Brisbane Heat | 2025/2026 Season Case Study - Digital and Traditional Agency Sunshine Coast and Brisbane

Behind a 150K-Fan Season

Supporting Brisbane Heat’s Biggest Home Campaign in Eight Years.

Automation & Reporting
Tracking & Tagging Audits
Campaign Audits
Partnerships

The Challenge

Following our first season with Brisbane Heat, we continued supporting ticket sales across five home games in the 2025/26 BBL season. With demand shifting game by game, we made timely digital decisions to build early momentum and convert interest into attendance. Building on prior learnings, our focus was improving timing and efficiency to help push crowds beyond recent benchmarks.

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150K+ Attendees

Brisbane Heat’s most attended home BBL season in eight years, driven by a strong fixture, expanded ATL and PR momentum — with paid media entering earlier and scaling dynamically to convert demand across all five games.

+17K Fans YoY

9% Lower Digital Spend Attendance grew by 17,000+ year on year, achieved by aligning investment to peak sales periods and live demand — delivering stronger results while reducing media spend.

Nic Laube - Head of Marketing & Digital

THE STRATEGY

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Rather than fixed budgets or flighting, we deployed a flexible, performance-led digital strategy that responded to real-time demand signals and aligned with Brisbane Heat’s broader marketing activity.

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KEY DECISIONS INCLUDED:

  • Earlier market entry: Digital activity moved from November to October, aligning with new initiatives and expanded OOH to support rising awareness.
  • Live budget scaling: Investment was adjusted in line with ticket sales and sell-through updates, ensuring paid media scaled with demand.
  • Season-on-season learnings: Budget was aligned to peak interest periods, improving efficiency and driving a 70% YoY increase in on-platform results.
  • Front-weighted momentum: Increased investment across Games 1 and 2 supported launch momentum and sustained demand into later fixtures.

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THE EXECUTION

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The campaign ran across Google and Meta, prioritising scale, flexibility and clear measurement. With strong awareness driven by Brisbane Heat’s broader marketing, paid media focused on capturing and converting peak demand throughout the season.

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EXECUTION HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Agile optimisation through open communication and regular check-ins
  • Revenue tracking on Google to optimise toward ticket sales
  • Strategic use of Performance Max, aligned with Cricket Australia to complement national campaigns
  • Deployment of 100+ Heat-developed creative assets, with Sunny guidance across static, video, GIF and organic formats
  • Intentional audience targeting across key pillars, supported by tailored creative to maximise relevance and reach

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PARTNERSHIP & COLLABORATION:

‍‍Strong trust and collaboration between Brisbane Heat, Sunny Advertising and the club’s wider marketing and PR teams underpinned the season’s success. Integrating digital into regular ticketing updates enabled fast, informed decisions and ensured paid media responded to activity across the broader marketing ecosystem.

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THE RESULT

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Backed by a strong fixture, expanded ATL, new CRM initiatives and sustained PR momentum, the 2025/26 season delivered Brisbane Heat’s biggest home attendance in eight years. Paid media across Google and Meta amplified demand at key moments, converting interest into ticket sales throughout the season.

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Together, this delivered:

  • 150,000+ fans through the gates — the Heat’s most attended BBL season in eight years, with record crowds across Games 3–5
  • ~30,000 average attendance per game, including three consecutive sell-outs
  • +17,173 YoY attendance growth, achieved with 9% lower digital spend
  • Games 4 and 5 selling out three and six days early, respectively

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THE TAKEAWAY

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By applying season-on-season learnings, entering the market earlier and dynamically scaling investment to real-time demand, paid media helped Brisbane Heat capitalise on strong interest throughout the season. Supported by the club’s strongest-ever marketing mix — spanning fixture, PR, ATL, CRM and new initiatives — digital converted demand at key moments, delivering the biggest home crowds in eight years while remaining under budget.

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NeridaPexa logo
Exceptional results and a fabulous team providing great service. I've had the pleasure of working with Sunny for a number of years and would recommend them to any business looking to amplify their online presence and drive meaningful results. Thank you to Matt, Maddie and the entire Sunny team.

Nerida P

Marketing Director - Pexa

SethSky City logo
The Sunny Advertising team have taken our marketing activity to the next level. Providing outstanding results across our social and search platforms, on the back of expert industry knowledge, a willingness to understand the local market in detail, and the flexibility of working in a challenging environment. The team are responsive, supportive, and go the extra mile  to achieve our goals. For anyone looking to get the most our of their digital marketing capabilities, I highly recommend getting in touch with Sunny Advertising.

Seth M

Marketing Manager - SkyCity

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I have had the pleasure of working with the team at Sunny Advertising across the past year and I must say they exceeded all expectations. They are always quick to respond and are capable of handling queries of any nature. Kudos to the entire team, especially Paige and Liv, for their remarkable work.

Eden M

Marketing Manager - Jetts Fitness

ClaireCVM Logo
I had the pleasure of working closely with the Sunny team for several years while they ran our paid media channels. I cannot fault their professionalism and enthusiasm for finding ways to successfully market our brand. The team went above and beyond at all times to help with our account. I would work with them again without hesitation. Thank you Sunny for the amazing journey over the past few years!

Claire M

Marketing Manager - City Venue Management

James
Sunny has been a breath of fresh air. A+ for customer service and professionalism. The team are great to work with and are passionate about delivering top quality results. Highly recommend.

James L

CMO - GJ Gardner Homes

Gary
The Sunny Advertising team have helped Spitwater with advertising over a long period of time, we have enjoyed ongoing successful advertising campaigns that have maximized our investment, we regard Sunny Advertising as an important part of our business

Gary R

CEO - Spitwater

Alan B
Sunny Advertising looks after our advertising and the team have shown that they are passionate about our charity, going above and beyond to help with not just our advertising but offering support and advice on various aspects of communications. I value the relationship we have formed and look forward to working with Sunny Advertising for many years to come.

Alan B

Director - Mercy Ships

The team at Sunny Advertising are a delight to work with. Always reachable, super knowledgable with quick response times. They go above and beyond to deliver results for our accounts with so much enthusiasm. Definitely recommend!

Jess M

Marketing Manager - Gold's Gym

Sean GoldHawkYamaha
Yamaha Motors Australia has been working with Roger and the team at Sunny Media for around seven years now on all of our national retail campaigns, as well as launches and branding. Over this time, they have used their extensive media knowledge and purchasing abilities to reach the maximum possible audience across a range of mediums for the best results. Sunny Media's strategy and research into media, consumers and habits continue to be of the highest order and more importantly help us achieve industry leading outcomes.

SEAN G

MARKETING MANAGER - YAMAHA MOTORS AUSTRALIA

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