Sky Broadband’s target audience of hardcore to mid-core gamers rely on great internet speeds to compete professionally. And, with 77% of UK homes with online gamers complaining of broadband performance issues, Sky’s challenge was to insert themselves into gaming culture with cut through and authenticity – within the social media channels gamers lean towards, not traditional print or direct mail media so often used by Broadband providers – to ultimately prove Sky Broadband’s superior speed, reliable connection and trustworthiness in intense competitive gaming environments.

Insight: Being sweaty is a phrase used in the world of gaming to suggest a gamer who tries too hard' and is 'committed to win' no matter what. But, to be a high performing esports gamer, sometimes you need to break a sweat to reach the top.

So, we flipped the gaming term 'sweaty' on its head to create the hottest Street Fighter 6 tournament for amateur gamers, with the ultimate prize of an eSports Pro contract (all powered by Sky 'Full Fibre Broadband). The catch? Players didn't just sweat it out in game, but in a climate-controlled chamber that reached 150°F, called THE SWEAT ROOM. A first-of-its-kind experiential challenge. broadcast live across YouTube and X (Twitter), that allowed viewers to turn up the heat by interacting with the chat.

Ultimately, the insight amplified our brand message: when the heat is on, you can always rely on Sky Broadband’s performance.

Our target audience was hardcore to mid-core gamers who rely on great internet speeds to compete professionally, due to 77% of UK homes with online gamers complaining of broadband performance issues and gamers being key to households choosing faster broadband.

Strategically, our media plan was to create disruptive work versus our broadband competitors, and to target our gaming audience on platforms native to them. The idea to create a tournament in real life, was the focal point for a life-streamed, interactive stunt, hosted on relevant social channels where our audience often consume content. Influencers relevant to our audience joined the event too, adding to the theatre but also engaging with the community in real-time on their own socials as the event played out.

Committing to broadcasting the event live didn’t just add to the drama, it was a further demonstration of the product's reliability.

The process of bringing Sky Broadband’s Sweat Room to life was complex - fraught with risks but high rewards. The structure of the chamber had to be constructed as a bespoke build to ensure real-time heat control, ventilation, fully functioning screens and gaming PCs, whilst looking aesthetically theatrical but also clearly visible. The space needed to be large and imposing in a way that the overall idea and Street Fighter 6 game demanded, but also practical for a full broadcast team to operate within. Legals needed to be overcome too, to ensure competitors safety in this genuinely dangerous environment.

Executing the stunt online, across social channels demanded incredible integration and coordination so the live broadcast worked, and allowed people to dial up the heat in the chat.

Build-up collateral and a countdown went out in the days preceding to dial-up hype, before Sweat Room rolled continuously for a whole 2-hours.

Sky Broadband’s Sweat Room’ redefined the use of livestream in the gaming space, with 462,000 live stream views and 2,200 live stream interactions – Sky saw a return on interest of £0.01 per view vs a £4 projection. 19,000,000+ impressions converting into 650,000+ organic impressions saw engagement for the brand previously unseen, it became their most viewed live stream to date with 90k YouTube views and 288,000 X (Twitter) views combined on the day. In addition, Sky Broadband’s sustained partnership with Guild Esports (official partner of The Sweat Room) has seen a 25% rise in Sky Broadband’s perception as the no.1 choice among gamers, and a 21% increase in being the best broadband for gaming.