As the parent company of the Olympics’ broadcasting network, NBCUniversal, and of Xfinity, whose digital cable platform offered an immersive Olympics viewing experience, Comcast was in the unique position of having a real, tangible role in bringing the Games home to every hometown in America. Along with that, research showed that most Winter Olympic athletes spend four years toiling in obscurity, but for the duration of the Games, Comcast gives them the biggest stage in the world, allowing them the chance to become household names in towns far beyond their own.

The original “3am in Afton” film was made to be adaptable with the hopes that Jessie would pull off an unexpected win. After she made history in the wee hours of the morning, the film would optimize the traditional Olympic ad format by recutting the spot with footage from the race.

Since the Olympics is a live event, we needed to be flexible for all 17 days when extraordinary moments were sure to come. Our “3am in Afton” film was made to be adaptable in case Jessie Diggins pulled off a miraculous win. After she made history with America’s first cross-country skiing gold medal in the wee hours of the morning, we had a short window of time to work with our partners around the world at NBC to innovate the traditional Olympic ad format and recut the spot with footage from the race.

When Jessie’s finish was broadcasted for the first time in the US, our new “3 am in Afton” spot was the first commercial to play when it cut to commercial. Fans got to relive and relish in Jessie’s winning moment. Over 15 million people were tuned in watching the historic race.

A quantitative study among our target audience revealed the following movement after our Olympics campaign:

Achieved over 50% favorability for the first time in history (since 2012) in two of their three key markets (Philadelphia and San Francisco)

12% average lift in favorability across our three key markets

45% gain in “Trust” ratings

26% gain in association between Olympics and Comcast

Of US sponsors, Comcast was fourth most associated with the Olympics