2023 Winner
BronzeBest Disruption
Boston Pizza
"Powered By Fanalytics "
UM / John St
"Powered By Fanalytics "
UM / John St
“There will be more data than ever. Players will generate 200 data points per second and the puck 2,000 data points, so in terms of getting inside the game, telling stories, as a fan, you’re going to be able to do more things than ever.” – Gary Bettman, NHL Commissioner
Boston Pizza has long sought to be the home for game night with hockey fans.
But during the pandemic, people were forced to alter their lives and consumption behaviours. By the time the pandemic was over, people were so used to making sacrifices, holed up at home, that many had forgotten how much going out can elevate an experience. Sadly, this meant many sports fans were settling for “subpar” game nights at home.
Boston Pizza needed to disrupt fans attention in the busy playoff season and remind them that watching the game at Canada’s #1 Sports Bar would always be the next best thing to the hockey arena.
As the 2023 NHL playoffs approached, Boston Pizza knew two or three Canadian teams were likely to make the cut. They wanted to seize the opportunity to demonstrate Boston Pizza’s commitment to creating the very best sports viewing experience for fans and, critically, get fans to try the new Boston Pizza playoff menu and boost sales in the restaurant recovery period of 2023.
While seeing their favourite team win makes Canadians happy, competing in the playoffs increases the excitement tenfold. Thoroughly engaged in the game, they play along in multiple ways – including debating, betting, and predicting outcomes, a trend that has grown rapidly with the rise of online gaming and betting. Research shows there are huge surges in fan data collection and analytics
around sports playoffs – they knew it was the perfect way to disrupt attention and deliver an
exciting brand experience.
Informed by this rich insight, their strategy was born out of Boston Pizza’s view on the world: to be the true home of the sports fan, you have to behave like a fan. This led to an entirely unique, data-fueled media strategy to reach and secure the attention of sports fans: they would turn every touchpoint into a real time, mealtime, fan-energizing experience they wanted to celebrate.
For the first time ever, Boston Pizza would create a proprietary, data-fuelled “field of study” leveraging playoff score data to optimize the Boston Pizza game experience for Canadian sports fans – introducing Fanalytics!
Boston Pizza aimed to energize sports fans using data-driven strategies and investing in fan-fueled media to lead the playoff conversation. They used real-time game outcomes via automated score-data feeds to boost engagement. Digital OOH showcased Canadians enjoying playoffs at their restaurants, and a localized touch connected with each city's home team. For example, after Toronto’s win, billboards read “Last Night Toronto Crushed 4,045 Pizzas, and the team from Tampa”.
Eliminating Boston Bruins in the playoffs, they made a bold brand move, changing "Boston Pizza" to "Auston Pizza" after Toronto’s star goal scorer, creating a North American news story. Believing fans have a better experience when watching together, Boston Pizza defended the cause when South Florida banned Canadian fans.
They shook things up over the border and ran a full-page ad in the ‘Miami Herald’ urging the Florida Panthers to lift the ban on Canadian fans. Leveraging Florida's popularity for Canadians showcased Boston Pizza’s authority while inviting "Canada South" Leafs fans into the conversation.
The Boston Pizza Fanalytics campaign revolutionized sports fan engagement
through media innovation.
Amid pandemic-altered behaviours, they revitalized the thrill of restaurant game-watching. Leveraging the data deluge from NHL games, the campaign piggy-backed off Hockey Playoff energy to make a completely immersive and energetic connection experience for Boston Pizza’s audience. They proved Boston Pizza knew how to pull audiences directly into the centre of playoff energy.
An industry first, they used media to turn fans’ obsession with analytics into… Fanalytics. They created a Boston Pizza powered analysis engine that uniquely married media, playoff hockey score data, and real time statistics with the Boston Pizza brand to create an entirely new customer experience that stopped fans in their tracks.
The Fanalytics campaign turned every touchpoint into a real time, mealtime, fan-and-data-fueled experience. Digital out-of-home and localized messages deepened relevance, connection, and immediacy. Bold actions like becoming "Auston Pizza" and advocating for Canadian fans across the border earned attention. This bold, new media approach drove immense buzz and
record restaurant sales.
Using media to uniquely merge data insights with playoff fervor solidified Boston Pizza as the sports enthusiast’s haven.
The Boston Pizza Fanalytics campaign elevated the sports fan experience and shattered sales forecasts, while handily beating platform and business benchmarks:
Boston Pizza dominated the conversation. Buzz created 67.9MM earned media impressions and 83 pieces of earned news coverage adding 1.1MM additional views, Critical playoff menu sales performance was off the charts. They doubled forecasted sales-per-restaurant per-day, a notoriously difficult task and set an all-time promo-penetration record, exceeding norms by 50%.
Sports bar traffic beat expectations by a whopping +5%, representing millions of dollars
of incremental sales.
Broke all benchmarks including a 175% increase on Boston Pizza’s new Reddit platform.
Led by a data-driven media strategy, the Fanalytics campaign drove phenomenal cultural impact and business results. Boston Pizza proved they are genuinely committed to sports fans and the true home for game night with a campaign that deeply understood them, while using fans’ obsession with analytics as an innovative way to rekindle the magic of watching playoffs TOGETHER.
Boston Pizza has long sought to be the home for game night with hockey fans.
But during the pandemic, people were forced to alter their lives and consumption behaviours. By the time the pandemic was over, people were so used to making sacrifices, holed up at home, that many had forgotten how much going out can elevate an experience. Sadly, this meant many sports fans were settling for “subpar” game nights at home.
Boston Pizza needed to disrupt fans attention in the busy playoff season and remind them that watching the game at Canada’s #1 Sports Bar would always be the next best thing to the hockey arena.
