DraftKings is debuting a new set of ads for fantasy football season that highlight a shifted focus toward fan engagement and fun. Continuing a move away from brand building and a heavy focus on financial prizes that dominated the company's creative last year, the new spots feature Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski and Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins. DraftKings Senior VP/Brand & Creative Don Lane said, “This is a piece of a much larger overall puzzle. We’re really positioning ourselves as a sports entertainment brand. Fans are looking for deeper levels of engagement, and these ads are all about that.” The ads, developed with California-based Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, also takes self-deprecating aim at the company's relentless marketing strategy of a year ago with lines such as "after seeing 47 DraftKings commercials in a single week, Chuck Boyle finally threw his hat in the one-week fantasy football ring." The ads will run primarily during NFL programming on various networks and will be coupled with digital distributions. DraftKings' overall ad buys for this fall, however, are down by roughly 75% compared to a year ago. DraftKings Senior Dir of Marketing Stephanie Sherman said, "It's significantly less than last year, but this was always the strategic pivot. Last year was about awareness, and this year is about engagement." The new ads also follow DraftKings' recent debut of a "Leagues" product to allow more social, personalized forms of play and the development of original content featuring various NFL, NBA and MMA athletes.
