Kansas City Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce continues to add titles to his career resume on and off the field. The latest role he’s thriving at is as DIRECTV’s “Overly Direct Sportsperson,” addressing the compromises that TV competitors often force fans to make on game day.
As part of the commercial campaign, Kelce’s Chiefs teammate Chris Jones appears to help in the mission. The hilarious moments in the ads led by the defending Super Bowl champion duo should have its legacy amongst classic NFL commercials.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with DIRECTV’s Kelly Jo Sands to discuss her thoughts on hiring Kelce, working with Jones, and the duo’s impact on set.
Chiefs Wire: What made Travis Kelce stand out from other NFL players for the campaign?
“As we’re looking at talent, and whenever a brand looks to cast talent for campaigns, we look for personalities that will resonate positively with our target audiences and are a good fit for our brand. They’re quite literally the voice of your brand in the market. And so, as we’re looking at options, we wanted it to be additive in value and align with what and how our customers view us, so of the options we looked at, Kelce rose to the top for several reasons. First of all, he’s definitely a leader in sports himself. But he’s also a big personality. We have all seen his performance on SNL and vibrant personality on the podcast with his brother, so we were confident it would resonate well with our customer base, and he would deliver an electric performance.”
Chiefs Wire: How did Chris Jones get involved in the commercial?
“We looked at options for his position and role in some of the spots, and several names were debated. We thought his camaraderie with Kelce on the field would play well as there is a comfort level between Chris and Travis. Chris delivered a stellar performance. The folks on set were genuinely taken aback by Travis and Chris’ personalities, humbleness, and humor, including their ability to ad-lib. They were a dynamic duo.”
Chiefs Wire: What was the inspiration for this campaign?
“Actor Brian Cox was our first overly direct spokesperson. So, this campaign builds on the previous campaign with the riff of an Overly Direct “sports person” being Travis Kelce. It delves into similar thematics of the compromises that pay-TV consumers have to make with some of our competitors in the market, forcing fans to make those compromises on game day when they’re just trying to watch their favorite football teams play.”
“Travis Kelce follows on fans’ inability to watch football how they want, including the ultimate fan in face paint, flipping through channels, looking for his favorite team, to a group of tailgaters, scrolling through apps unable to find a game. These kinds of features and functions lean into some of our core value propositions, which is all around aggregation, and the ultimate TV experience. Travis’ delivery was intended to quickly show how seamless and efficient one can navigate the DIRECTV interface.”
Chiefs Wire: What were your thoughts on the guys' performances overall during shooting?
“Travis Kelce was such a gem and his straight-up charm was delivered in spades. Chris and the “Muse” personality brought the life of the party on set and in the campaign. As a purist brand, they really did a great job playing off each other in the spots, while showcasing confidence and natural ability in front of the camera. Our advertising agency and the director specifically noted during a few takes that Travis was giving them trained actor-worthy performances. More than the banter on set, Travis was so professional and caught on so quickly that people were blown away by his acting abilities, so that allowed us to capture some great footage.”
Chiefs Wire: What was your favorite content shot with Kelce?
“My favorite content that came out of working with Travis (Kelce) was actually all the extension (social media) content that we were able to capture, and he was just game for everything. I mean, he is an all-in personality, anything that the team had suggested, he took it and ad-libbed, and impromptu and just ran with it, which was awesome.”
For more information about DIRECTV and its mission to enhance the sports viewing experience, visit www.directv.com.
