The Brand Opportunity Behind Football Season
Welcome to the first issue of Promotions Activated – our new resource for promotion ideas, real client work, and a closer look at the strategies and creative choices that shape successful, engaging campaigns.
There are a lot of ways to get people involved with a brand – from entering and playing to voting, sharing, creating, shopping, and coming back for more. The best ideas fit the audience, make sense for the brand, feel right for the moment, and give people a reason to get involved.
Promotions keep evolving, and so do the ways people interact with brands. New technology, changing behaviors, emerging channels, and the growing connection between physical and digital experiences continue to open up new possibilities for participation and engagement. We’ll use this space to take a closer look at what’s changing and the ideas we think are worth your attention.
So where better to start than with fans who are already all in? Football season brings passion, competition, traditions, conversation, and week-after-week attention – all kinds of energy brands can tap into.
Football Is Back. Bring on the Fans.
Football gives brands something valuable from the start: an audience that’s already engaged. Fans show up week after week ready to watch, talk, compete, celebrate, and share their opinions.
The opportunity is to build on that energy with promotions and experiences that feel like part of the season – from sweepstakes and instant win games to trivia, voting, UGC, and more.
Give fans another way to be fans, and you give them another way to engage with your brand.
Client Work
Old Wisconsin Goes All In on Lambeau
Old Wisconsin turned a product promotion into a Packers fan experience with its Leap Into Lambeau Sweepstakes. Consumers entered codes from specially marked packages for chances to win Packers gear, with a grand prize that brought fans right into the world of the Green Bay Packers.
The VIP experience included a private Lambeau Field tour, locker room access, Packers Hall of Fame admission, a customized jersey, a Packers Pro Shop gift card, and more. And the experience didn’t end at Lambeau – highlights were captured on video and shared across Old Wisconsin’s social channels.
The smart part: The prize was built around something Packers fans already cared deeply about. Exclusive access made the experience feel special, while capturing the winner’s trip gave Old Wisconsin content that could keep the excitement going after the sweepstakes ended.
PROMOTION INSPIRATION
4 Ways to Turn Up Fan Engagement
Football season gives brands months of opportunities to keep fans involved. Here are 4 ways to build on the excitement already happening around the game.
1. Make the Prize the Experience Tickets are great. Access can make them even better. Think VIP experiences, travel, behind-the-scenes access, meet-and-greets, or other prizes that bring fans closer to the teams, players, and events they care about.
2. Add Another Win to Game Day Bring instant win games into the game-day routine with prizes, surprise reveals, or limited-time rewards. The format can give fans another reason to check in and participate throughout the season.
3. Put Fan Knowledge to Work Trivia, quizzes, and weekly challenges give fans a chance to prove what they know while giving brands a chance to learn more about them. The right questions can surface interests and preferences, while fresh rounds keep the experience going throughout the season.
4. Show Us Your Game Day Lucky jerseys, elaborate tailgates, watch-party spreads, pregame rituals – fans already love showing how they do game day. Invite them to share photos or videos for a chance to win, then use social sharing to put that fan energy in front of a bigger audience. The result can be more than entries: fresh UGC, social amplification, and a campaign fans help bring to life.
Promotion Activators Toolbox
Make the QR Code Work Harder
On game day, fans encounter brands everywhere – from the products they buy to the places they watch, shop, and celebrate. A QR code can turn those moments of attention into a direct path to a digital promotion.
And the same thinking applies well beyond sports. Packaging, signage, event materials, receipts and other physical touchpoints can connect consumers directly to a sweepstakes, instant win game, vote, quiz, exclusive content, or another interactive experience.
For marketers, the value is in what happens next. QR activations can drive entries and game plays, support opt-ins and first-party data collection, help track response across placements, and connect offline activity to measurable digital engagement.
Try this: Look at the physical touchpoints already in your customer journey. Where could a scan give someone a worthwhile reason to interact with your brand?
Resource Library
There’s a lot of creative territory inside gamification. It can add anticipation, choice, reward, discovery, or repeat play to a promotion – and those interactions can be designed around what the brand wants to accomplish. That flexibility is what makes gamification such a useful part of the digital promotions mix.
See what gamification can bring to your next promotion →
WHAT WILL YOU ACTIVATE NEXT?
If there’s one thing we hope this first issue makes clear, it’s how much you can do with a promotion. The right approach can create participation, extend a brand experience, turn attention into action, and create marketing value well beyond the campaign itself.
That’s the work we love. Promotion Activators brings together strategy, technology, administration, compliance, winner management, and prize fulfillment to take ideas from concept through execution.
Have something in mind? Bring us the brief.
