Fox Sports 1 has hired Pereira & O'Dell, N.Y., as its lead creative agency and the firm, beyond advertising for FS1 and a campaign around Super Bowl XLVIII, will "create ads for shows such as 'Fox Sports Live,' 'Crowd Goes Wild,' 'Fox Football Daily' and 'The Ultimate Fighter,'" according to Andrew McMains of ADWEEK. Pereira & O'Dell "first started handling projects for Fox Sports 1 back in the spring" (ADWEEK.com, 8/12). MULTICHANNEL NEWS' Mike Reynolds noted Ford, Geico and Yum! Brands have "signed ground-floor ad pacts" with FS1. Samsung and "several movie studios have also secured schedules." In addition to Fox Sports, FS1 and FS2, the ad agreements "include placement on other Fox Sports channels and platforms, including Fox Deportes and FoxSports.com" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 8/12).
I, ROBOT: ADWEEK's Anthony Crupi noted FS1's marketing and promotions team has "brought the animated Fox NFL Sunday robot to life," and is midway through "a 3,800-mile barnstorming tour" of 11 MLB markets with its Cleatus character. Fox Sports Media Group Senior VP Chris Hannan said, "Because you see him and immediately think, 'Oh, hey: Fox Sports,' we wanted Cleatus to be at the center of this campaign from the beginning. And because baseball is our biggest summer platform, it just makes sense to have him appear at the ballparks and be integrated into our regional sports networks' coverage" (ADWEEK.com, 8/9).
