As the official vodka sponsor of the NFL, Jennifer Holiday Hudson, North America brand leader at Smirnoff Vodka is playing the long game this football season.
The company is focused on using the games as a space to build its brand through connections with fandoms, which is evolving to the culture off of the field.
“As NFL fandom evolves so does our NFL strategy, which this season included remixing our We Do Game Days platform to extend beyond the field and into the core of fan culture,” says Holiday Hudson.
The We Do Game Days campaign is heavily fashion-oriented, featuring Smirnoff-commissioned merchandise, created by Aleali May (an official NFL-licensed designer) and Gavin Mathieu and Kayla Jones. The brand is also partnering with influencers (and NFL wives) Claire Kittle and Kristin Juszcyk (a.k.a. “Team Whistle”) on a new digital series, “Wife’d Up, Mic’d Up.” In the series, Kittle and Jusczyk go through their pre-game rituals, which include making Smirnoff cocktails.
“Super Bowl will serve as the culmination of this with a fashion-meets-sports experience in San Francisco that reflects all the things we know fans love about game days – the sidelines stories, behind-the-scenes moments, low-lift connects with friends, and of course the game day ‘fits,” continues Holiday Hudson. “For Super Bowl, while we won’t have an ad we’re still excited to be activating during the biggest weekend in the off season.”
Brand Innovators caught up with Hudson from her office in New York to discuss the brand’s approach to NFL and why showing up in culture is important to the brand. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
How will you be trying to connect with NFL fandoms in the We Do Game Days effort?
With We Do Game Days, we’re responding to the shifting landscape in Gen Z’s sports fandom and championing the things that make game days bigger than the game itself.
To do this, we’re remixing the gameday playbook to hero the things we know fans love – content, partnerships, and merchandise. That comes to life through the following: Exclusive game-day merch drops from style icon and NFL licensee Aleali May, alongside other game-day designers, as well as behind-the-scenes access and content starring WAG superstar Claire Kittle and longtime brand partner NFL legend Vernon Davis. Additionally, it includes partnerships with DraftKings and Team Whistle, including integration into Kittle’s all new digital series Wife’d Up, Mic’d Up. NFL team cocktails from our ten partner teams that fans at home can include in their game day get togethers and beyond
Why is showing up in the culture important to your brand?
We’re always looking for ways to tap into culture and We Do Game Days allows us to do that because it’s a cultural mashup of sports, style and the viral moments that define Gen Z fandom.
Today’s game days look different with 73% of Gen Z wanting more than just the game itself and 38% not having a favorite franchise, so it was important that we were uniquely positioned to connect with fans as the perfect spirit for game days.
Will you be extending your We Do Game Days platform as part of the effort?
Yes, we will. Smirnoff’s plans for the NFL season and the Super Bowl will allow us to usher in a new chapter of We Do Game Days. This chapter comes complete with multiple touchpoints including fashion, behind-the-scenes access, IRL experiences, and teaming up with cultural curators like style icon Aleali May, WAG superstar Claire Kittle and NFL legend Vernon Davis.
Will you be advertising in the Super Bowl?
While we won’t have a Super Bowl ad this year, we’ll still be bringing We Do Game Days to life at the big game.
For Super Bowl weekend, we’ll be bringing our fashion meets football focus to life via an IRL experience that’s tailored specifically for the big game in San Francisco. We’re lucky to have ties to the market with this year’s talent roster in NFL Legend and 49ers alum Vernon Davis and WAG Claire Kittle and we look forward to executing activities for the biggest weekend in the off season that celebrate fans.
We’ll be selecting one fan and a guest to attend the festivities live so be sure to follow SmirnoffUS on social for more on how you can sign up for the experience.
What goes into making great creative?
Great creative starts with a compelling insight and a strong understanding of the fans or audience you’re trying to reach. And so we built We Do Game Days knowing that game days look different for Gen Z. As we thought about ways to differentiate this next chapter from previous ones, we filtered creative choices and efforts through this lens. The result? A campaign that’s built for fans no matter how they do game days.
What marketing trends are you expecting during the 2026 Super Bowl broadcast?
Looking ahead, we expect two things to dominate Super Bowl 2026 broadcast. To start, we expect broadcast tap into the growing popularity of short-form content through meme culture and fast-paced storytelling to connect with Gen Z – a demographic where 61% prefer content shorter than 60 seconds.
Additionally, we know Gen Z fans are looking to connect with others and they’re turning to third spaces beyond the stadium like tailgates, at home, etc. As a result, we expect to see more brands turning their attention to these spaces where fans gather for game days. Knowing this, we feel well positioned to meet these trends with We Do Game Days.
