Castrol’s new Crazy campaign

ESPN’s popular football show Castrol Football Crazy, which built its popularity on entertaining fans across the region, launched its fresh new Asia-wide campaign recently with the kick-off of the “Castrol Football Crazy Longest Pass” campaign in Kuala Lumpur’s Bangsar Shopping Centre.

Liverpool legend and former England International Steve McMahon made a guest appearance to literally get the ball rolling, making the first kick with Castrol Malaysia and Singapore marketing director Mark Ng.

They were joined by the hosts of ESPN’s Castrol Football Crazy, Adam C, Jason Desmond and Patricia K, who also got into the act of contributing their own videos to the campaign.

This campaign will be driven on-air on ESPN Star Sports’ networks, online on espnstar.com and on show’s popular social networking destination www.facebook.com/castrolfootballcrazy.

CFC’s Longest Pass will be made up of user-generated videos submitted and edited together to create a never-ending football pass. The interactive online campaign aspires to unite football enthusiasts across Asia by creating the longest continuous football sequence.

“This regional campaign aims to get fans involved with the world’s most popular game by allowing them to express themselves and be connected with the game through this innovative and interactive activity. By encouraging fan participation in this new campaign, our goal is to take this much-loved programme and fan engagement to a brand new level,” said ESPN Star Sports marketing and corporate communications vice-president Paras Sharma.

Ng said, “Castrol has always been using our heritage of analysis, technology and innovation to deliver record breaking winning performances whether on land, sea or air for over 100 years. By applying the same approach to football we have created a number of innovative initiatives designed to give fans deeper, more insightful ways of analysing footballing performances than ever before.

“In line with this, as the official sponsor of UEFA Euro 2012, we are confident that Castrol Football Crazy has been able to reach out and engage with football fans and strengthen our brand’s association with football. We believe that Castrol Football Crazy’s Longest Pass Campaign will fuel football fans’ passion to be part of what could potentially be Asia’s longest football pass, and put Malaysia on the map in terms of enthusiasm for football.”

The campaign requires fans from around the region to send in video clips of them receiving a pass, doing something creative and original with the ball, before making a virtual pass the next fan across the region. The most entertaining and out-of-the-box passes will then be combined collectively into one clip to create Asia’s longest pass!

Fans can send their videos to the [e-mail] with their full names and country details. Details of the campaign can be found on www.facebook.com/castrolfootballcrazy.

Participants will be able to view the first version of the video on the final episode of ESPN’s Castrol Football Crazy on June 2. Highlights of the video will be featured on television promos across ESPN Star Sports’ networks and on Castrol Football Crazy’s Facebook page.

Castrol Football Crazy’s light-hearted and engaging format takes a unique approach from existing “serious” football shows by placing a strong emphasis on giving football fans the opportunity and platform to have fun and express themselves. Aimed at football enthusiasts looking for entertainment on the lighter side of sports, the show continues to be a fun mix of football, humour and entertainment and has continued to evolve with its fans over the years with fresh new ways of entertaining its viewers.

Viewers can catch Castrol Football Crazy at 8pm every Thursdays on ESPN. Fans can also catch highlights and a behind the scenes look on the show on Castrol Football Crazy’s Facebook page.