As the 2023 NHL playoffs approached, Boston Pizza knew two or three Canadian teams were likely to make the cut. They wanted to seize the opportunity to demonstrate Boston Pizza’s commitment to creating the very best sports viewing experience for fans and, critically, get fans to try the new Boston Pizza playoff menu and boost sales in the restaurant recovery period of 2023.
While seeing their favourite team win makes Canadians happy, competing in the playoffs increases the excitement tenfold. Thoroughly engaged in the game, they play along in multiple ways – including debating, betting, and predicting outcomes, a trend that has grown rapidly with the rise of online gaming and betting. Research shows there are huge surges in fan data collection and analytics
around sports playoffs – they knew it was the perfect way to disrupt attention and deliver an
exciting brand experience.
Informed by this rich insight, their strategy was born out of Boston Pizza’s view on the world: to be the true home of the sports fan, you have to behave like a fan. This led to an entirely unique, data-fueled media strategy to reach and secure the attention of sports fans: they would turn every touchpoint into a real time, mealtime, fan-energizing experience they wanted to celebrate.
For the first time ever, Boston Pizza would create a proprietary, data-fuelled “field of study” leveraging playoff score data to optimize the Boston Pizza game experience for Canadian sports fans – introducing Fanalytics!
Boston Pizza aimed to energize sports fans using data-driven strategies and investing in fan-fueled media to lead the playoff conversation. They used real-time game outcomes via automated score-data feeds to boost engagement. Digital OOH showcased Canadians enjoying playoffs at their restaurants, and a localized touch connected with each city's home team. For example, after Toronto’s win, billboards read “Last Night Toronto Crushed 4,045 Pizzas, and the team from Tampa”.
Eliminating Boston Bruins in the playoffs, they made a bold brand move, changing "Boston Pizza" to "Auston Pizza" after Toronto’s star goal scorer, creating a North American news story. Believing fans have a better experience when watching together, Boston Pizza defended the cause when South Florida banned Canadian fans.
They shook things up over the border and ran a full-page ad in the ‘Miami Herald’ urging the Florida Panthers to lift the ban on Canadian fans. Leveraging Florida's popularity for Canadians showcased Boston Pizza’s authority while inviting "Canada South" Leafs fans into the conversation.
The Boston Pizza Fanalytics campaign revolutionized sports fan engagement
through media innovation.
Amid pandemic-altered behaviours, they revitalized the thrill of restaurant game-watching. Leveraging the data deluge from NHL games, the campaign piggy-backed off Hockey Playoff energy to make a completely immersive and energetic connection experience for Boston Pizza’s audience. They proved Boston Pizza knew how to pull audiences directly into the centre of playoff energy.
An industry first, they used media to turn fans’ obsession with analytics into… Fanalytics. They created a Boston Pizza powered analysis engine that uniquely married media, playoff hockey score data, and real time statistics with the Boston Pizza brand to create an entirely new customer experience that stopped fans in their tracks.
The Fanalytics campaign turned every touchpoint into a real time, mealtime, fan-and-data-fueled experience. Digital out-of-home and localized messages deepened relevance, connection, and immediacy. Bold actions like becoming "Auston Pizza" and advocating for Canadian fans across the border earned attention. This bold, new media approach drove immense buzz and
record restaurant sales.
Using media to uniquely merge data insights with playoff fervor solidified Boston Pizza as the sports enthusiast’s haven.
The Boston Pizza Fanalytics campaign elevated the sports fan experience and shattered sales forecasts, while handily beating platform and business benchmarks:
Boston Pizza dominated the conversation. Buzz created 67.9MM earned media impressions and 83 pieces of earned news coverage adding 1.1MM additional views, Critical playoff menu sales performance was off the charts. They doubled forecasted sales-per-restaurant per-day, a notoriously difficult task and set an all-time promo-penetration record, exceeding norms by 50%.
Sports bar traffic beat expectations by a whopping +5%, representing millions of dollars
of incremental sales.
Broke all benchmarks including a 175% increase on Boston Pizza’s new Reddit platform.
Led by a data-driven media strategy, the Fanalytics campaign drove phenomenal cultural impact and business results. Boston Pizza proved they are genuinely committed to sports fans and the true home for game night with a campaign that deeply understood them, while using fans’ obsession with analytics as an innovative way to rekindle the magic of watching playoffs TOGETHER.
Credits
MEDIA AGENCY: UMMichelle Arksey, Senior Director, Connections Planning
Quinn Harris, Manager, Connections Planning
Emily Elliot, Assistant, Connections Planning
Austen Wells, Director, Integrated Investments
Joaquin Naval, Supervisor, Integrated Investments
Trinh Tran, Senior Buyer, Investment
DIGITAL AGENCY: Reprise
Ajoy Lobo, Associate Account Director
Emily Matias, Account Manager
ADDRESSABLE ACTIVATION AGENCY: Matterkind
Craig Kelly, Director Addressable Strategy
Amanda Soares, Senior Associate, Addressable Strategy
CLIENT MARKETING TEAM: Boston Pizza
Peter Blackwell, SVP, Marketing & Communications
James Kawalecki, VP, Marketing
Niels van Oyen, Director of Marketing
Sean Megna, Marketing Manager (On-Premise)
Kenrick Phillip, Associate Marketing Manager (On-Premise)
Vanessa Bouziotas, Associate Marketing Manager, Off-Premise
CREATIVE AGENCY: John St.
Cam Boyd, Executive Creative Director
Jamie Marcovitch, Executive Creative Director
Jon Barnes, Associate Creative Director
Jimmy Wei, Associate Creative Director:
Matt Ball, Chief Strategy Officer
Michael Ash, Integrated Strategy Director
Andrea Friday, Business Lead
Harjot Tatla, Account Director
Ankita Surendran, Account Executive