After a season of football being cancelled, the anticipation of its return was huge. But for Elgiganten, sponsorship costs of large games and tournaments was too high. So they had to act smart in order to reconnect with their audience. Especially during a time when they couldn’t use promotions to drive traffic to their physical stores - as they normally would.

Just in time for the opening match of Premier League, we decided to hijack the most debated part of football - the Video Assistant Referee. And put Elgiganten, a Scandinavian electronics retailer, at the heart of the game.

Where others saw a hated referee signal, we saw TV’s in various sizes and brands. When the referees made the signal, they triggered a discount on a new TV at their webshop; which corresponded with the minute the signal was made.

”The VAR Discount” turned an entire audience into potential customers, without having to pay for expensive sponsorships. Instead, we made VAR something to look forward to. During a moment in time when everyone knew that a great TV was the safest way to enjoy live sports.

With a wide target audience, i.e. football supporters, we had to find a trigger that would set off an entire metaphorical stadium. Which we found in the never-ending debate surrounding VAR - where each side is equally passionate about their views.

In addition, ”The VAR Discount” brought an element of real time betting to Elgigantens usually traditional webshop - targeted towards viewers that loves that kind of excitement. Which was especially needed during a time when online sales had to increase in order to cover for the huge loss in in-store traffic.

”The VAR Discount” was promoted in social channels before, during and after the game. Which is where the audience tend to spend their time before, during and after a game to take part in discussions, fan culture and result updates.

The discount ran through all 90 minutes of the opening game of Premiere League, and stayed live for an additional hour after the match was finished. And by using an entire match as our advertising spot for the discount, we managed to turn a very small budget into an action-packed 90 min TV ad. Where every surprising twist and turn was to the audience's liking.

”The VAR Discount” made its debut in the match between Liverpool and Man City - in which two VAR calls was made. In just one hour Elgiganten achieved 1,8 million DKK ($290,000) in TV sales - immediately paying back the limited investment of 150.000 DKK ($25,000) with an additional x12 ROI. With a total sales of 2,4 million DKK during the first game, 10,500 unique visitors to their webshop and 250 live customers during the match.

The second VAR signal of the game (called 45 minutes into the second half) resulted in 100 sold units within just 10 minutes. And the discount ended with an impressive 313 TVs sold in total.