DraftKings is bringing on VaynerMedia to help the brand elevate its cultural relevance through social media efforts. The shop will be working with DraftKings' in-house agency, which has been aggressively marketing the betting brand since 2019.
“[DraftKings] like everyone else, realizes that there's incredible brand-building opportunities within social and digital and consumer insight extraction,” Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO and founder of VaynerMedia told Ad Age. “I think people don't realize how much brand is built-in social. I know in our world everybody thinks 'it's on a TV spot and let's clap.' It's not. I think that they're trying to get way better at it and I think we're the best in the world at it right now.”
The agency will be implementing its “Vayner Volume Model” as part of the deal to engage new audiences. The model essentially creates and tests a high volume of content in-market, allowing the agency to pinpoint what content is working and what’s not and, as a result, deliver creative content that is more impactful, less subjective, built from stronger insights, and more culturally relevant.
In 2019 Draft Kings released its first-ever campaign after bringing its marketing in-house. Prior to that, the company had worked with a number of agencies, including Deustch New York. This year the online betting company’s in-house agency created two Super Bowl spots featuring DraftKings host Jessie Coffield, encouraging viewers to bet for free on fourth-quarter action, such as who will score the last touchdown or if there will be a 20-yard gain. This latest move is another example of the company looking to build its awareness.
“We're going to help blow out their efforts in scaling their social, their branding, their contemporary branding, using our volume model,” Vaynerchuk says. “High-quality volume to drive consideration.”