Outback Regains Game Day Swagger.

Life is full of questions. Relationships, work, parties, fathers-in-law — if it’s on your mind, Outback has the answers (just like all great table conversationalists should). So, to gear up for football season, we recruited legendary coaches to help guide your life to glory, because after all, “Steak Is for Winners.”

Wait. How did this all get started? Outback began to question the brand’s title sponsorship of their New Year’s Day Bowl Game, its ROI and overall target relevancy. So, our agency conducted social listening and quantitative analysis. We found that while college football fans crave steak, they shared little brand affinity for Outback as compared to its competitors. Secondly, a perception gap with game-day food consumption habits and Outback’s known menu offerings existed.

With a strong opportunity to drive demand and increase positive brand sentiment, we partnered with ESPN to refocus media spend and leverage the network’s fan base, media and relationships. The result was a fully integrated campaign starring Hall of Fame coaches Mack Brown, Steve Spurrier and Lee Corso. Eighteen commercials were created in this season-long content campaign that also included a brand takeover on ESPN.com Fantasy Games.