Over 100 media outlets picked up the story, and it all started with one social media post on Prime Video’s account. The social video announcing the new ball broke the record as the most viewed and commented video on Prime Video’s social history by 3X. The same post was responsible for ⅔ of all Prime Video’s TikTok engagements. Those posts were shared by creators, influencers and celebrities such as Richard Sherman, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Russel Wilson, Dude Perfect, Lacey Taylor Rooks, and Andrew Whitworth. Other brands also participated in the conversation, like Wilson and the NFL.

In 2022, Amazon signed a 10-year deal with the NFL giving Prime Video the right to stream Thursday Night Football on their platform. When the news broke out, many football fans looked forward to the innovations Amazon would bring to the broadcast. But many of the most conservative football fans were worried that the big corporation – who never had anything to do with American Football – could prioritize profit over the game's purity and make unwelcoming changes. The negative sentiment online was growing. Amazon needed to engage with its new audience, giving them confidence that nothing significant would change in the game - just how and where people watch it.

Instead of running away from the problem or trying to minimize it, we decided to make it bigger. Way bigger. For a few days, we purposefully turned football fans’ biggest nightmare into reality: we changed the game’s most sacred icon. To make the change even scarier, the new ball was inspired by the Amazon “smile” logo.

After a few days of madness online, Amazon revealed that Prime Video wasn’t changing anything on the game. The only change was where people watch it. The reveal increased the positive sentiment online, turning haters into fans and showing that Amazon was willing to bring more entertainment to their broadcast.

In the months leading up to the launch of Thursday Night Football on Prime Video, Amazon collected data from its new football audience that showed that some football fans - the most conservative ones in their audience segmentation - were worried about what the giant corporation with no experience in football could do the game. While the “Digital Natives” fans were excited and looking forward to what the new streaming platform could offer on the broadcast, the most conservative “Football Fanatics” were reluctant. Amazon needed to start developing a relationship with both of them.

Most of the negative comments were happening online, so the brand needed to start building up a relationship with its new audience there.

Before creating the campaign, we created a new product. In partnership with Wilson, Amazon Prime Video developed a whole new football ball. We needed a ball inspired by the shape of the Amazon logo, but it still needed to be a working ball for the quarterbacks. The aerodynamics, size, and weight were all elements that had to be considered. As part of our social campaign launch, we planned to give the ball to the most famous quarterbacks in the NFL. They tried the ball during their training sessions, we filmed them - and then used those videos as part of the campaign’s amplification.

Over 100 media outlets picked up the story, and it all started with one social media post on Prime Video’s account. The social video announcing the new ball broke the record as the most viewed and commented video on Prime Video’s social history by 3X. The post was shared by creators, influencers, celebrities, and brands such as Richard Sherman, Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders, Dude Perfect, Lacey Taylor Rooks, Andrew Whitworth, Wilson, NFL and others. The Prime Ball also helped Amazon to get a record number of new subscribers to Prime. But most importantly, it helped football fans finally realize that Amazon wasn’t here to change anything but to bring more entertainment to the game they love.

The inspiration for the idea - to change the game's most sacred icon - came out of the social behavior of football fans.

After monitoring the social commentary online, we discovered that fans were really afraid of Amazon stepping into the world of football.

And to show that we came in peace, we first showed them how ridiculous that fear really was.