Fan-first Delta Dental stadium ads

Delta Dental

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The 7th Annual Awards

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• Best Art Direction

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ABOUT THIS ENTRY

Fans attend sporting events to enjoy the game experience, so Delta Dental decided to be part of it. For each team, we created stadium ads that blended our marketing message with the team and sport for seamless integration.

How does this represent "Excellence in Engagement"?

As the game experience shifts toward engagement, a stadium of logos can detract from that. As a sponsor, we wanted to be part of that engagement while still promoting our brand. These ads blend modern, engaging design, logo placement and fan culture for a balance that works. Three of our major team partners reference our creative as best-in-class and an example of how to activate brand sponsorship.

Additionally, we have a presence in 15 states and D.C., which gives us a lot of opportunities for team partnerships. The design system we developed allows us to scale to new teams while still offering a custom experience for each stadium. With a light touch and a lean budget, we’ve been able to optimize our opportunities and get positive fan engagement with our brand.

Objective

In a single stadium game, fans may see over 3,000 sponsored ads. Most will get ignored. Human brains are wired to filter out irrelevant information, and at a sporting event, anything other than the game can seem irrelevant.

Fans are there to enjoy the game experience, so Delta Dental decided to be part of it. For each sponsored team, we created ads that blended our marketing message with the team and sport for seamless integration.

Strategy & Execution

Our goal was to make connections with fans first, which would in turn boost brand awareness. No one is thinking about buying dental insurance during a live game, but if we make them smile in the stadium, maybe they’ll remember us later.

We developed a design system with a sleek look and feel that brought the excitement of each sport to life in mega digital banner size. For each team, we used their colors along with our own Delta Dental green to get those fan vibes going.

We tied dental insurance in with some ad copy specifically tied to the sport (rather than a company slogan), such as “Fumble-free dental coverage.” Alliterative and memorable, "Fumble-free dental coverage" captures fans' excitement for football. Tapping sport-specific insider lingo, this messaging puts the fan first and highlights Delta Dental as a winner too.

Together, those elements help to catch attention and stand out in a stadium sea of logos. Our stadium ads complement other sponsored initiatives to enhance game experience, like a smile cam or floss cam. Altogether, this design system enables us to produce custom, meaningful stadium ads mostly in-house as we continue to scale our sports partnerships.

Organizations

• Delta Dental

  Atomic Productions

Credits

Brittney Cruz
Design Manager
Delta Dental

Jim Deeken
Creative Director
Delta Dental

Nina D'Iorio
Sr. Manager Brand Content
Delta Dental

Flora Morrow
Sr. Visual Designer
Delta Dental

Jordan Murphy
Project Manager
Delta Dental

Peter Lee
Sr. Brand Copywriter
Delta Dental

Kira Llagas
Sr. Visual Designer
Delta Dental

Evan Rezler
Brand Copywriter
Delta Dental

Danny Angotti
Executive Producer
Atomic Productions

John Oczkowski
Sr. Digital Artist
Atomic Productions

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