ESPN’s latest W+K New York-created spot for SportsCenter is a bit of a departure from their usual advertising style. In the 1:01 spot, ESPN spotlights their trade mark “da da da” (you’ll know it when you hear it) spoken by a wide range of athletes (such as Maria Sharapova, Bubba Watson, RG III, Clayton Kershaw and Patrick Kane) in different situations.
Not centered around a comic premise, “DaDaDa DaDaDa” lets the highlights from many different sports, including ones you don’t care about (lacrosse, anyone?), do the talking for a majority of the spot — perhaps not a bad strategy (except for the lacrosse), considering that is why most people tune in to SportsCenter.
“Da Da Da” is also a departure in that it’s the first ESPN commercial in ten years to be shown on other networks, such as during NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Presumably a response to SportsCenter’s declining audience — and perhaps a reaction to new competitor Fox Sports 1 — the spot attempts to bring in new viewers by running on DirectTV, Adult Swim, Spike and Comedy Central. Whether or not the expensive spot can help SportsCenter fight the declining viewership brought on by the increased ease of finding sports highlights online remains to be seen. But lacrosse players everywhere are cheering. Credits after the jump.
Executive Creative Directors Scott Vitrone/Ian Reichenthal
Creative Directors Stuart Jennings/Brandon Henderson
Interactive Creative Director Gary Van Dzura
Copywriter Will Binder
Art Director Jared White
Head of Content Production Lora Schulson
Executive Producer Temma Shoaf
Producer Kelly Dage
PRODUCTION
Production Company RSA Films
Director Jake Scott
Executive Producer Tracie Norfleet
Head of Production Elicia Laport
Line Producer David Mitchell
Director of Photography Crille Forsberg
Editorial Company Mackenzie Cutler
Editor Gavin Cutler
Post Executive Producer Sasha Hirschfeld
Editorial Assistant Ryan Steele / Pamela Petruski
VFX Company Framestore
VFX Supervisor Mike McGee
Telecine Company CO3
Colorist Tom Poole
Mix Company Heard City
Mixer Keith Reynaud
Sound Designer Henry Boy
Producer Kate Gibson
MUSIC
Song “Yell It Out”
Artist The Derevolutions