Campaign Overview
The Game Plan
Challenge: Activate the 76® sponsorship of the 2026 College Football Playoff through a sweepstakes giveaway, while driving two key digital business outcomes: increase traffic to 76® stations and increase purchase activity within the Fuel Forward® App.
Solution: We connected a familiar football phrase — the GO route — to the act of driving, then amplified it through a trusted, beloved voice in college football: ESPN College GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit, and Peter, his viral golden retriever sidekick known for his game-day bandanna.
How it Works
From the Screen to the Stadium
The road to the College Football Playoff is a long one. And it starts with a full tank. Using paid and organic social, College Game Day activations, email, and streaming ads, fans were invited to fuel up at 76® stations using the Fuel Forward® App for a chance to win a range of prizes, including tickets to the 2026 CFP National Championship in Miami. This fully app-based entry took 3 simple steps:
- Fill up at a 76® station using the Fuel Forward® App
- Use the app to purchase of gallons
- Automatically be entered to win fan-approved prizes
Results
The Player Stats
The GO Route Giveaway was designed as an integrated digital ecosystem. Nearly every element of this campaign lived exclusively on a mobile device — yet it drew major on-site traffic at our stations.
64.1k
new app downloads driven
>80k
gallons of gas purchased by sweepstakes participants
20.1k
engagements on organic social
236k
clicks driven by paid social
20.5k
total sessions on the landing page
The Creative
The GO Route Replay
We developed three spots for streaming, social and broadcast to drive sweepstakes participation. These spots show Kirk and Peter as they “cover” the everyday plays made by drivers at the pump. By using an analyst our audience sees on their screens weekly, these spots felt digitally native and authentic to the sponsorship. This delivered maximum brand recognition and drove Fuel Forward&® App downloads.
Spot 1
Fuel Fumbled
Spot 2
Winners of the Road
Spot 3
Driver of the Week
Additional Channels
Fueling the Fandom
Paid and Organic Social
The GO Route Replay spots were reformatted natively for Instagram and Facebook across 76® and Kirk’s social channels. We produced additional custom content specifically for Kirk's personal channels to leverage his trusted voice and built-in audience of over 800k followers. This content teased the campaign, drove entries, and gave fans a behind-the-scenes glimpse of America’s favorite four-legged reporter.
College GameDay Integration
Custom signs were made and handed out to audience members at ESPN College Gameday hub. The signs were picked up on live broadcast, streaming and the official College Gameday social — generating an estimated 2.9 million impressions.
A multi-touch email program drove direct traffic to the Fuel Forward® App and reinforced the entry mechanic with countdown timers, step-by-step entry instructions, and prize visualization, maximizing app downloads and qualifying purchases.
Landing Page
A dedicated campaign landing page served as a digital hub for the promotion, hosting full sweepstakes details, prize information, a live countdown, and a direct path to download and use the Fuel Forward® App.
Out-of-Home (Digital Kiosks)
Digital kiosks placed in Miami extended the campaign's digital footprint into the physical world ahead of the National Championship, building real-time excitement and reinforcing the 76® sponsorship on-site in Miami.
