Fernando Mendoza isn’t expected to turn up at the NFL Draft, but he will be spotted in a commercial tied to the annual event.
Like many of its users, LinkedIn hopes to make a few new connections. Working with Mendoza, a top draft pick who has shown a proclivity for using the careers-focused site, can only help.
Starting Thursday, during ESPN’s coverage of the annual unveiling of team picks for young football players, the networking site will run a spot showing Fernando Mendoza, the Indiana Hoosiers quarterback, announcing via LinkedIn that he’s gotten a new job – working for a professional football team. Previously, the athlete’s LinkedIn page told visitors that he was “Open to Work.”
Hitching a promotional message to the NFL Draft is likely to resound with millions of fans who tune in to see the hoopla surrounding young hopefuls being picked by NFL teams. “We’re really trying to focus on helping elevate LinkedIn as a place where culture happens,” says Heather Freeland, LinkedIn’s chief brand officer, during a recent interview. “There’s important moments and important career moments that happen for everyone in real life, every day, and we want to make sure we’re bubbling those up.”
Executives at the Microsoft-backed outlet believe the humorous vignette will play well with an audience it is avidly courting: GenZ job-seekers, looking to find new jobs after college graduation. “They’re facing new challenges when it comes to the world of work and new challenges in finding roles and testing out new skills, thanks to AI,” says Freeland. “And so we felt like this was a moment to elevate our presence.”
LinkedIn’s pull at the professional-football draft puts a spotlight on how advertisers are increasingly turning to sports moments to help make their point with a potential customer base. Berkshire Hathaway’s Duracell hopes to achieve marketing goals with a new ad featuring Lionel Messi being powered by the company’s well-known batteries in ads that will play during World Cup telecasts on Fox and Telemundo. Heineken’s Dos Equis has arranged to become part of the action during select college-football games telecast across ESPN, ABC, SEC and ACC Network getting special on-screen graphics and other elements whenever one of the teams tries to “Go for Dos” and score a two-point conversion.
LinkedIn hopes viewers see the spot as part of the proceedings, not something separate. “It’s kind of meant to feel authentic, particularly like a cut in, not an ad,” says Freeland.
Executives are encouraged by their ties to Mendoza because it came about somewhat naturally. He was already using the platform to build a community, and the company noticed. The alliance with Mendoza represents both an “important cultural moment, an important career moment;” says Freeland.
They have also been working with him elsewhere. Mendoza recently appeared in a promotional vignette on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” interacting with Guillermo Rodriguez.
The Mendoza ad will circulate on ESPN and on social media, the executive says – but not for very long. “These are very temporal moments, but we want to make sure we’re capturing the buzz for a week or so,” she adds. Great sports moments, after all, are fleeting.
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