Sweetgreen’s World Cup DOOH Strategy: Wraps, Screens and a 113% Foot Traffic Jump

When Sweetgreen launched wraps in May, the salad chain needed a high-visibility moment to introduce the handheld menu item. The World Cup – a six-week sports spectacle that draws crowds into bars, restaurants, and public spaces – provided exactly that. The brand partnered with video advertising startup Atmosphere TV to run a short, soccer-themed video ad on screens in thousands of venues where people gathered to watch matches. The ad featured a green soccer ball with the chain’s branding alongside rotating images of its four wrap flavors, and carried a simple call to action: “order online or in-app.”

Rather than a national media buy, Sweetgreen concentrated spending in four top markets – Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Washington, D.C. – and then used Atmosphere TV’s technology to target venues within two to three miles of a physical Sweetgreen location. This gave the campaign a granularity that traditional regional designated market area (DMA) buys, which can cast a net over 10‑mile radiuses, usually cannot match.

According to data shared by the brand, the approach worked. Audiences exposed to the campaign on an Atmosphere TV‑powered screen visited a Sweetgreen store at a rate 113.9% higher than those who weren’t, marking a clear lift in foot traffic during the tournament. Sweetgreen’s VP of marketing, Katie Sheeran, emphasized that the wraps – portable and easy to eat on the move – were a natural fit for the dynamic sports‑watching environment, while Atmosphere TV’s positioning as “connected TV for people out of the house” let the chain appear alongside World Cup coverage without the cost of an official sponsorship.

Why Sweetgreen’s DOOH Gamble Paid Off and What It Means for Retail Advertising

The Precision Proximity Advantage

Atmosphere TV’s value proposition goes beyond standard digital out-of-home. By limiting ad delivery to venues within two to three miles of a Sweetgreen store, the platform effectively targeted consumers who were already within a short walk or drive of making a purchase. In comparison, a regional DMA buy may reach viewers as far as 10 miles away, diluting the chance that an ad impression converts into a store visit. This proximity layer turned the DOOH campaign into a lower‑funnel activation tool, something that traditional billboards – even digital ones – rarely accomplish.

Spectator Sports as a Retail Moment

Live sports gatherings create a unique intersection of attention, communal excitement, and immediate spending intent. The World Cup provided a six‑week window in which millions of fans were repeatedly in commercial venues with discretionary time and money. Sweetgreen’s choice to blanket those venues with a wrap‑focused message exploited a behavioral reality: fans are more likely to act on a food‑related impulse when they are already out of the house and close to a restaurant. The campaign also demonstrated that brands can “appear alongside” major events at a fraction of the sponsorship fees by buying adjacent screen real estate, a tactic Atmosphere TV highlighted by running its own channels next to TV sets airing the tournament.

DOOH Measurement Closes the Loop

The 113.9% foot‑traffic lift figure – derived from comparing store visits by exposed versus unexposed audiences – is the kind of hard performance data that DOOH has historically struggled to deliver. Atmosphere TV’s ability to attribute physical store visits helped Sweetgreen justify the spend and offered a blueprint for other retailers: if you can measure it, DOOH can shift from a brand‑awareness play to a measurable growth driver. Sheeran confirmed that while the primary goal was reach and favorability, the business expects lower‑funnel outcomes, particularly store traffic. The tangible result could accelerate adoption of similar proximity‑based DOOH tactics among other fast‑casual and retail brands.

What Retail Marketers Can Take Away from Sweetgreen’s Campaign

  • Demand proximity‑based targeting from DOOH partners. Sweetgreen’s campaign succeeded because ads were served only to screens within a short distance of a store. Retailers negotiating with DOOH networks should require the exact distance and store‑match capability Atmosphere TV provided.
  • Time campaigns to major sports and cultural events. The World Cup provided a six‑week window of high‑intent, out‑of‑home consumers. Pairing a new product launch with such an event capitalized on communal viewing moments and impulse buying behavior.
  • Require foot‑traffic attribution as a standard campaign metric. The 113.9% lift figure came from comparing exposed and control groups. Before signing a DOOH contract, marketers should ensure the platform can deliver a similar exposure‑visit linkage, not just impression counts.
  • Use DOOH as a cost‑effective complement to official sponsorships. Atmosphere TV allowed Sweetgreen to appear alongside World Cup coverage without paying for official sponsorship rights. For brands with limited budgets, adjacent-screen strategies can deliver the halo of a big event at a fraction of the cost.

Risk & Opportunity Assessment

Commercial RiskLowThe campaign generated a 113.9% increase in store visits among exposed audiences, but lower‑funnel conversion to wrap purchases remains unverified and the long‑term impact on repeat visits is unknown.
Competitive RiskMediumAtmosphere TV’s client list during the World Cup included Lowe’s, GMC and Modelo, indicating that proximity‑based DOOH tactics are replicable. Other fast‑casual chains could rapidly adopt similar approaches, diluting Sweetgreen’s first‑mover advantage in the channel.
Regulatory RiskLowThe campaign involved standard digital out‑of‑home advertising with no data‑privacy or content‑regulation concerns raised.
Reputation RiskLowWhile an unrelated cyclospora outbreak caused a 4.7% foot‑traffic dip on July 18, Sweetgreen was not implicated and the campaign was not a reaction to the outbreak. Food‑safety events could still create headwinds for overall brand perception, but the DOOH push itself carries minimal reputation exposure.
Technology DisruptionLowDOOH technology is evolving but not in a way that threatens Sweetgreen’s underlying business model. Atmosphere TV’s platform enhancements, such as better measurement, are likely to be incremental rather than disruptive.
Commercial OpportunityHighThe strong foot‑traffic result validates proximity‑based DOOH as a measurable growth driver. Sweetgreen can scale the approach across more cities and events, and the campaign lays a template for other retailers to embed DOOH into their performance‑marketing mix.