Fox Leaves Madison Ave. on Sidelines : Advertising: The network hires a firm that specializes in movie campaigns to promote its NFL broadcasts.

The man who can make movie teasers look better than the films themselves is about to try to do the same for the National Football League.

Fox Broadcasting Co., which will begin airing NFL games late this summer, this week hired Tony Seiniger, president of Beverly Hills-based Seiniger Advertising, to create commercials to promote Fox’s first-ever NFL broadcast schedule.

Until now, Seiniger has created ad campaigns almost exclusively for more than 1,000 feature films--including such hits as “The Fugitive,” “Field of Dreams” and the upcoming “Wyatt Earp.” The agency has also created popular movie posters for big-screen blockbusters such as “Jaws,” “The Right Stuff” and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

The move by Fox is a telling example of the unconventional steps marketers will take to keep remote-control-wielding consumers from zapping their ads. And it is a reminder to giant Madison Avenue agencies that the nature of their business is changing.

Several years ago, Coca-Cola turned away from Madison Avenue by hiring the Beverly Hills talent firm Creative Artists Agency to develop its TV ads. Reebok raised eyebrows when it picked a Los Angeles design firm, Scott Mednick & Associates, to create some print ads. Now Fox is snubbing conventional ad agencies by handing its $3-million account to a firm best known for producing glitzy movie trailers and posters.

“In challenging times, people are looking for innovative ways to stand out,” said William A. Cohen, a marketing professor at Cal State Los Angeles.

Seiniger plans to vastly change the look of football advertising. Unlike past NFL campaigns that typically showed players in battle on the field, Fox’s upcoming campaign will focus on the top players out of uniform.

“When you see them in uniform, these guys all look like Darth Vader,” Seiniger said. “We want to show that players have individual personalities.”

The multifaceted campaign will be aimed at boosting overall NFL television viewership as well as introducing fans to Fox broadcasts of the games. Besides producing TV spots, the agency will create ads for 3,000 billboards nationwide, Seiniger said.

Advertising experts say Fox’s selection of Seiniger is a wise one. “These guys have lots of experience getting people into movie theaters,” said Rance Crain, editor in chief of Advertising Age. “What’s so different about getting people to sit down and watch a TV show? It’s all about building audience.”

But the selection of Seiniger is also considered risky. The 21-year-old firm, which competed against a few conventional ad agencies for the account, has little experience beyond film promotions.

“When someone in the film business wants a creative advertising resource, they go anywhere they can to find it,” Seiniger said. “This sort of thing is happening more and more in consumer product advertising.”

Fox executives said the decision was simple.

“The NFL is entertainment,” said Tracy Dolgin, executive vice president of marketing at Fox Sports.

Fox shook the broadcast world in December when it outbid CBS by agreeing to pay $1.58 billion for the rights to broadcast the NFL’s National Football Conference games for four years. Its first broadcast will be a preseason game Aug. 12, and its regular season broadcasts will begin Sept. 4.