Though the X-Games lasted only a year in Rhode Island, one local advertising company has been able to hold on for the ride since the competition made its debut in 1995. For the last four years, Providence-based Duffy & Shanley has been handling ESPN’s print campaign for all of its “Extreme Sports.” The most recent set of ads was unveiled at the Winter X-Games held earlier this month in Vermont. The winter X-Games includes the sports of snowcross, snowboarding, snow mountain biking, and skiing.
”We’ve been really lucky,” said Jonathan Duffy, president at Duffy & Shanley. “We’ve been able to really work our way up.”
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Duffy attributes the company’s success with ESPN to his staff many of who he said participate in extreme sports.
”They play the sports, so they know the culture,” he said. “That has been a real asset for us.”
Duffy said the idea for the winter X-Games campaign came directly from what Vermont is known for – its ice cream. The campaign includes turning each sport into an ice cream flavor, including Misty Flip Chip and Whoop- Dee Dough. Each sport also comes with its own designer labor, including the picture of a real participant of the sport, and catch phrase.
For example, the flavor of Snow Mountain Biking is Crud Crust Crunch. The label shows a picture of snow mountain biker Steve Pert, and contains the description, “A high-speed frappe of rubber and ice with melted cranks and chunky spokes.”
”Each of the flavors represents a trick or something that is done in that sport,” Duffy said. “It’s neat for people who follow the sport, and for those who may not.”
In addition, the company also created a mascot – a snow-goggle-wearing cow. The mascot is seen on posters and postcards, which also carry the slogan, “The locals are ready. Are you?”
”We wanted to find something that really suited the area, and what better than a cow wearing snow goggles,” Duffy laughed.
But even when the snowboards and the jet skis are packed away, Duffy said, his company still has work to do. ESPN has asked them to do a print campaign for more of the extreme sports, including this summer’s first Great Outdoors Games slated to take place in July in Lake Placid, New York.
”We are really excited,” he said. “And we are really proud of our work.”
