5G QB
- Brand
- Verizon
- Year
- 2019
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Tech & Telecom
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Installation
- Agency
- Wildlife
Objective
In a category where most fans can't tell one carrier's network from another, Verizon needed to make its 5G Ultra Wideband speed something people could feel rather than be told about. Super Bowl LIII week — anchored by the brand's "5G Built Right" campaign and its NFL partnership — was the moment to prove low latency with a physical demonstration, not a spec sheet.
Solution
Fans line up outside Verizon's 5G Experience Lab pavilion at Super Bowl LIVE, where a host on a tablet starts the clock. Each player straps on a 5G VR headset fed by a body-mounted camera, so they see themselves throwing from a first-person view relayed live over Verizon's 5G network. Standing on one of two throwing lanes, they fire real footballs at illuminated LED targets, racing a 30-second timer as each hit triggers a burst of animated lights across more than 2,750 LEDs. A live scoreboard tracks each lane in real time, and every throw feeds a leaderboard crowning the day's top score — with NFL players like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Steven Jackson dropping in during the week to try their own arm.
- 1
A player registers for the activation with a Verizon brand ambassador inside the Verizon 5G Experience Lab pavilion at the Super Bowl LIVE fan festival.
- 2
The ambassador fits the player with a 5G VR headset; instead of a virtual scene, the headset shows the player's own first-person view, relayed out and back through the Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband network.
- 3
A host starts the round from a tablet and sets a 30-second timer while the player simply stands ready in one of two side-by-side lanes.
- 4
The player throws real balls at LED targets within reach, racing for speed and accuracy rather than a single perfect throw, while a neighboring player competes in the adjacent lane at the same time; each hit triggers a mechanical sensor that sets off a synchronized LED light animation and adds to the score.
- 5
When the 30 seconds end, the player's score is posted to the activation's shared leaderboard to compete for the best result of the day.
