Focus:
Creative Brief, Campaign Development
Role:
Creative Strategist
Timeline:
Year-long, 2025 – 2026
NFL
"With Heart"
Campaign
Context
Part of Promotions, UVA's year-long advertising program that brings together 30 students in a mock agency environment. We were tasked with building an integrated campaign for our sponsor client, the NFL, to pitch at the AAF National Student Advertising Competition. I was one of six non-business students selected from 60+ applicants. The brief was vague, asking us to create an umbrella campaign that unified the NFL's youth health and wellness programs while targeting casual fans.
My Role
I sat on both the Strategy and Creative Committees. On strategy, my focus was defining who the casual fan actual was, writing the creative brief, and building the strategic foundation the creative team would work from. On the creative side, I reviewed executions against the brief to make sure the work stayed grounded in strategy.
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Conducted consumer research to define and segment the casual fan audience
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Reoriented the research framework when initial data contradicted our assumptions
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Wrote the creative brief
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Pressure-tested creative executions to ensure strategic consistency
Research
Over eight months, we conducted 3,224 total research impressions across qualitative interviews, Qualtrics survey, focus groups, concept testing, and social listening.
The NFL's working definition of a casual fan was based on a viewership scale. We assumed casual and avid fans would look meaningfully different based on how often they watched. After conducting three Qualtrics surveys with 497 total respondents, we found that it wasn't the case. In fact, viewership and self-reported fandom scores were nearly identical across both groups.
From here, we reoriented the research frame away from behavior and toward perception – digging deep into respondents' attitudes about the league.
Key Insights
Focusing on perception revealed an unexpected insight. Casual fans held a more positive view of the NFL than avid fans, and were far less critical of the league's controversies. They were engaged but uncritical; they were optimists who saw the NFL as a force for good but didn't see how its youth programs connected to their everyday lives.
"There are worse things going on today than 20 years ago, but I also believe the younger generation has a lot more opportunities now than there were 20 years ago."
– Luke, 29
"I believe challenges are increasing for younger generations, but I also see opportunities for resilience and positive change ahead."
– Barbara, 55
Human Truth: Casual fans believe in the power of possibility.
Audience Segmentation
From the perception research, we segmented the casual fan into three distinct audiences.
Nurturers see the NFL as a positive force for good but need to understand how its programs fit into an already full schedule.
Players are potential participants in the NFL's programs motivated by fun and physical activity.
Connectors are former Players who can connect the NFL's programs to the next generation.
The NFL's Strategic Opportunity
Casual fans already trust the NFL as a positive force. The gap was awareness – they didn't know the league's youth programs existed or how to get involved. The opportunity was to bridge that gap by showing how the NFL's initiatives connect to everyday moments of individual growth.
The Creative Brief
Our Strategy committee translated the research into a creative brief directing the entire campaign. The brief framed the casual fan as someone who already believed in the NFL's values but needed a reason to feel personally connected to its youth programs.
The brief's single most persuasive idea: The NFL's youth health and wellness initiatives inspire individuals to maximize their potential.
The Campaign
Working from the brief, the Creative committee developed the "With Heart" campaign. This umbrella campaign was built around the idea that the NFL develops better people, not just better athletes or bigger fans. The campaign unified all six of the NFL's principal youth initiatives under one flexible, scalable platform.
Every execution featured three key elements: authentic storytelling, an uplifting tone, and a direct call to action connecting casual fans to a new microsite. The hashtag #NFLwithHeart served as a social-first extension of the campaign messaging.
As part of the Creative committee, I reviewed executions against our brief throughout the process, checking that the work reflected the perception insight and spoke to everyday moments of growth.
A selection of campaign executions from our plans book.
Reflection
Working on a real client's problem over a full year – through research, strategy, brief writing, and into creative – gave me direct experience operating across the full campaign process in a way a semester-long class can't. The NSAC environment pushed the work to a standard that mattered because we were pitching to the NFL.
Two things stood out. First, questioning the research frame early. The shift from viewership to perception was a small methodological decision that changed the insights forming the basis of "With Heart". Second, sitting on both committees showed me how much Strategy and Creative have to stay in conversation.