Dive Brief:

• Lowe's debuts a new marketing campaign today (Sept. 9) to unite NFL fans as they watch this season from home, the brand said in a press release emailed to Marketing Dive. One player from each of the league's 32 teams will join Lowe's "Home Team" to support community-building projects by people and organizations that exemplify the cultural fabric of their respective NFL hometowns.
• A 30-second TV commercial will air during Thursday's game between the Houston Texans and Super Bowl 2020 champion Kansas City Chiefs. The new spot, titled "800 Mint Street," nods to the Carolina Panthers' stadium address and will feature fans' homes who share the same address, aiming to reinforce that "this year, we're all on the home team," per the announcement.
• Lowe's Home Team players will host virtual fan engagements throughout the season and share their personal DIY home improvement projects in a new series called "Home Team @ Home," a nod to how many NFL stadiums are restricting stadium attendance this season because of the coronavirus, meaning sports fans' are using their own homes as a stadium.

Dive Insight:

The home improvement retailer's latest campaign helps football fans to reimagine this year's NFL season as it kicks off to some empty stadiums. Lowe's has timed the effort to debut just one day ahead of the season's first game, likely aiming to capitalize on some of the enthusiasm among sports-hungry fans who experienced spring and summer without their usual professional sporting events due to the pandemic.

This is Lowe's second season as the NFL's official home improvement retail sponsor, and this year, it's leaning deeper into a focus on DIY projects. Lowe's announced the multiyear NFL partnership in January 2019, a deal that gives it access to NFL content on the local and national level and during special events like the Super Bowl. This year's initiative centers on similar messaging, supporting community-building projects of the league's 32 markets as well as spotlighting Home Team players' own DIY projects.

That uplifting sentiment around uniting communities arrives during a particularly tough year for consumers, who may now be seeking fresh entertainment such as live sports even as most stadiums remain closed to in-person audiences.

"We're entering what will be the most unique NFL season we've ever experienced," Marisa Thalberg, Lowe's chief brand and marketing officer, said in the announcement. "Our homes are where football fandom will be taking place this year, but the power of sports, and football in particular, is in how it can unite us in the larger sense of home: our communities and cities. Everyone likes to get behind their home team. And this year, we are giving a whole new meaning to that idea."

Thalberg joined Lowe's in January 2020 from Taco Bell, which developed a strong lifestyle brand positioning during her tenure.

By airing a new TV commercial during the NFL's first game this season, Lowe's can reach a likely broad audience of homebound consumers who are interested in home improvement and landscaping projects as the peak summer season wraps up. The retailer saw a dramatic surge in sales, with revenue jumping 30% last quarter from a year prior and same-store sales swelling 35%, per an earnings announcement.