Summary
Peacock launched NBCUniversal into the streaming era in 2020, offering breakout originals, live sports, news, and a vast library of fan favorites.
In a crowded, competitive space, the streamer needed to expand its user base, drive awareness, and build lasting loyalty. With this goal in mind, Peacock leveraged SheerID’s Audience Data Platform (ADP) to launch an exclusive student offer that quickly exceeded expectations.
The program brought Peacock nearly a million verified students and inspired the company to create similar programs for the military, first responders, educators, and most recently, healthcare professionals.
Peacock has a variety of competitors, and our competitors also do significantly well. We needed to build loyalty, but also wanted to provide customized experiences and offers to make people more inclined to want to stay with us.
Challenge
Peacock offers something for everyone: hit movies and TV shows, original content, current NBC & Bravo hits, and live sports, including Sunday Night Football and Premier League.
But, to stand out in a competitive streaming market, Peacock needed to connect with audiences in a personalized, impactful way. And with US students accounting for more than $593 billion in spending power, they were the perfect test audience for Peacock’s first program.
Solution
In Summer 2023, Peacock created an exclusive offer for students—75% off its premium subscription—and used SheerID’s Audience Data Platform to ensure only eligible students could redeem it. This program was strategically aligned with the back-to-school season and Peacock’s exclusive broadcasting rights to numerous Big Ten football games, creating a personalized, impactful way to connect with their audience by offering them exclusive benefits.
Building on the success of their student program, the streamer strategically expanded to other audiences, including military, educators, first responders, and most recently, healthcare professionals.
“We came back to SheerID and said, ‘This is more successful than we expected. What else should we do?’ Our CSM encouraged us to explore other audiences , and we looked at each market to determine where we should go next,” explained Chelsea Amaro, Peacock’s Product Manager.
We knew prior to launching we wanted audience marketing to have a specific place in our marketing matrix, though we didn’t expect it to be a huge piece of the pie. But our success with SheerID’s Audience Network surprised us in a way that exceeded our expectations, and now it’s a staple component of our marketing and of our product offering.
Results
Peacock’s Audience Network program has made a significant impact, attracting nearly a million verified students since its launch.
Building on the success of their student program, Peacock used SheerID’s Audience Network to expand into other high-value audiences and strategically collaborated with SheerID to implement best practices to engage them. This includes launching programs to the military, educators, first responders, and most recently, healthcare professionals, and creatively marketing the programs by highlighting a movie or show tailored to each specific audience.
“If you’re no longer a student, you can qualify for our teacher or medical professional offer. We’re able to offer our subscribers a bridge to wherever they’re headed in life,” explained Chelsea.
Peacock’s expansion into other audiences has delivered strong results:
- 200,000 military personnel verified
- 161,000 educators verified
- Conversion rates exceeding 60% across key segments
Most recently, Peacock launched its healthcare professionals program, timed with the release of its new series, St. Denis Medical. Despite limited promotion, the program has already verified over 2,500 healthcare workers, proving the scalability and virality of audience marketing.
As Peacock’s audience marketing program has evolved, one element that has remained constant: their strong partnership with SheerID.
From uncovering new opportunities to connect with untapped communities to providing ongoing support that drives success, Peacock and SheerID have truly proven to be birds of a feather.
When I think about the success that we’ve had from a business standpoint, I don’t think it would be possible without the relationships we built with the SheerID team.