ESPN - College GameDay

Now in its 25th season, College GameDay is the traveling epicenter of college football and is embraced by fans, coaches and players around the country.

Challenge

For millions of college football fans, ESPN’s College GameDay is not just a show, it’s a Saturday tradition. Our challenge was to maintain the brand’s authenticity within the campaign and keep fans engaged with the brand for the other six days of the week.

Solution

We brought fans closer to the game they love by lowering the barriers between fans and agency, and developing an integrated campaign that features college football traditions, high-profile coaches and insights that fans can only get from College GameDay.

Results

Fans were able to dictate which mascot head would appear in one of our six commercials by voting for their favorite mascot on a Facebook poll. Benny the Beaver earned the most votes and was featured in the “Dry Cleaner” spot after receiving 44,000 out of the more than 100,000 total votes that were cast in just 24 hours. Along with this spot, five other spots were introduced at the beginning of the season and have captured over 110,000 combine YouTube plays (just four weeks into the season), while creating awareness for the Facebook, Twitter and CollegeGameDay.com channels. The College GameDay Facebook fanpage, featuring apps such as the Lee Corso Mascot Head Generator and Saturday Selections, has amassed more than 630,000 fans. Additionally, the Twitter following has increased nearly 50% (now over 118,000 followers) since the beginning of the season.