Bronze: Best Sports Sponsorship or Tie-In 2015

A provider of broadband cable, television, and phone services, Xfinity wanted to position itself as “the best seat in the house every Super Bowl” to sports fans, many of whom are also the primary decision makers in their households. To do so, it went the whole nine yards in offering programming tied around the 2014 Super Bowl.

Xfinity’s sponsorship of that year’s Super Bowl Saturday Night, an entertainment gala that took place at Radio City Music Hall the evening before the game, certainly helped the brand support its claim. It filmed on-site interviews with players and celebrities about the biggest stories of the NFL season, which it uploaded in real time on Xfinity.com and NFL.com and aired during the NFL Honors Awards Show that night on Fox, driving football fans to the websites for a robust second-screen experience. It also had Vance McCullough, a well-known Xfinity presence on social media, tweet from the red carpet.

In the run-up to the festivities, Xfinity promoted its involvement on in-store signage and Super Bowl-related giveaways at home-electronics retailers, enabling it to capitalize on the key selling season for HDTVs. What’s more, on Twitter it ran a sweepstakes for a VIP trip to New York for the awards show.

Ddid the campaign score a touchdown? You could say that. In January 2014, sales in retail channels were up 22% year over year, with more than 405,000 new Digital Preferred Tier connects and 260,000 upgrades from existing subscribers. Xfinity’s partners were also winners: Fox’s NFL Honors Awards Show received 10% higher household ratings in Xfinity markets, while The Super Bowl Saturday Night Red Carpet Show on NFL Networks received a 39% ratings increase in those same markets.