How Hearts & Science drove record sales for Hanes by bridging streaming sports and digital commerce – The Drum

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May 21, 2026 | 3 min read
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Hearts & Science has won in Best Brand-Building with Commerce Media and been highly commended in Best Use of CTV/Online Video in Commerce Media and Best Full Funnel Campaign at The Drum Awards for Commerce Media 2026. Here is the case study that impressed the judges as submitted.
Hanes is a 125-year-old icon, but in a crowded apparel market, legacy brand equity alone is insufficient. The challenge was to modernize Hanes for a new generation of digital-first consumers and prove that a full-funnel approach could drive significant, measurable commerce growth at an industrial scale.
Historically, Hanes managed brand awareness and retail media in silos. The challenge was to break these barriers, creating a unified customer journey that moved seamlessly from high-impact streaming video to the digital point of sale.
In partnership with Hearts & Science, Hanes launched ‘Never Uncomfortable.’ The strategy was built on a bold premise: that the migration of live sports to streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video could bridge the historic gap between brand awareness and digital checkout.
We bypassed traditional broadcast silos in favor of a Signal-Based Architecture. We used Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football (TNF) as the “Top-of-Funnel Trigger.” This was not just a media buy; it was a commerce signal generator. Every view during the live broadcast became a trackable data point within a closed-loop retail environment, allowing us to follow the consumer from the living room screen to the mobile checkout.
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The campaign featured a marquee NFL player and leaned into the cultural insight that Hanes provides the physical relief for socially awkward “uncomfortable” moments. The execution was a sequential, three-step journey:
The results prove that a unified funnel is the ultimate growth engine:
By collapsing the distance between the “big screen” and the “add-to-cart” button, Hanes proved that the future of commerce is full-funnel, closed-loop, and—above all—never uncomfortable.
Ready to get your work recognized on a global stage? Enter The Drum Awards today. Need more inspiration? Read our Award Winning Case Studies.

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