We’re proud to share in a 2015 Ogilvy Award to ESPN and its research partners for “WHO’S IN?,” ESPN’s highly successful marketing campaign for this year’s College Football Playoffs.

The Advertising Research Foundation’s David Ogilvy Awards for Excellence in Advertising Research “honor the creative use of research in the advertising development process by research firms, advertising agencies and advertisers.” The award, announced this week, cites ESPN and its six partners in the project; in addition to Langer Research Associates they include Weiden and Kennedy, NowWhat, Global Strategy Group, SSRS and Point Logic.

Our role in ESPN’s multi-pronged campaign was to design, manage and analyze a series of national surveys tracking fans’ awareness of the new playoff system, their interest in hearing more about it and their levels of excitement about watching the games. Our statistical analysis identified the strongest predictors of fan excitement; as ESPN reported, “we discovered a positive correlation between knowledge and excitement, making education a key priority of the campaign.” Topline data found an 11-point increase in fans’ knowledge about the new system in the weeks leading up to the playoffs.

Our research identified a core audience of 24 million highly engaged fans. Ultimately each of the two playoff games drew just more than 28 million viewers, and the championship game drew more than 33 million – the top three most-viewed programs in cable television history.

Congratulations to ESPN and the rest of its research partners!