Loved from this week: Jacksonville Jaguars' 2020 Schedule Reveal
I’m always down for an opportunity to combine my loves for sports and brand marketing/communications. I just didn’t expect the 2020 NFL Schedule announcement to provide much fodder. Oh, contraire mon frere!
This week’s "thing I loved” comes compliments of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. After the welcome distraction and unexpected entertainment value of a humanized, virtual NFL Draft, the next milestone on the league’s calendar was the reveal of the 2020 schedule. Booooring.
Even as a BIG NFL football fan, I never got into how this became “an event.” But, it is…or at least it’s been manufactured by enough people to feel like one. Heck, ESPN aired a three-hour special to go through the complete docket with a painstaking level of fantastical “analysis.”
As such, this holiday now dictates that all 32 NFL teams strategize on how to release their schedules to their respective fan bases. Many marketing, PR and social teams mail it in. They go with the simple helmet/logo transitions, simple graphics or, perhaps, a short video. One can’t completely blame them. Why spend too much time when fans are already hungry for the content, right? Put it out there and let the diehards have at it in the comments section for the next day or two.
Well, you could argue the opposite approach. I applaud the teams around the league who are starting to look at this moment for what it is…a mundane list of opponents that you can, nonetheless, transform into a great brand marketing opportunity with the right attitude and approach.
Why not push the envelope and do something creative that could further excite fans and drive social sharing? Take the opportunity to stand out and make a statement about your organization’s brand. It’s the perfect “safe zone” to experiment.
Want a great example of a team taking that attitude to heart? Hello, JAGS. Cats, people.
CATS. WORK. IT’S SCIENCE.
What’s not to love? The video was shared via the Jags Twitter handle on May 7:
JAGS TWITTER
JAGS TWITTER
The stats are telling. Great views, terrific engagement and pass-along, and media outlets around the country declaring the Jags the marketing winner of the day. What’s more, the cat meme theme has provided fodder for dozens of subsequent posts highlighting individual match ups, all gaining way more attention and interaction than any fancy copy or traditional highlight clips might.
How the Jags will fare in the 2020 season…if there is a 2020 season? Who knows? But, for a typically boring announcement day, they were World Champions.
