Draft House – Rocket Mortgage & LA Rams

During April and May 2021, in a first for any NFL franchise, the Los Angeles Rams teamed up with sponsor Rocket Mortgage to operate the team’s Draft operation out of bespoke created ‘Rocket Mortgage Draft House’: a 9,000 square foot branded Malibu home which was the base for the team’s Draft picks and strategies and for a related integrated marketing campaign which saw the team put a distinctly LA spin on the traditional Draft.

Territory: USA

Agency/Production: In-House, The Den (LA) & Lime (LA)

Objective

The first round of the annual NFL Draft has become one of the biggest event’s in US sports, but in 2021 the LA Rams had a problem – it didn’t have any first round picks because it had traded two of them away to the Jacksonville Jaguars in return for signing Jalen Ramsey.

But instead of ignoring the Draft or letting football fans focus on every other team’s picks, the franchise decided to divert the attention and the eyeballs away from the official broadcast coverage (on NFL Network, ESPN and ABC) of the live three-day 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland (Ohio) over the days in late April/early May and instead focus supporter attention on the Rams themselves.

So the Rams teamed up with existing financial partner Rocket Mortgage chose to leave the traditional at-event management war room based work behind and create a fresh, innovative approach to activating around the event which reflected the team’s progressive and innovative positioning.

Activation

The in-house Rams team worked with Rocket Mortgage’s marketers alongside LA production house The Den with sound and music handled by Lime (LA) to create the ‘Rocket Mortgage LA Rams Draft House’.

Instead of moving the senior staff to Cleveland for the Draft, April and May saw the teams management and star players go to a bespoke (temporary) LA Rams Draft House: a 9,000-square foot mansion in Malibu (California) with a (sponsor branded) infinity pool and soft furnishings with Rocket Mortgage and Rams logos and an office for the general manager and coach – all with views of the Pacific Ocean.

The Draft House formed the focal point for a month-long campaign launched via a comic hero spot posted on 19 April ahead of the NFL Draft itself (which ran from 29 April to 1 May) and fronted by super-fan Rebel Wilson.

The three-minute video, created in-house and helmed by Director Justin Polk, sees the actor spread her irreverent brand of comedy across the team as she interacts with Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, General Manager Les Snead and several star players including defensive tackle Aaron Donald and new quarterback Matthew Stafford. Cameos abound in the promo as Wilson seeks to make herself useful – offering suggestions to these skilled and seasoned football professionals on how to run her favourite team.

The hero spot was supported by a series of online videos as well as image and influencer social pieces and the content also sought to drive fans online to explore more about the Rams Draft at therams.com/draft.

Other campaign elements ranged from live Draft coverage from the Rocket Mortgage Draft House, real-time content about each of the team’s selections and a social series called ‘Inside The Draft Presented By Rocket Mortgage’ which provided a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into building a championship roster.

Another strand of the campaign was a contest, running from the last week of April through to 3 May, which sees the Rams and Rocket Mortgage run a sweepstakes offering one lucky fan and three guests to stay in the ‘Rocket Mortgage Draft House’ from 14 to 16 May.

“We set out to create a campaign that is light-hearted and fun to show off our Draft House,” explained LA Rams VP of Partnership Marketing Lexi VonderLieth. “Immediately, we thought of working with Rebel, given her comedic genius combined with her passion for the Rams. Rebel has been a Rams fan since we returned to L.A. Our goal with this campaign is to create something very unique to connect fans to our team and players. In addition, we wanted to put a new spin on the NFL Draft, leaning into our hometown of L.A. and what differentiates us as an organization.”

“There is a simple philosophy when it comes to working with our partners, ‘First. Best. Only.’ We love to build fun, engaging activations that have never been done before – like what we are doing here with the Rams,” added Rocket Mortgage Chief Marketing Officer Casey Hurbis. “The Rocket Mortgage Draft House creates a relaxing atmosphere for the Rams to make their selections in the draft, while also providing four lucky fans an opportunity to participate in a unique experience of their own.”

Outcome

According to the Rams themselves, even though the team wasn’t on the clock in the 2021 NFL Draft the team dominated the conversation around the off-season tentpole event through what it stated was its most successful piece of Draft related marketing ever.

For the team the initiative generated 73.2m total impressions and its other stand out social success metrics included:
> 62.6m earned media impressions
> 19.6m earned social impressions
> 28.1m online impressions
> 14.9m TV impressions
> 1.4m direct social engagements

In terms of year-on-year improvements from the team’s 2020 Draft marketing, the 2021 initiative a 26% rise in impressions, an 89% increase in views and a 38% increase in engagement.

While for its sponsor Rocket Mortgage, the tie-up doubled purchasing intent amongst Rams fans and generated a 40% increase in brand buzz amongst Rams fans.