Coral marketing tone shift continues with 'Big John' content series
Motorway service guide for away supporters features social media star Big John and is the latest instalment in operator’s ‘We’re Here For It’ campaign
Coral has launched a football content series led by social media influencer Big John in which the TikTok star visits a selection of UK motorway service stations and ranks them for away day fans.
The new series is part of the Entain-owned brand’s “tonal shift” aligned with its new ‘We’re Here for It’ campaign, that aims to “put fans first” and take a more humorous approach to PR and advertising.
The motorway service station guide for away football fans series has launched with an advert created by both Coral and Wonderhood Studios.
Social media influencer Big John has 561,000 followers on Instagram and almost 230,000 followers on TikTok.
He rose to prominence for eating large amounts of Chinese food as well as his catchphrase, ‘Bosh’, which has become a hugely recognisble soundbite.
The series will see Big John visit several motorway service stations and rate food, car parking and toilets.
The debut 110-second ad sees Big John sitting at a piano at Oxford Services wearing a blue and white Coral scarf round his neck. He tells viewers that he on the hunt to “find the UK’s best service station”.
Big John points out Oxford Services has 12 dining restaurants and an “amazing” indoor and outdoor food court, before adding that a Chinese and KFC from Oxford services is “different gravy”.
After, highlighting Oxford’s award-winning toilets, he moves outside to the car park which, he notes, has “plenty of space for HGV coaches, cars, minibuses and plenty of EV charging”.
Making frequent use of his famous catchphrase, Big John rates Oxford’s parking facilities a 4.5 out of 5, the toilets were given a perfect score of 5, as was the food. Overall, Big John rated Oxford’s services an impressive 4.9 out of 5. He then poses the question: “Can it be beaten?”
The GambleAware logo is seen throughout the ad in the top left-hand corner.
The ad ends with the social media star asking viewers to decide what service station they’d like to see him review, following on from his next visits to Fleet Services on the M3 and London Gateway on the M1.
David Stevens, Coral head of PR, commented: “The service station is an essential stopping off point for match-going football fans, whether it’s for a wake-up coffee and a bacon bap, picking up some sweet treats for the journey home, or for those that urgently need a quick toilet break.
“For the die-hards that follow their team week in week out, the choice of service station is a big one, and who better than Big John to give his verdict on where to make that all important pit-stop.”
Coral launched its ‘We’re Here For It’ multi-channel marketing campaign last February, with two TV ads for horseracing and online casino.
Last November saw the release of Coral’s ‘The Tunnel’ ad, focusing on the relationship between fans and the clubs they support.