• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, July 14, 2009

Looking to jump-start upfront sales, ESPN's sales group has produced a series of online "SportsCenter: Upfront Edition" videos mixing sales pitches with tongue-in-cheek commentary.

The seven shorts -- housed on a micro-site for buyers -- feature "SportsCenter" anchor Scott Van Pelt touting the merits of ESPN ad buys, while dispensing the heavy dose of inchoate sarcasm. Van Pelt has been a de facto ESPN pitchman before, appearing on stage annually at ESPN's upfront presentation.

The videos were conceived and produced over the last couple of weeks. Though Ed Erhardt, president of ESPN and ABC Sports customer sales and marketing, did not address issues such as volume and pricing, he said the rhythm of the upfront has not been exceedingly slow for ESPN. The company usually does business in various intervals -- the broadcast upfront, the NFL market -- from May through August. "We don't see any difference this year," he said.

In one video, Van Pelt seems to poke fun at the sluggish market. Advertisers are "waiting out all the other media companies as the upfront moves -- or should I say -- drags along," he says. So just pass the time sampling ESPN properties.

Turn on the office TV -- "consider it sports research or something." Short of that, he says to go to ESPN.com, ESPN360.com, tune in ESPN Radio. The tactic is consistent with ESPN's incessant pitch that it offers content anywhere, anytime.

Another video touts ESPN's original programming with Van Pelt to buyers: "Be really original and put all your money into the 'Scott Van Pelt Show' on ESPN Radio. Your boss may not dig that, but my Mom will ... It's a great show. I can sell stuff. Don't worry."

In a third short, Van Pelt speaks about locking in holiday-season inventory in the upfront. For advertisers, where the "fourth-quarter retail season is key to your brand's success," don't risk missing out on the $74 billion men spend on gifts -- more than women. By the way, Van Pelt says he wants a pony that can read a Kindle for Christmas.

Before the upfront and early on, network marketing departments provide all kinds of self-serving material to advertisers -- be it via fancy catalogs, Web sites or other means. Trade campaigns are also launched, with networks trying to outdo one another on the clever meter.

But rolling out another effort, as ESPN is doing in mid-summer, is less common. Of course, a somewhat stagnant upfront market in late July is also unusual.

"We think it's well-timed, given where the market is now to have the campaign breaking when it's breaking," said Erhardt.

A fourth Van Pelt video has him urging buyers "for kicks, delete broadcast prime time from your media plan and replace it with, I don't know - ESPN!" Another video moves away from Van Pelt and co-stars ESPN NFL anchor Trey Wingo and the company's executive vice president, sales and marketing Sean Bratches.

"Hello advertising people," an ebullient Wingo says, then plugs technology allowing ESPN to replicate game action with video-game-like avatars. Bratches speaks about dynamic ad insertion on ESPN360.com and new research showing those ads can produce "higher viewer recall" and "purchase intent."