Rookie of the Year, Year Two
From first autograph collected to first autograph given
The brief
Year one proved the signature was ownable. Year two had to prove the idea was a platform and not a one-off, which meant it had to hold a whole season rather than a single moment.
The idea
We lifted the lens off the signing and onto the rookie season around it, then reached back further than either. Long before a rookie signs an autograph, he collects one. Same ritual, same pen, opposite side of the barrier. The campaign line carried it: from getting my first autograph to giving my first autograph, it's always been Sharpie.
The work
Two athletes, two cities, one rookie class. Ashton Jeanty, running back, Las Vegas. Tetairoa McMillan, wide receiver, Carolina. Both first-round picks. The platform now had a roster rather than a cast, and the press desk, the scrum and the step-and-repeat became recurring furniture the audience could recognise from one year to the next.
What happened
Media mentions of Sharpie S-Gel were up 1,611 percent since the platform launched. Earned placements across consumer, sports and trade press reached 1,412, a 53 percent year-over-year increase. Super Bowl Media Row delivered 404 million impressions from one activation across one weekend, and Sharpie finished the week as the most talked-about non-league sponsor brand. Sharpie-owned creative drew more than 211,000 likes, with social audience up 14 percent since launch. S-Gel grew sales in a category that was shrinking.
The part we did not plan
One of our rookies went on to win NFL Rookie of the Year. The campaign got there before the trophy did.
The compounding part
A platform is worth more than a campaign because year two costs less to explain. The audience already knew what the Signature Combine was, so the second year could spend its running time on the season instead of on the premise, and the earned coverage arrived with a reference point rather than from a standing start.
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