Herald Sun promotes Nissan SuperCoach in new print via Archibald Williams + TVC via Fox Footy

An ambitious plan to ingrain “SuperCoach Time” in the hearts and minds of footy fans across Victoria spearheads the Herald Sun’s assault on the AFL premiership season.

With less than three weeks until the first bounce, the Herald Sun today launches a multi-faceted campaign focused on all things footy, underpinned by improvements to Australia’s richest and most popular fantasy football game – Nissan SuperCoach.

VIEW THE SPOT

VIEW THE LETTER – SuperCoach Letter.pdf

And in a nod to the Labor Government’s current penchant for proclaiming public holidays, the newspaper has cheekily petitioned Premier Dan Andrews to declare “tools down” for five minutes footy every Friday.

Says Shane Crawford, SuperCoach ambassador: “For too long Victorian working families have struggled to find time for the big decision of the week – and we’re not talking Woolies v Coles; My Kitchen Rules v MasterChef.

“This is the Big One: finding time to select the Herald Sun Nissan SuperCoach team. It’s tough finding that magic mix of marquee players and battlers who get the job done. We need to focus, mate. It’s Zen and the art of midfielder maintenance. We all need five precious minutes to down tools and make our choices.”   

Crawford implores the Premier to “give your fellow Victorians five minutes every Friday morning”.

Editor Damon Johnston said the tongue-in-cheek “SuperCoach Time” campaign was aimed at illustrating how fast and easy it is to play.

He said the fantasy football game – which allows fans to take on the role of coach as they choose their ultimate AFL team and is free to play – would feature a range of improvements in 2015 including:

• Prizes worth over $900K including cash and car across all fantasy and tipping competitions
• $5k prize pool every week to top five scorers of the round
• New mobile apps – making it easier to play
• Ability to re-create last year’s league with the click of a button
• A scoring system that reflects on-field performance
• A new fantasy forum, SuperCoach Voice, where users can debate their selections and get the jump on what other SuperCoaches are thinking. They will be able to vote, comment and share in their very own social platform
• New products accessible via a single sign on including Perfect Nine – a short-form, low-touch game whereby if you pick the highest SuperCoach player in every game in a round, you can win $25K; and Hot Streak – select a goal scorer each week, if they goal, you stay alive until the next round, vying for a grand prize of $20K

Says Johnston: “Additionally, the weekly prize pool will double for Herald Sun+ subscribers, who will also have access to SuperCoach Gold. It’s enormous value for our loyal footy readers.”

The SuperCoach campaign includes a new TVC featuring Crawford which will air on Fox Footy. Crawford will also be among the big names at the official SuperCoach launch event, to be held at Munich Brauhaus at Melbourne’s Docklands, on March 19.

He will be joined by a raft of the Herald Sun’s award-winning footy writers – including Mark Robinson, Mick Warner, Jon Ralph, Jon Anderson, Glenn McFarlane and Sam Edmund – as well as a selection of Fox Footy’s expert commentators including Johnathan Brown and David King.

The Herald Sun – which is read by 1,608,000 AFL supporters every month – will ramp up its AFL coverage over coming weeks, including publication of the Footy15 magazine on Saturday March 14, Team Posters, Footy Fixture, Mike Sheahan’s Top 50 and all the latest breaking footy news and analysis.

SuperCoach Time – “Letter”

Creative concept: Fox Footy