PokerStars Launches Largest Ever Marketing Campaign On Facebook With Sports Stars

Marketing drives have indeed become huge in recent times, but PokerStars has begun a mammoth campaign with its latest Sportstar brand ambassadors. Even as its “Let California Play” promo continues in the sunny state, PokerStars began another huge campaign last week on Facebook, with its priciest ambassadors ever, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr.

The two international footballers have a huge following on Facebook, with Ronaldo having 104 Million followers and Neymar Jr having 53 Million fans. These fans were treated to two exclusive commercials featuring their favorite stars, by PokerStars. The commercials will be released commercially on global television after another two weeks.

Tarquin Henderson, Head of EMEA Gaming Sales at Facebook spoke about this new marketing campaign and explained that there was hardly any other parallel to Facebook, with all people thronging the networking site for all kinds of updates. He said, “PokerStars’ campaign combines the best of this – fresh, engaging content from two of the biggest footballers on the planet. And thanks to Facebook’s scale and unparalleled targeting tools, these videos will reach the most relevant audience, from poker and gaming fans to football aficionados.”

Parent company, the Rational Group admitted that this was the first such drive by the online poker site and that it had been planned to take full advantages of both; the popularity of the players and of Facebook.

Michael Hazel, Interim CEO at the Rational Group explained, “The vast numbers of fans who engage with both stars make Facebook a great platform to reach a big audience. To put this into context the combined fan base for both superstars is a huge 157 million; the estimated global TV audience for the recent Champions League final was 180 million.”

PokerStars revealed that the short videos were produced by eminent commercial and music video director Vaughan Arnell, who is highly famed for his Robbie Williams and One Direction productions. Arnell has also designed TV commercials for brands such as Levis and Dove. The PokerStars’ videos were filmed on locations in Madrid and Barcelona.

Both the videos have poker as the central pivot, in an evening of the athlete spent with friends. The short film then highlights the fun, the social and competitive attractions of the game. Here is a look at the commercials:

The videos are set to be aired on Aug 17, along with another promotion by PokerStars that incorporates both Ronaldo and Neymar Jr. This promo, known as the “Dream Team Collection”, allows players to win exclusive prizes plus a chance of winning $1,000,000 by overcoming online challenges and puzzles.