2019 was Microsoft Surface’s seventh season as the Official Tablet of the NFL. 2019 also marked the introduction of the brand’s new tagline: Anything But Ordinary. We brought both to life with a campaign showcasing some of the league’s top players going big and bold in in their lives outside the field of play. The goal? Continue to drive awareness and familiarity of Microsoft Surface as a premium brand and instrumental partner for the NFL’s best, most creative players. The catch? Do all of the above with a limited budget and connect with a younger audience.

We brought Surface’s brand line “Anything But Ordinary” to life in a way that was, well, anything but ordinary. Rather than focus on the NFL players playing football, we celebrated the things that make them special outside the stadium. By celebrating NFL players as individuals, rather than members of a collective, we created space for our audience (who, obviously, don’t play in the NFL) to feel like they could be part of the movement. Encouraging fans to be “Ordinary Like Me” reminded them that, in their uniqueness, they were just like the players who they admire. The entire campaign revolved around audience involvement—voting, sharing, challenging, and more—and showed them that the Surface and NFL partnership is much bigger than football.

Gen-Z doesn’t watch NFL. But that’s not to say they don’t like it. They just consume it differently. They watch highlights over broadcast games. They follow players versus entire teams, and prefer GIFs to game stat lines. They’re also avid gamers, especially when it comes to playing on-the-go. And thus, Outrush Ordinary was born.

We brought the player stories to life with a series of videos that played throughout the season. But then we took it to the next level. We partnered with influencers to create an Anything But Ordinary TikTok challenge where we had fans create their own videos to show what makes them stand out. Then, we advanced the campaign with Outrush Ordinary—and endless runner video game that let fans run a mile in the player’s shoes. We put the game on Surface Studios and launched it in Miami in Super Bowl weekend. The campaign culminated with the first-ever Anything But Ordinary Player of the Year award. Fans cast their vote for the most extraordinary player in the NFL with the chance to win a trip to Miami for Super Bowl 54. The award was given away live at NFL Honors, the league’s annual event celebrating legendary performances throughout the season.

Outrush Ordinary was a hit among casual gamers and hardcore NFL fans alike. It reached the Top 10 in the Windows Store in its first week and saw thousands of engagements during the Super Bowl LIV activations in Miami.