ESPN was able to use their flagship program in a unique way to reach advertisers and media buyers. This exceptional experience created a breakthrough for ESPN allowing their most important customers to take a fresh look at the opportunities available for their brands.
After the event Bruce Jackson, ESPN's Vice President, Marketing Services commented, "We took a concept that is at the core of ESPN, adapted it to our needs and produced a show that scored well on substance and style reviews."