THE 14TH ANNUAL SHORTY AWARDS

The Shorty Awards honor the best of social media and digital. View this season's finalists!

Lenovo AI Powers a World Gone Football

Entered in Brand Partnership, Branded Content, Long Form Video, Product Feature Video, Technology

Objective

This film sets out to make the invisible technology behind football visible—and redefine Lenovo’s FIFA partnership from sponsorship to critical AI infrastructure.

Football unites billions, yet the systems that power officiating, analytics, operations, and fan engagement remain unseen. As Official Technology Partner for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and FIFA Women’s World Cup 2027, Lenovo delivers AI-driven devices, edge-to-cloud infrastructure, and enterprise solutions that operate at unprecedented global scale.

The film brings this hidden layer to life by translating complex enterprise AI into human experience. It shows how real-time insights, referee-view perspectives, and immersive fan experiences reshape how football is played, judged, and experienced.

Our objective is clear: humanize enterprise AI, elevate Lenovo’s role from technology provider to intelligence partner, and position Lenovo as the unseen force behind the world’s most visible sport.

Ultimately, the film reframes Lenovo not as a brand on the sidelines, but as the intelligence behind the world’s game—making football smarter, fairer, and more immersive.

Strategy

Our strategy is built on a single insight: football is universally understood, but the technology enabling it is not.

We focus on three priorities: technical credibility, narrative clarity, and emotional resonance.
Instead of explaining AI in abstract terms, we anchor it in moments of precision, pressure, and connection that define the sport.

Execution blends authentic engineering with cinematic storytelling. The film demonstrates how Lenovo’s full-stack ecosystem, from devices and infrastructure to AI solutions, operates seamlessly within FIFA’s complex environment. Close collaboration with Lenovo’s engineering and brand teams ensures every story moment is both inspiring and technically credible.

Unlike traditional sports content that emphasizes logos or celebrities, this film reframes partnership as infrastructure. It shifts the narrative from visibility to indispensability—showing Lenovo not as a sponsor, but as the system that makes modern football possible.

The result is a new storytelling category: enterprise AI explained through emotion, scale, and real-world impact.

Results

The outcomes confirm our ambition: Lenovo’s role is understood not as sponsorship, but as strategic AI infrastructure.

The film reshapes perception by translating enterprise AI into a human narrative, enabling audiences to grasp Lenovo’s critical role in one of the world’s most complex global events. Engagement depth, content retention, and partner amplification across Lenovo and FIFA channels reflect this shift.

Beyond awareness, the work strengthens Lenovo’s enterprise positioning. By demonstrating AI in real operational contexts—officiating, analytics, and fan experience—the film proves Lenovo’s ability to deliver scale, reliability, and performance under extreme conditions, reinforcing credibility with enterprise audiences.

Most importantly, the campaign achieves strategic differentiation. It elevates Lenovo from product storytelling to platform storytelling, positioning the brand at the intersection of technology, culture, and global impact.

By making the invisible visible, the film strengthens Lenovo’s meaning, relevance, and long-term strategic value—exactly the outcome we set out to achieve.

Media

Video for Lenovo AI Powers a World Gone Football

Entrant Company / Organization Name

Lenovo X FIFA

Links

Entry Credits