As one of the biggest sports broadcasters in the world, SuperSport flights approximately a hundred new promos a month to advertise upcoming coverage to subscribers in South Africa and the continent.
“The sporting calendar is relentless,’ says SuperSport on-air creative director David Martin. “Promo-making is a tough environment and, with such a demanding output, one needs to find creative inspiration in every aspect of your day in order to maintain a certain level of work.’
For longer events like the Olympics and World Cups SuperSport creates additional promo inventory, mostly out of necessity.
“When tournaments are drawn out you need to ensure that the viewer is kept engaged for the full length of the broadcast. In that respect, a single promo just won’t cut it these days. We also look to create value-adds, like player and team profiles, endorsements, exclusive online content and the like, just to keep the campaign fresh,’ explains Martin.
The bulk of SuperSport’s promo work is outsourced to its stable of three production houses, although the broadcaster has its own in-house producers who tackle some of the workload.
“By and large our promo briefs to productions companies are “blue-sky!’’ comments Martin. “We don’t like limiting our creatives with too narrow a playing filed. But we do let them know the target market of the promo and the overall aspects we wish to communicate. I think that on the whole this garners the best results for us as a brand. However, our in-house team does conceptualise many of our own branding pieces throughout the year, ideas which we then farm out to externals in order to be brought to life.’
Cocktail
Martin believes a good promo is like any decent cocktail, which requires the perfect balance of ingredients. This comprises a hook to draw the viewer in and some sort of narrative to keep him there until the end-board rolls, when it needs to leave him wanting more.
He says: “This should all be supported by well-chosen visuals, killer music and sound effects along with dynamic graphics. At the end of the day, if you can connect with your target market on an emotional level, you’ve won half the battle.’
As to whether SuperSport has an advantage in terms of attracting viewers to its broadcasts in that subscribers are already sports fans, Martin answers, “Yes and no. On the one hand it does help that you have die-hard fans who live, eat, sleep and breathe their sporting codes of choice, however the challenge is getting fans to leave their comfort zones and tune in to alternative sports.
“This is an incredibly difficult task, especially when the different sporting names and faces are foreign to them as are the rules involved. What’s more, while general entertainment boasts wildly fresh content every year, the sports events don’t change from one year to another, so on a creative level you really have to raise your game to sell them in new and interesting ways.’
Big campaigns
SuperSport’s biggest campaigns this year have been Euro 2012, the London Olympics and its Transformers branding piece.
The Euro campaign centered on a footballer’s journey through a hall-of-fame, a journey littered with past greats. He eventually takes the field, raising the question: “Who will be immortalised this time round?’
“This concept really captured the history and scale of the Euro event,’ says Martin. “Our Olympics campaign also touched on iconic moments and personalities from bygone eras. Here, each moment was narrated by a living Olympic legend, which really added some weight to our messaging. The concept cut to the essence of what makes sport and the Games as a whole so spectacular. It oozed emotion and really created a buzz and hype around the Games that we’ve never experience before.
“Lastly, our big Transformers branding piece was a nod to the movie franchise of the same name. Here we wanted to try something totally fresh, modern and eye-catching and removed the human element altogether to focus on the sporting stages themselves. This was an example of a grand idea bred in-house that was brilliantly executed by an external production company.’
On-air imaging
SuperSport’s branding and imaging is all about encapsulating its pay-off line, “The World of Champions’ in a professional and entertaining manner.
“The use of the iconic “S’ within the equally recognisable star-field speaks directly to this,’ comments Martin. “Our brand offers our subscribers access to a world of sport, thus a snapshot of earth from space.
“Our pay-off line, and specifically the inclusion of the word “champion’, has various connotations for us as a brand. Firstly, it speaks to the sportsmen and women that are showcased across our channels. Secondly, we boast the biggest and best sports personalities on offer, from the most in-demand presenters, to the most sought-after commentators.
“Thus, we bring you the champions of track and field, packaged along with the champions of the television industry. Ultimately, SuperSport has the world of sport covered from every angle, and our strong branding and imagery reflects this’.
In conclusion, Martin notes that the SuperSport cabinet has its “fair share’ of PromaxBDA Africa awards.
By Linda Loubser
screen africa magazine – october 2012
