Personalized Programmatic Sponsorship
How SPIQE, AIM, and Adrenali.ne Are Personalizing Live Sports for Every Device
It’s a crisp evening in Madrid, and David leans back on his couch, the roar of the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium crowd filling his living room. Each cheer and whistle makes him feel almost there.
The LED boards flicker with ads around the pitch. One catches his eye—a sleek convertible speeding down a scenic road. He smiles, imagining himself cruising through Madrid.
Suddenly, his phone buzzes. It’s Carlos, his next-door neighbour. “Come check out the game on my new big screen,” Carlos says. David doesn’t hesitate.
Minutes later, David is in Carlos’s living room, the massive screen making the game feel more intense. David notices an ad for a spacious van. “Hey, that’s different. At my place, it was a convertible.” Carlos looks over, intrigued. “Really? A van here, a convertible there?”
They exchange a glance. “Do you think it’s personalised?” David asks. Carlos nods. “Maybe. I have been searching for bigger cars lately, with the baby coming.” David whistles. “That’s wild. It’s like they’re tailoring the ads to us.” They laugh, realising how precisely targeted the ads have become.
SPIQE: Bringing Personalization to Sports Sponsorships
SPIQE’s journey into personalised, strategic brand partnerships in sports advertising began with a clear vision: to make every game resonate uniquely with each viewer. This vision started taking shape in 2015 at the Audi Cup in Munich, where AIM pioneered a virtual overlay approach, initially focusing on regionalization—delivering brand messages tailored to viewers in specific regions. This early strategy revealed the potential for even more precise audience targeting.
Fast forward to this summer, and this technology made a global impact at UEFA Euro 2024, where 5 billion viewers experienced our advanced Digital Overlay(R) technology, operated entirely remotely. AIM’s technology, built for absolute accuracy and reliability, has been honed over years to manage the dynamic conditions of live games—fast-paced players, shifting lighting, weather variations, and the animated brilliance of the LED system. Each campaign seamlessly adapts to these variables in real time, enhancing the viewing experience without disrupting the action on the field.
With SPIQE now on board, the vision has advanced further: to democratise this technology and make personalised, programmatic advertising accessible to brands and broadcasters globally. SPIQE’s innovations aim to empower brands of all sizes to connect with audiences on a deeply personal level, levelling the playing field and ushering sports sponsorship into an exciting new era.
The Tech Behind the Magic
At the core of SPIQE’s success are its partnerships with AIM and Adrenali.ne. Together, these three companies create an ecosystem of in-game programmatic sponsorships. Earlier attempts to personalise sponsorships within broadcasts, though groundbreaking at the time, often lacked the integration of these critical elements. This resulted in fragmented viewer experiences, limited dynamic content, and restrictive processes for how a brand could enter the game. By combining their strengths, SPIQE, AIM, and Adrenali.ne offer a fully integrated solution for real-time, personalised in-game sponsorship experiences that engage viewers and empower brands at scale—all while aligning brands with the world’s biggest games and stages.
Here’s a closer look at how the three companies work together to bring SPIQE’s vision to life:
AIM Digital Overlay® Technology
The engine that ensures AIM’s programmatic sponsorship ads don’t just appear but actively adapt to the dynamic environment of a live game. From capturing fast-moving players to adjusting for fluctuating lighting and weather changes, AIM tracks every element on the field, ensuring each ad blends naturally into the broadcast. The result? Ads that seamlessly integrate into the game, as if they were part of the stadium itself.
Additionally, AIM’s technology can create unlimited feeds tailored for different audiences, leveraging Google Cloud’s services to enable advanced personalization. “Exciting times as we see our client push boundaries with Google Cloud! Leveraging AI-driven insights, scalable infrastructure, and cutting-edge security, they’re transforming their industry and setting a new standard for innovation,” says Michael Huang, Cloud Partner at Google. This ensures that each viewer experiences ads curated to their preferences, enhancing engagement without sacrificing the authenticity of the live sports experience.
Adrenali.ne Platform
With automation at its core, Adrenali.ne serves as a dynamic two-way marketplace for ad transactions and management. This platform empowers brands of all sizes to engage audiences they might otherwise miss. Through Adrenali.ne, brands can bypass traditional media-buying barriers, choosing to bid on ad space during a specific game or targeting a particular audience segment without committing to long-term sponsorships. Meanwhile, clubs can post their available inventory, creating a seamless ecosystem for buying and selling ad space. This flexible, programmatic approach democratises sports advertising, allowing brands to participate at a scale and pace that traditional methods cannot match.
SPIQE’s Audience Graph
The final piece that brings everything together, SPIQE’s Audience Graph is essential for gathering data insights and matching ads with specific audience segments, such as viewer preferences and behaviours, going beyond basic regional targeting. From a fan’s choice of favourite team to their location and interests, this level of audience insight transforms ad placement from a generic experience into one that resonates personally with each viewer.
“Through our work with SPIQE, we’re pushing the boundaries of what audience data can achieve in real time. By combining our data-driven insights with SPIQE’s advanced targeting and measurement capabilities, we’re able to help brands deliver tailored, contextually relevant ads that connect with each viewer individually—and empirically measure the engagement and transactions. This approach goes beyond traditional targeting, reaching fans not just as spectators, but as unique individuals with personal interests and preferences,” says Jeff Sopko, Chief Strategy Officer, Audience Acuity
Expanding Beyond Sports: SPIQE’s Technology Across Live Broadcasts and Entertainment
While SPIQE’s programmatic technology is revolutionising sports advertising, its applications extend to other live broadcasts and entertainment, opening up possibilities for personalization within content itself. Imagine an iconic “Sex and the City” scene where Carrie Bradshaw strolls through Times Square—except the billboards she passes display unique ads tailored for each viewer. One screen might show a luxury handbag ad for one viewer, while another shows a promotion for a new travel app.
“SPIQE’s technology is designed for flexibility,” says Adam Holt, SPIQE’s Founder and CEO. “Because we can personalise ads in real-time during a live football game, there’s enormous potential to bring that same approach to live or scripted broadcasts in other media and entertainment sectors.”
“What we have here is more than just an ad; it’s a connection driven by the passion and fervour that comes from powerhouse sports teams and their dedicated fan bases. This technology is truly unique, giving brands the opportunity to make an impact on the biggest stage in the world—global football events that captivate billions and influence culture, conversation, and communities across continents. Think of the reach and emotion tied to legendary teams like Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea FC,” says Hans Erik Tuijt, CEO Adrenali.ne.
As brands realise the potential of fully integrated, programmatic ads to engage audiences within the content itself, SPIQE continues to innovate, bringing entertainment sponsorship to a new level of precision and engagement. This evolution isn’t just transforming the fan experience; it’s reimagining how brands of all sizes can create memorable moments that connect deeply with viewers across a global arena.