Hansen To Front Telegraph Fantasy Football Drive
The Daily Telegraph has re-launched its popular Fantasy Football game, with new branding and enhanced interactive elements designed to draw even more players than its previous successful runs.
Fronted by the newspaper’s columnist, broadcaster and footballing legend Alan Hansen, the competition will offer more prizes, and new features for the 05/06 football season. In addition, Hansen will be playing his own team, Hansen’s Eleven, against all those who register to play.
The advertising campaign for the contest builds upon Hansen’s involvement, featuring straplines such as “This season you’re up against quality opposition” and “The best footballers in Europe couldn’t beat me. Think you can?”
The promotional activity will run for one month, inviting players to register to take part in the game using national and regional radio, dedicated sports websites and in Telegraph newspapers. The activity also features significant direct marketing, including direct mail packs, e-mails and a viral email game.
Explaining the popularity of the newspaper’s Fantasy Football promotion, Katie Vanneck, marketing director for the Telegraph Group said: “Fantasy Football is a fantastic demonstration of the interactive sports community which has been built up around The Telegraph’s excellent sports coverage. It’s the perfect sporting campaign for us – inclusive, expert and totally entertaining.”
The creative strategy and work for the campaign was developed by Clemmow Hornby Inge, Hall Moore CHI and Naked Inside.
Jonny Hornby, managing partner at Clemmow Hornby Inge, said: “Having played Telegraph Fantasy Football without ever doing very well, it is great to be able to do something that, I’m sure, really will make a mark. We – all of the CHI partner agencies – are very proud of the work we’ve done together.”
The Telegraph was the first broadsheet to launch a fantasy-football game during the 1993/1994 season. The game, now in its thirteenth year, gives participants the opportunity to manage their own fantasy squad of Premiership players and to make transfers during the season. The squad’s success depends on how these players perform in their real-life matches, winning or losing points accordingly.
Last year saw the Telegraph secure support from BUPA for its Fantasy Football competition, while the Times Online announced their own fantasy football competition, backed by computer game publisher, Eidos in an attempt to meet the Telegraph head on (see Times Takes On Telegraph With Fantasy Football).
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