The Super Bowl is one of the most anticipated and watched events on the planet. Brands spend millions for one ad on what’s become a competition within a competition, this one for consumer connection. National Football League sponsor Visa faced this challenge head-on, circling Super Bowl 49 as “the” moment to spike a season-long promotion of its new Visa Checkout offering to drive consumer enrollment and merchant adoption.

Visa Checkout is an easier way to pay online -- so easy, you only need one hand to use it.

Visa enlisted quarterback Drew Brees and wide-receiver Odell Beckham Jr. – known for a history-making one-handed catch – to set a record for the most one-handed catches in a minute. We partnered with the nation’s leading sports TV network ESPN to promote and air it live -- loaded with product branding -- then amplified the stunt through social and digital channels.

Building off equity generated throughout the NFL season, Visa aimed to leverage the Super Bowl as a marquee platform to help drive awareness, consumer enrollment and merchant adoption for Visa Checkout.

Research showed that online shoppers are seeking ease, simplicity and speed when they checkout -- the beauty and basis for payment tool Visa Checkout. So easy, you can do it with one-hand and one click. Our strategy was to show consumers and partners alike that Visa Checkout is as direct, fast and friction-free as a beautifully executed one-handed catch.

Over four days, Visa generated more than 300 stories and 1 billion impressions, including ESPN, USA Today, Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, SB Nation, FOX News, The Today Show, ABC World News and others.

Odell caught 33 one-handed passes in a single minute, stirring fans, college and pro football players to try to beat his record.

Within minutes of setting the record on ESPN, #CheckoutODBrees was the #1 trending topic on Twitter nationally and #2 globally, as well as #3 on Facebook. Social amplification efforts resulted in over 130 million social impressions.

And, by leveraging its NFL sponsorship throughout the season and at the Super Bowl to educate and drive action, Visa has seen millions of Visa Checkout accounts created, more than 150 of the largest and most important online retailers sign up to accept Visa Checkout, and for these merchant partners, a significantly higher 70% sales completion rate among users.

Visa enlisted Brees to throw and Beckham Jr. to catch, and partnered with ESPN to cover the attempt live. We engaged Guinness World Records to adjudicate the attempt, and worked with advertising, media and social media partners to amplify it across channels.

On Thursday, Jan. 29, before Super Bowl weekend, the stunt was executed on ESPN’s “NFL Live,” with hosts interviewing the athletes about the attempt, Visa Checkout and call-to-action for consumers to enroll. “NFL Live” devoted another five minutes to the record attempt itself, with a live audience counting each pass completed. Throughout the 10-minute segment, product branding and campaign hashtag #CheckoutODBrees appeared on screen. During the week, ESPN Radio shows cross-promoted the event.

Beforehand, Visa pitched ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell to break the story and partnered with EA SPORTS’ Madden franchise to promote the record across its social channels, sparking conversation among fans and media.