It’s that time again for football fans from all over the world to tune in on their HD, 3D and maybe even 2D TV’s to watch the best football in the land. Whether they support Spurs or Swindon, Bournemouth or Blackburn, all will be nursing that inner need to scream, shout, and spur their team on. Some will attend the matches, but most, a total of around 575m homes worldwide to be exact, will be supporting from the comfort of their own home. Teams such  Birmingham are chopping and changing sponsors, whereas teams such as  Norwich are advertising their new kit’s.  Therefore as expected, money is spent and spent again to get those punters in!

When it comes to TV subscriptions, the ‘freewheelers’ among us are endlessly targeted by brands such as ‘Sky Sports’ and ‘ESPN’, either because we are generally disloyal to brands and like to switch, or because we are young, innocent and have only just started to earn enough money to actually consider brand loyalty . So, how are we won over by these brands, what causes us to spend hundreds a year on a certain package and what kind marketing strategy works?

This time last year Sky launched their ‘no compromise’ ad staring Eric Cantona. The ad clearly suggesting that there was no better alternative to SkySports, and if you thought there was, you had Cantona to deal with. A pretty straight forward message I think you will agree. ESPN replied with their ‘it’s great to be here’ ad that cunningly embodied every football fans love for the game. Remember, this, as most football fans will tell you, is the time when English football is in its full anticipation; to be reminded of its glory in such a way, skilfully promoted respect for the brand which is exactly what ESPN wanted having just started out in the UK.

It seems that this time last year, both Sky Sports and ESPN took a different approach to advertising, focusing much less on the amount of games they show, and much more on the fan. The consumer’s feelings seemed to be at the heart of the advert. You could argue that they assumed the viewers already had an idea of how many games were broadcasting and didn’t feel the need to boast, or maybe they were offended by this sketch and decided to take a different stance.

This season’s marketing, for Sky Sports and ESPN respectively, still includes the standard fantasy football leagues that customers can join to boost that loyalty, and it still includes, for Sky Sports only, a brand spanking new website for news. Appropriately named: Sky Sports News. But for ESPN their advertising lack’s punch and is focused too much on the players ecstasy not the fans. Their ‘Next Season’ advert seems to fall into that trap of “we offer you everything”. A trap that is all too familiar. I think however with 9 days to go we still have something big to come from ESPN.

SkySports have also got in there early with their ‘this is football’  advert along with the potential viral ad staring the sky sports team . I cannot help but feel that Sky Sports have gone with a similar approach to ESPN’s last season. A campaign that fans, or should I say consumers, can relate to, one that fans can say “yes I’ve been in that situation, I’ve experienced that high, that low, and I loved every minute of it”. That is the surface emotion, the primary reaction. The secondary reaction seems to say “I’m going to spend 30 pound a month because I like this brand, they are offering me something I can relate to”. Well, that’s what SkySports desire, that same desire that in my opinion, will go unchallenged for a few years yet..

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