NFL Sponsor Lowe’s & Drew Brees Recruit USA To Its ‘Home Team’ To Make Homes Better for All

For the second consecutive year, US home refurbishment retailer Lowe’s teamed up with the NFL for its ‘Lowe’s Home Team’ activation and for the new 2021/22 season the brand is recruiting fans from everywhere across the country to join their new team.

The activation, created by agency Deutsch LA, enlists help from NFL stars and athlete ambassadors to help encourage fans to ‘play for home’.

The marketing push is spearheaded by a ‘New Team’ anthem spot for the campaign fronted by former New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees who emerges from his recent retirement to take the role of the general manager of a new NFL team – the ‘Lowe’s Home Team’.

Brees states that he is on a mission to build a team that plays for home and has enlisted assistance from 12 NFL players (including Justin Fields, Christian McCaffrey, Travis Kelce, Calais Campbell and Kelvin Beachum), 300,000 Lowe’s ‘Red Vest Associates’ and ‘You’ [the consumer/fan].

As with most teams, the initiative begins with a call-for-players and a ‘tryout’ process which sees fans compete against one another in various at-home DIY challenges – called ‘4 Quarter Challenges’ – for a chance to make a spot on the team.

These ‘4 Quarter Challenges’ are showcased via the brand and athlete ambassador social media channels and will run through the NFL season broken into four quarters from September through December. Each quarter centres around a different DIY challenge and fans are encouraged to submit a photo or video of their own ‘tryout’ via Lowes.com/hometeam.

Fans who are then selected for the team receive a custom ‘Lowe’s Home Team’ jersey and a chance to win the grand prize of a trip to Super Bowl LVI.

The multiple asset activation includes a hero 30-second spot, plus a pair of 15-second TV/OLV commercials, as well as a set of social recruitment videos and four challenge prompt videos for social.

As the copy states: “The Lowe’s Home Team plays for progress, and is dedicated to empowering people everywhere to come together through DIY to make homes better for all.”

Comment:

This new season activation follows in the footsteps of last September’s Lowe’s 2020 ‘Mint Street Home Team’ campaign, as well as its April 2020 ‘Home Is What Unites Us’ project.