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2016 Hispanic TV Upfront Report
“Every sports fan is as unique as a snowflake,” Fitzgerald says. “They like certain things and consume sports in certain ways, and a lot of that is based on where they come from.”
ESPN Deportes, therefore, serves as ESPN’s Hispanic multicultural marketing solution. For African-Americans, a new website—TheUndefeated.com—was built to superserve this multicultural segment while offering content that explores “the intersections of race, sports and culture.”
ESPN’s Upfront presentation is set to offer the official announcement on the website’s mid-May launch.
“Each budget has targetability, especially in a digital landscape, and we have premium content,” Fitzgerald notes. “Add in our talent, and that’s what makes us unique. We know that people are different, and we know that agencies and clients are thinking about the entire multicultural spectrum. This allows us to have more conversations, and add more value, to ESPN Deportes.”
However, Fitzgerald did not comment on how marketers can engage with ESPN Deportes’ best- known talent, Jorge Ramos (not to be confused with the Univision and Fusion journalist and political analyst). Key ESPN Deportes studio programming was not discussed, although Fitzgerald noted that new facilities in Mexico where these programs are based now afford “better integrations” with ESPN Deportes’ stateside studios in Miami, Los Angeles and Bristol, Conn.
“With our talent, the question we ask to clients is, ‘Can we use them to work with you?’” Fitzgerald says. “We are crafting sponsorship platforms and even creative that can tie a product with our talent.”
At the same time, advertisers can link up now with ESPN Deportes’ coverage of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, to be held in the U.S. for the first time next March. Among the countries represented are Cuba, Mexico, Colombia and the Dominican Republic; Puerto Rico will also field a team for the tournament.
Heading into this year’s Upfront, Fitzgerald says ESPN Deportes is doing very well—although it’s still early to comment on its overall Upfront performance. “We feel good,” he says. “People still see the value of TV, but they also see the partnerships that digital and social bring to the table.”
Movie studios and video game developers are hot client categories for ESPN Deportes, as are hotel chains and such travel subcategories as cruises and destination locales. Telecom, CPGs, QSRs and beverage clients also remain strong for the network.
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