Branded Entertainment is growing daily in the US, and this growth is not limited to a particular region, but encompasses the entire country as a whole. As a result, the challenge for every campaign creating branded content is to cut through this clutter with a program that resonates with consumers above the rest. The Pepsi NFL Anthems program took the world of popular music created by today’s biggest stars and combined it with America’s biggest pastime, connecting and resonating with consumers and fans of both worlds.

The regulations encountered in creating the program were brought on by the National Football League, which is a national sporting association that boasts the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world and is the most popular sporting league in the United States. The process to create and gain approvals for content using the NFL name required constant and meticulous management from start to finish.

Fans and consumers were drawn to the content through PR, social media, original video content, team and artist integration, in-stadium activation, live-performance, radio and television air-play and in-store POS throughout the program. As a result, the program had over 1.9m song downloads and online song streams. On social media, there were nearly 94m Pepsi NFL Anthems Twitter impressions and over 14,000 related tweets. Fan engagement soared with 50,000+ new fans visiting www.pepsianthems.com weekly, and 50,000+ Shazam tags with a 90% engagement rate. The songs played nationwide to over 2.5bn listeners as a result of 260,000+ radio spins.

Overall, the Pepsi NFL Anthems program resulted in over 1.9m song downloads and online song streams, 725+m earned media impressions through nearly 400 press placements, and more than $14.6 million in advertising value. On social media, there were nearly 94m Pepsi NFL Anthems Twitter impressions and over 14,000 Pepsi NFL Anthem related tweets. Fan engagement soared with over 50,000 new fans coming to the www.pepsianthems.com site each week, and over 50,000 Shazam tags with a 90% engagement rate. The songs played on over 400 radio stations nationwide to over 2.5bn listeners as a result of over 260,000 radio spins.