Visa has launched an "extensive campaign" for the '11-12 NFL season that centers on a sweepstakes offering a Visa cardholder "a chance to attend Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis on Feb. 5 with 10 of his or her family and friends," according to Stuart Elliott of the N.Y. TIMES. Cardholders "enter the sweepstakes by using their Visa cards." The promotion will use traditional, digital and social media and features a character named Ned, an "everyday football fan who [wins] the sweepstakes and is shown at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis with the 10 folks he brought to the big game." The campaign then "flashes back 43 days earlier to reveal how Ned got lucky: He swiped his Visa card in a convenience store." It then "proceeds forward to depict Ned’s journey from nebbish to superstar after he finds out he won the sweepstakes." The story is told in a "series of commercials and online video clips" available on TV, Visa's Facebook fan page and Visa's channel on YouTube. Visa Head of North America Alex Craddock said the focus of the campaign is the "authenticity of the NFL and the authenticity of the fan." Elliott noted three agencies are "collaborating on the campaign." The creative agency is TBWA/Chiat/Day L.A., while the media agency is OMD and the digital agency is AKQA. The sweepstakes can be entered through Dec. 27. Craddock said that the campaign "will run beyond that." He added that Visa, which has "bought commercial time during many Super Bowls, will not run a commercial during Super Bowl XLVI" (
NYTIMES.com, 11/7).
