The competition between Sky Sports and BT Sport for the nation's football coverage has been "accompanied by a corresponding marketing battle," according to Shona Ghosh of MARKETING MAGAZINE. To celebrate the start of the new season, Sky "showed off its historical presence in the game" with a viral ad featuring Thierry Henry. The ad was previewed on Facebook before running on TV, becoming the social network's "most successful ad in EMEA to date," racking up 18 million video views. Ahead of its start of season show, Sky Sports "continued its Facebook push," asking fans to submit their opinions and questions on the best and worst moments of the league's 23-year history. The submissions went to the show's panel, featuring Henry, Jamie Redknapp, Graeme Souness and Dave Jones, and the show "was previewed in three parts on Facebook before being aired." Sky Sports Brand Manager Stuart Payling said, "When we began planning this year's campaign, we knew lots of people would have an opinion on their favorite Premier League moments." According to Facebook spokespeople, the preview segments racked up 1.19 million views, "with the majority watching for more than 15 minutes." That challenges conventional wisdom that video content from brands need to be "as short as possible" to keep users engaged. After the show, Sky Sports "sliced up its show," then used Facebook's extensive data on user interests and affiliations to "serve those snippets to fans of Chelsea, Man City, ManU, Livepool and Arsenal respectively." Each segment featured the relevant club's "best Premier League moments, and was presented by a relevant pundit" (MARKETING MAGAZINE, 9/25).
