Visa Scraps NFL Kickoff Ad For Last-Minute Harvey Spot
September 06 2017 - 12:10PM
Dow Jones News
By Alexandra Bruell
When the Visa marketing team met August 28 at 3 p.m. to discuss
its plan for the NFL season, including an ad set to appear in this
Thursday's kickoff game, the conversation quickly shifted to
Hurricane Harvey.
"We all collectively decided it didn't feel right to launch an
ad on behalf of our brand in the context of what's occurring in the
gulf states," said Chris Curtin, chief brand and innovation
marketing officer at Visa.
The company had spent over a month producing an ad that promoted
Visa's mobile payment features, but Mr. Curtin and his team decided
to save that ad for a later date and create a new spot that would
drive donations for Harvey victims.
Visa President Ryan McInerney and Chief Marketing Officer Lynne
Biggar both signed off on an initial plan that same afternoon,
without any guarantee that the necessary pieces would come
together.
Visa reached out to a handful of athletes it had worked with in
the past, as well as the Red Cross and the NFL. Players including
the New York Giants' Eli Manning, New England Patriots' Julian
Edelman and Carolina Panthers' Greg Olsen, among others, agreed to
film footage using iPhones and local production equipment at their
practice facilities and stadiums around the country.
In the ad, the athletes identify their team and city, before
saying, "But right now, we're all supporting the recovery efforts
in the Gulf Coast." Visa then encourages viewers to donate to the
Red Cross at the end.
The commercial process often gets bogged down by costly
production practices and lengthy approvals, especially when
celebrities, unions, leagues and teams are involved. Visa's
experience shows how advertisers, media companies and celebrities
can produce a high-profile national ad with limited resources and
time.
The NFL agreed to give an extension on the ship date deadline
for the ad and the Red Cross helped to set up a donation domain.
Creative agency BBDO prepared a script and guidelines for athletes
to capture content and edited the footage, and sports management
shop WME|IMG helped to connect Visa with the athletes and provided
public relations support.
Some of the footage filmed and sent back by the athletes was a
little blurry, creating a home-video effect, but it worked well for
this particular Visa spot, said Mr. Curtin.
"It's suggestive of a different way of doing media in the
future," said Mr. Curtin. While "it's not hyper-polished production
quality, it speaks to the authenticity of the spot."
Visa also managed to eliminate the usual endless negotiations
and back-and-forth with athletes' agents, managers and
publicists.
The entire process took less than 24 hours, said Mr. Olsen, a
tight end for the Panthers.
Mr. Olsen was on his way to his son's flag football game the
Tuesday evening after the storm hit when he got a call from his
marketing agent about the Visa ad. He immediately agreed to
participate.
"It was an opportunity to do something so small but have a great
impact, " said Mr. Olsen, who has worked with Visa in the past in a
more formal capacity. "It made too much sense not to be a part of
it."
The next morning, a production crew with the Panthers filmed Mr.
Olsen in under an hour. "From the call to saying yes to actually
being in there and being a part of making the content, this is
definitely a record," he said.
Visa declined to disclose any contractual terms with the
athletes. "They're doing it for all the right reasons," said Mr.
Curtin.
The ad came together quickly, but Visa is still tying up loose
ends. There may be extra costs associated with rush orders for
certain production functions and work taking place over the Labor
Day holiday, said Mr. Curtin. Visa also agreed to take care of any
unexpected union costs related to working with athletes.
"We typically know exactly what something will cost, and have a
hedge in there in case it goes over. This is something we really
never have done before," said Mr. Curtin. "It is what it is."
Write to Alexandra Bruell at alexandra.bruell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 06, 2017 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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