Fernando Mendoza is not expected to enter the NFL Draft, but he is expected to appear in commercials related to the annual event.
Like many users, LinkedIn wants to make some new connections. Working with Mendoza, a top draft pick who has shown a penchant for using career-focused sites, can only help.
Starting Thursday, during ESPN’s annual coverage of young football player team pick announcements, the networking site will run a spot where Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza announces via LinkedIn that he has accepted a new job working for a pro football team. The player’s LinkedIn page previously told visitors he was “available for the job.”
A promotional message for the NFL Draft will resonate with the millions of fans watching the fuss over young prospects being drafted by NFL teams. “We’re committed to elevating LinkedIn as a place where culture happens,” Heather Freeland, LinkedIn’s chief brand officer, said in a recent interview. “In real life, big moments and big career moments happen to everyone every day, and we want to make sure they’re celebrated.”
Executives at the Microsoft-backed outlet store believe the humorous vignettes will work well with a highly engaged audience, including a generation of job seekers looking to find new jobs after college. “Thanks to AI, they are facing new challenges in the world of work, and new challenges when finding roles and trying out new skills,” Freeland says. “And we felt like this was the moment to make our presence known.”
LinkedIn’s participation in the pro football draft spotlights how advertisers are increasingly turning to sports moments to get their point across to a potential customer base. Berkshire Hathaway’s Duracell hopes to achieve its marketing goals with a new ad featuring the company’s famous battery-powered Lionel Messi in an ad during World Cup broadcasts on Fox and Telemundo. Heineken’s Dos Equis will be part of the action during select college football games aired on the ESPN, ABC, SEC and ACC networks, arranging for special on-screen graphics and other elements to appear every time one of the teams “Go for Dos” and attempts to score a two-point conversion.
LinkedIn wants viewers to see this spot as part of the proceedings, not something separate. “The idea is to make it feel authentic, especially like a cut-in, rather than an ad,” Freeland says.
Executives are encouraged by the connection with Mendoza, because it was somewhat organic. He was already using the platform to build a community, and the company took notice. The partnership with Mendoza represents both “an important cultural moment and an important career moment.” Freeland says.
They are collaborating with him elsewhere as well. Mendoza recently appeared in a promotional video for ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and interacted with Guillermo Rodriguez.
Mendoza’s ads will run on ESPN and social media, but executives say they won’t last very long. “This is a very temporary moment, but we want to make sure we capture the buzz for a week or so,” she added. After all, great sports moments are fleeting.
