In the US, branded content executed in partnership with media publishers is still somewhat in its infancy. ESPN in particular hadn’t done much branded content on TV before, so this was a new venture for both DICK’S & ESPN. The terms of the negotiations between DICK’S & ESPN indicated the Hell Week TV show from DICK’S would air several times on ESPN networks, and ESPN would help promote the show in their own digital, print & TV channels. No other restrictions or regulations were in place.

Our campaign revolved around 12 true stories of triumph, loss, friendship, redemption, and the simple love of running. These powerful stories each expressed a unique and gripping reason for running, so we chose to focus our campaign on digital video, the best vehicle for delivering emotional engagement while also allowing us to highlight a diverse set of inspirational stories. Each story was told through a 2-5 minute documentary-style YouTube video, one distributed every week from the beginning of March through the end of May.

- Video completion rate of 72% far exceeded norms for online video

- 2.9 million total online views & 900K TV views

- 211 million total impressions, with 31 million social media impressions

- 12 million PR impressions, up 700% from the Hell Week effort in 2012

- Use of #hellweek was up 415% from the previous year