Mark your calendar for Mediaweek, October 29-30 in New York City. We’ll unpack the biggest shifts shaping the future of media—from tv to retail media to tech—and how marketers can prep to stay ahead. Register with early-bird rates before sale ends!
ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt has tough standards when it comes to entering “Trucktopia.”
On Thursday, during NCAA March Madness coverage, the SportsCenter anchor teamed up with the Ram Truck brand in the first of four new ads for ESPN’s “Trucktopia” Ram 1500 TRX campaign.
‘You have to earn your way in’
In the spot, the anchor—who only allows the best trucks to enter the fictional Trucktopia—inspects the new TRX truck and is impressed enough with all of its features to give it access. Drivers take part in rides designed to showcase the truck’s versatility on one single off-road course, including its ability to drive over streams, around desert sand dunes and even up snow peaks.
“Just like the tournament, you have to earn your way into Trucktopia,” Van Pelt says in the spot.
Three additional “Trucktopia” ads are set to debut throughout the year during other major sports events, including Major League Baseball Opening Day, the NFL Draft and college football. ESPN will also release a behind-the-scenes piece featuring outtakes and content on how the video was put together later this year.
Marrying technology with visual effects
The campaign—which Ram created with Disney CreativeWorks and ESPN—airs across linear, digital and social. It will also appear across the Ram brand, ESPN and Van Pelt’s social media channels.
“Leveraging a world-class platform like ESPN and incredible storytellers like Scott Van Pelt, we’re joining forces with Ram to introduce the brand’s new truck to our audience,” Andrew Messina, svp, Disney Advertising Sales, said in a statement. “We married creativity with [visual effects] technology to tell the story of Ram 1500 TRX and align the truck with key sporting tentpoles.”
ESPN and ABC just struck a new broadcast deal with the NFL for Monday Night Football, with ABC simulcasting multiple games each season. The broadcast network will also rejoin the Super Bowl rotation for the first time since 2006.
