Cannes Lions

Migration

YOUTUBE, San Bruno / YOUTUBE / 2024

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Overview

Entries

Credits

OVERVIEW

Background

Super Bowl 2024 marked the end of the first-ever season where fans could get NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube. And while Season 1 had been a success for YouTube in terms of new customers, there was still a healthy amount of work to be done.

We had 29 years and millions of dollars of competitive spend still to overcome to get out-of-market fans to know NFL football was now on YouTube. So our Super Bowl objective was clear: use the most-watched day of the season to let people know that the new home of NFL Sunday Ticket was on YouTube.

Idea

One thing we know for certain is that every year, football season ends. But there’s hope. Because another thing we know for certain is that football season always comes back. As sure as the sun will rise, there will be more football in our future. And NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV will be there to help us greet the new season as it dawns.

In our spot, we ignite hope for the coming season by exploring the migratory patterns of NFL teams. By depicting NFL athletes like literal migrating birds, we are able to underscore the fact that, just like nature, football follows a pattern that will return it to us shortly. This reminds people of the season ahead and amplifies the brand message that it’s never too early to sign up for NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV—the best way to watch the coming season.

Strategy

Our core audience is “out-of-market” NFL fans. NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube is a natural fit for this audience as it is comprised of NFL fans who are constantly seeking their teams’ games. But Super Bowl is a moment that all fans watch, and as such we needed to meet more than just our core audience in this moment.

And this moment is a strange one. While it’s the biggest show in football, and one team will win, it’s also the end of the season for every team. For fans, this is the beginning of their dreaded winter of no content. From Super Bowl on there is no football, only a huge void.

Our strategy was simple: address this end of season football void.

Outcome

Getting fans to prioritize an NFL subscription service 6 months ahead of the new season was a tall order. But we took it on, leveraging the biggest stage in football to anchor ourselves in the minds of avid NFL fans. 99.2MM saw the spot, with MarketCast citing positive buzz for Migration +7 points higher than all other 2024 Super Bowl ads.

It blew past recall and breakthrough performance norms with our avid NFL demo and among those with intent to purchase, moved them +10 points closer to a pre-season purchase. It drove significantly more engagement and positive sentiment (+47pts) on owned platforms than previous years’ Super Bowl ads and contributed to a 54% YOY increase in YouTube TV and NFL Sunday Ticket game day mentions on social.

Yahoo Sports gave it an A, it trended on YouTube, and had the highest enjoyment rating in the history of YouTube TV ads.

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2023, YOUTUBE

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