New Sports Ed-Tech Platform Versus Taps Dawn Agencies to Help With Launch

A new sports ed-tech platform co-founded by St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol offers aspiring athletes exclusive video training and the ability to speak directly with professional athletes through AI. The platform, called Versus (VS), is working up to a launch roughly six weeks from now, and is already in a long-term relationship with the Dawn agency group. It is unusual for an agency to enter into an AOR relationship with a client ahead of its launch, but Dawn agencies have done just that. The agencies are currently preparing for go to market. For example, Bleacher Report has been creating an exclusive content series that will roll out alongside the platform's primary coursework, and Crossmedia is getting paid media set to launch in about six weeks. "We have four separate Dawn agencies who have come together in a highly interactive and collaborative model to support the launch and sustainability of the business," said Bob Kantor, CEO of Dawn. "It's a wonderful opportunity to find a brand that is launching and needs an integrated model to begin, so you get to build the foundation," he added. Why Lands’ End Finally Decided It Needed a Creative AOR—and Picked VaynerMedia An AOR ahead of launch Dawn, an integrated group of marketing agencies, offers its clients a unique alternative to working with a holding company network or with an individual independent agency. Unlike holding companies, collectives like Dawn feature independently owned and operated agencies that frequently work together and complement each other's offerings. Dawn offers a best-of-both-worlds experience for clients who don't want to commit to a holding company, but are seeking the all-inclusive agency package. "One of the things that we all agreed on early was that we wanted to take a different approach than just hiring one agency to do everything with specificity because agencies usually have one thing that they're amazing at and they may not always be great at everything else," said Mark Ervin, chief marketing officer of VS. Dawn agencies working on VS include: Crossmedia, covering analytics, communications planning and media buying; PeopleFirst, covering peer-to-peer marketing, reviews and recommendations; Bleacher Report; covering strategic and creative social media; Definition 6, covering the digital customer journey and CRM; and Praytell, a Dawn affiliate that offers full-service earned media. When Ervin met with Dawn agencies, they were able to "speak the language of the specialty that they brought to the table," he said. "So it made our job of aligning with different partners that much easier." Each Dawn agency has a different scope of work for VS. Engagements with some agencies began last September, and VS officially kicked off planning with the full group by November. No formal pitch There was no formal pitch process, but VS did interview a few different agencies, according to Ervin. He declined to mention which were involved. "The pitch process is incredibly difficult for agencies, but there's a lot of work that goes into it for a brand," he said. "Rather than divert our interest on trying to see who did the best in a pitch environment, we more wanted to find the companies that synced with us from a talent and chemistry standpoint." VS also declined to comment on the size of its marketing investment in Dawn agencies. VS is the first sports ed-tech company to provide aspiring athletes a personal connection with professional players. Through its conversational AI technology, platform users can ask questions and receive answers in real time from athletes including Fernando Tatis Jr., Albert Pujols, Jennie Finch and Jessica Mendoza. "The business is an incredible platform that provides access an interaction with athletes that never before existed, at a time when people are hungry for learning, mentorship and skills training online," said Kantor. Marmol founded VS alongside his wife, Amber, and app development has been ongoing for about 18 months. Upon launch, it'll focus on baseball and softball content and plans to roll out women's soccer content next. How One Company Streamlines Reaching Regional Sports Networks’ Coveted Live Audiences