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SAUSALITO + NYC

Julio Rodriguez swinging a bat in a colorful ESPN illustration.
Spinning, flaming baseball animated illustration.

RELAUNCHING ESPN APP FOR THE DIGITAL NATIVE

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ESPN

One App. One Tap.

Capabilities

Creative

Design

Production

Strategy

Bouncing soccer ball animated illustration.
Neon green hand-drawn arrow pointing down.
Green neon hand-drawn arrow pointing right.

PROBLEM

GenZ sports fans weren’t using ESPN digital properties, like the App, because ESPN’s brand was seen as too old, and traditional.

OUTSIDE-INSIGHT

For GenZ, sport is more MTV and TMZ, and less SI (Sports Illustrated).

Red, orange, and yellow animated flame illustration.

SOLUTION

Inspired by the music culture that surrounds sport, a music video stylistic approach allowed us to transform ESPN’s deep content and expertise, as well as the app’s functionality, into hype worthy content - working with up and coming artists to write, track, produce, and drop custom app based songs and videos, every year for 5 years.

MEDIUM

TikTok’s blueprint for music drops became our guide, utilizing influence, and social engagement to amplify our content beyond ESPN’s owned channels.

"LET'S GO" animated sports marque sign with white and red lights.
Female tennis player serving with stylized neon lines.
The word BAD in purple and gold over a football catch.
Football player making a catch over the word 'MAN!'
3D spinning red, orange, and yellow flame animated illustration.
ESPN app displaying golfer birdie celebration graphics.
Smartphone displaying a golfer in the ESPN app.
The ESPN app on a smartphone featuring a golf highlight.
BING BONG type animation with a young man wearing a baseball cap and holding an announcer's microphone.
ONE APP type animation with an illustrated rocket landing inside a soccer goal net.
Rose Namajunas celebrating with her UFC championship belt.
Stylized soccer ball with fire trail hitting the net.
Jazz basketball team member stomping on the court as a spider web illustration appears behind him.
ONE APP type animation with a live basketball clip on a smartphone in the center.
Amanda Nunes celebrates victory in the octagon.
Coach Ed Orgeron on the sideline with a purple overlay.
Man in a suit walking toward camera.
ONE APP ONE TAP type animation featured on a smartphone screen. A man's hand is holding the phone up.

OUTSIZED IMPACT

With downloads up 110% and social sentiment through the roof, we reversed the decline of the #1 Sports App and engaged a younger sports fan.

3D animated hovering rocket illustration.
Yellow fireworks explosion animated illustration.

MORE WORK

Green hand-drawn oval circle on a black background.
Yellow animated 3D hand illustration facing to the left, giving a thumbs up.

ESPN

ESPN

ESPN

ESPN

Amazon Web Services

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