Through audience research, we found that the Chase Freedom Unlimited target is heavily engaging in the NBA, over-indexing on viewership and spending more to enhance their fan experience. As the credit card that rewards you with cash back around moments that matter most, we wanted fans to know that Chase Freedom Unlimited is the perfect card to make more of their fandom.

But we weren’t an official sponsor of the NBA—which limited our opportunity for brand presence around the league, and made it all the more crucial that the work resonate with fans, as we couldn’t rely on the exposure and association that official sponsors receive. We needed work that made a splash and was memorable to the audience—all while showing how Chase Freedom Unlimited brings NBA fandom to another level.

The film takes place at another press conference—one that includes Kevin Hart and Stephen Curry talking about cashbacking in an homage to Iverson’s iconic “Practice” dialogue. Mimicking his exact wording and cadence, they’re interrupted by Iverson himself, surprised and a bit relieved to be talking about cashbacking instead of practice. He enthusiastically joins them.

The film debuted on the anniversary of Iverson’s original press conference, becoming more than a commercial, but an actual follow-up to the original event. 21 years later, Iverson could move on and change his narrative. And it was a new narrative that fans were happy to embrace.

The campaign was an enormous success amongst our audience. We measured performance of the campaign in TV and OLV through robust quantitative and qualitative ad tracking. The ads broke through and outperformed ad tracking benchmarks, driving brand affinity and engagement for Freedom Unlimited to maintain our category leadership position. The “We Talkin’ About Cashbacking” spot alone significantly outperformed rigorously validated financial services benchmarks among NBA fans – earning a +40% lift in engagement scores and +12% lift in likability scores with the audience. Additionally, the work sparked chatter across NBA social, and we received recognition among die-hards for returning AI to the spotlight–with our efforts driving 83% positive sentiment across social mentions (the highest of any previous Freedom Unlimited campaign).