BT Sports tests fans’ faith in their teams with brain scans
BT Sport and creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi have used MRI science to detect whether some supporters’ dedication to their football team stands up to scrutiny.
In the ‘Believe It, Now See It on BT Sport’ campaign, the channel has teamed up with Imperial College London, where a group of neuroscientists used MRI technology to analyze fans’ beliefs ahead of the upcoming season.
Informed by the scans, Saatchi & Saatchi also produced a series of twenty bespoke out-of-home (OOH) digital posters – one for each Premier League team. All media was bought by Essence.
William John, creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi, said: “When it comes to the start of the season, football fans will believe anything’s possible. There’s boasting, bragging and debating on how it will all play out. We wanted to put those beliefs to the test to see if fans genuinely believe in their teams – or if it’s all bluster.”
BT Sport pundits and influencers Joleon Lescott, Rio Ferdinand, David Alorka and Rory Jennings were also put to the test with some hard-hitting questions including: ‘Is Saka better than Son?’, ‘Will Manchester United win silverware?’ and ‘Is Haaland overrated?’
Pete Jeavons, director of marketing communications at BT’s consumer division, said: “It creates a connected campaign, born of our scientific test, from social content all the way through to digital out-of-home (DOOH), which is set to fire up debate as we near the big kick-off.”
Coming off the back of a survey commissioned by BT Sport, stats revealed some fans are confident in their predictions, but the majority lack the courage of their conviction. It was disclosed that Manchester City fans are the most assured in the division – with 48% of the Blues’ fans confident in predicting the final league table. However, this positivity only applied to 34% of Chelsea, 33% of Liverpool and 32% of Manchester United fans.
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