uniqFEED provides virtual advertising for FIS World Cup

Swiss virtual advertising provider uniqFEED has jumped back into winter sports in 2024, providing its AdApt virtual advertising solution at the FIS World Cup in Jasna Slovakia, which ran from 20-21 January.

The FIS World Cup stands as a key highlight in the international skiing calendar, drawing top athletes and a global audience. It comprises two events, the Giant Slalom and the Slalom, each featuring two runs.

Across the two-day event, uniqFEED created one additional virtualised broadcast feed for local broadcast on Joj Sport. This feed integrated virtual content onto existing signage along each run.

This event underscores one of the key points of value of virtual advertising solutions – the ability to insert sponsorship content without any hardware installations or additional physical signage requirements, Ski runs can be many kilometres in length, providing ample advertising space to sponsors. However, athlete safety is top priority for the FIS World Cup, and physical advertising on the run must be limited. Virtual advertising solutions such as AdApt enable the use of existing physical signage by multiple different brands and provide an avenue to leverage prime advertising real estate without encroaching on the physical landscape or compromising athlete safety.

Lukáš Donoval, managing director at Event’s On agency, who is acting for the Ski Association of Slovakia in this matter, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership with uniqFEED, stating: “The vision of Event’s On agency for the Audi FIS World Cup and the Ski Association of Slovakia is to continuously raise the bar for excellence and innovation in snow sports. Partnering with uniqFEED provided us with a fantastic opportunity to showcase the vast potential that virtual advertising can bring to the sport, ensuring athletes’ safety, respecting the environment and increasing creative exposure possibilities for brands.”

Tom Huston, chief commercial officer at uniqFEED, added: “Our new partner, Event’s On understands the considerable commercial and operational value that virtual advertising can bring to winters sports. This event in Jasna is an ideal opportunity to shine a spotlight on this value. We look forward to our continued collaboration with Event’s On and Ski Association of Slovakia and to working together at future events.”

This is not uniqFEED’s first foray into the world of winter sports, having worked with Swiss Ski at the International Lauberhorn Ski Races in January 2023. The event was broadcast on SRF zwei and attracted 1.09 million viewers in German-speaking Switzerland alone.