The Sponsor Flywheel: Structuring Fan Video Contests That Deliver Measurable ROI (2026 Edition)
In 2026, the most powerful sports sponsor isn’t the one with the biggest billboard, the slickest TV creative, or the most expensive hospitality suite. It’s the brand that gives fans the mic. We’re living in a moment where participation is more valuable than passive reach. Fans don’t want to watch your activation; they want to…
Event Video Activation Tools: Best Practices for Boosting Event Engagement
Video activation is now the number 1 driver of event engagement. Attendees don’t remember booths; they remember the moments they recorded and shared. Short-form video is now the highest-ROI social format, and it leads in engagement and lead generation across channels. Almost half of marketers say short videos are more likely to go viral than…
The Prediction Economy: Score & Scorer Video Challenges That Drive Daily Fan Engagement
How fans predicting “who scores,” “what score,” or “what happens next” became one of the fastest-growing engagement behaviors across sports and esports? There’s something happening in fandom right now that brands can’t afford to ignore. Across stadiums, streams, live broadcasts, team apps, and esports platforms, fans aren’t just reacting to moments, they’re predicting them. And…
Unboxing With Heart: How Brands Use QR Codes to Bridge Shipping Delays With Instant Video Gratitude
Your customer has been refreshing the tracking page for days. The status finally flips from “Out for delivery” to “Delayed.” At that exact moment, you have a choice: let the logistics system speak for you, or step in with a human response. Now imagine this instead: inside the delayed package, there’s a small card that…
Driving Holiday Impact with Connected TV: How Big-Screen Ads Are Redefining Seasonal Reach
The holiday season is where attention, emotion, and spending all spike at once, and connected TV advertising is quickly becoming the place where all three intersect. As cord-cutting accelerates and streaming dominates living rooms, CTV gives brands the chance to show up on the biggest screen in the house with the precision and measurability of…
Occasion-Based Personalization Beyond December: Valentine’s, Mother’s Day & Graduation Video Gift Trends for 2026
The holiday season might be the biggest marketing opportunity of the year, but what about the occasions that follow? Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Graduation Day are fast becoming the next frontiers for marketers looking to personalize customer experiences. What if your next gift could make the recipient’s heart skip a beat, not just because…
The Psychology of Receiving: Why Short-Form Video Notes Boost Gift Impact and Repeat Purchases
Your shopper doesn’t remember the $49.99. They remember the 18-second “Hey, this is for you” that plays when they open the box. That tiny video? It’s the difference between a purchase and a relationship, between “thanks” and customer loyalty. If you’re leading growth in eCommerce, retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), restaurants, or gifting marketplaces, you…
Black Friday Through New Year: A Week-by-Week Gifting Content Calendar (Scripts, Prompts, and QR Ideas)
From Black Friday to New Year’s, the holiday season presents a unique opportunity for brands to engage with consumers who are primed to shop. 29% of Americans plan to complete most of their holiday shopping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, making it critical to capture their attention early. By building a strategic content plan…
LA28 Fan Tech: What 5G, Data Clouds, and AI Mean for Participatory Content in 2028
The LA28 Olympics are shaping up to be more than just a celebration of athletic excellence; they will be a testbed for the next generation of fan engagement. With 5G fully embedded in the stadium infrastructure, AI-powered video creation, and cloud-powered UGC, the Games will provide a real-time, immersive fan experience that redefines how global…
Wedding Registries 2025: Gen Z’s ‘Quiet Weddings,’ Micro-Budgets, and the New Rules of Thank-You Videos
Hey there, pull up a chair. If you’re a planner, marketer, or brand who touches weddings, gifting, or registries, you might be feeling a bit of whiplash these days. Because the couples you’re working with are not your mom’s wedding crowd. They’re Gen Z (roughly born 1997-2012) and they’re rewriting the wedding playbook in real…
30 Years of World Cup & Olympic Brand Activations (1994–2024)
The FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games aren’t just sporting spectacles; they’re global marketing goldmines. Over the last three decades, brands have leveraged these mega-events to connect with fans, create unforgettable experiences, and push the boundaries of advertising. From Nike’s iconic commercials to Coca-Cola’s immersive fan tours, these activations reveal how creativity, technology, and fan-first…
The Ultimate Guide to FIFA World Cup 2026’s Brand Activations Fans Will Love
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the biggest football event in history, with 48 teams playing 104 matches across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico (EMW Global report). As we refer to in the USA, soccer is coming home. Analysts predict more than six billion people will follow the tournament,…
