We Are All Superstars — WWE on FOX

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In 2019 there was a match made in heaven — the WWE was coming to FOX. The WWE has one of the most engaged fanbases across any form of live entertainment. At FOX, we were bringing unparalleled reach (FOX was the only major broadcast network to experience viewership growth in 2019), strong expertise in live sports storytelling, and a brand identity full of snark and attitude to match our new partner. The idea was to expand the audience wider than ever before, and show more mainstream sports fans just how fun wrestling could be. In fact, they probably saw regular WWE tributes and impressions in their lives already, possibly not even knowing where they originated.

Enter our “We Are All Superstars” messaging, highlighting the famous signature moves of the wrestling world. The campaign was built on the insight that the renowned WWE gestures have transcended the world of wrestling sport entertainment and have broken into pop culture; people are performing the moves at their weddings, in hospital delivery rooms, and sitting at home on the couch. The launch spot, voiced by legendary wrestling commentator Michael Cole, include nods to John Cena’s “You Can’t See Me,” Becky Lynch’s breakneck hair flips, The People’s Eyebrow, courtesy of The Rock, and more.

(Note: this idea of sport appealing to everyone in their day jobs is similar to the Thursday Night Football campaign we saw great success with the year before — both campaigns were co-created by FOX Sports and Weiden+Kennedy)

Our first WWE broadcast in October 2019 was also going to represent the 20th anniversary of Friday Night Smackdown, which strengthened our desire to celebrate the history of the show and its stars.

The launch spot was followed up by three fan-focused videos (and some of the impersonated icons had fun with them):

Prior to our premiere of Friday Night Smackdown, we also partnered with Facebook, Instagram, and the WWE to roll out augmented reality filters on social media to turn fans into some of the favorite wrestlers. It was part of our “official launch” of new @WWEonFOX dedicated social channels across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

 The broadcast debut of Friday Night Smackdown peaked at more than 4 million viewers, making it the most-watched WWE telecast in almost two years. It was a rousing success for us.

Our reasons for celebration extended to digital, as well: the newly-launched accounts amassed over 250,000 followers during the week of Friday Night SmackDown’s premiere, and WWE on FOX content racked up over 30 million total organic views and 600,000 total engagements across all platforms. Well over 100 celebrity influencers and athletes, including over 50 current or former wrestling Superstars, engaged with the @WWEonFOX accounts, generating a massive buzz within the WWE Universe and sports and entertainment world.