Teaching people about an ETF through food is a really unique and unexpected idea. Where did it come from?
Rob: We started with the audience. Through research, we found that culinary content and celebrity chefs were a strong passion point among our target investors and advisors. Rather than explaining ETFs through a traditional financial lens, we saw an opportunity to meet our audience with a topic they already enjoy and understand.

Working closely with our agency partners, we explored how we could connect the simplicity and diversification of an ETF with the creativity of a recipe. What emerged was Recipe for Innovation: a unique storytelling platform that used food as a relatable way to introduce the concepts behind QQQ while creating an experience that felt engaging, memorable, and unexpected.

What made food the right lens for explaining an ETF, instead of a more traditional format?
Rob: Food provided a simple and intuitive way to explain a concept that can often feel complex. Just as a great recipe brings together a variety of ingredients to create a dish, an ETF combines multiple companies into a single investment. It was a natural analogy that made the concept easier to understand.

We also wanted the experience to feel authentic, so we gave each chef the freedom to select companies from the 100 holdings within the Invesco QQQ ETF that best aligned with their culinary inspiration. Watching them research the brands, develop concepts, and transform those companies into creative dishes brought the idea to life in a way that traditional financial content rarely does. Some of the most memorable recipes were inspired by lesser-known holdings, creating new opportunities for audiences to discover the breadth and innovation represented within QQQ.

There are a lot of components built into this digital experience – videos, recipes, rivers of chefs. How did you determine the best UX design for the site?
Venera: When we sat down to figure out how to piece together all these different elements—the videos, the recipes, the stories of the inspiration and the product itself—our main goal was to make this complex financial story feel totally effortless to explore. Knowing that Recipe for Innovation will be a video series format, we treated the entire experience like a streaming platform where each chefs’ QQQ-inspired recipes is an individual episode you can dive into, making the discovery of an ETF feel just as binge-worthy as watching the next episode of your favorite show.

QQQ is the Official ETF of the NCAA, and March Madness is its biggest moment. How did you build a digital experience that feels fresh?
Bryson: March Madness is our biggest campaign of the year and sits at the intersection of sports, finance, and culture. We knew the digital experience needed to do three things: authentically reflect our NCAA partnership, build awareness of Invesco QQQ, and meet our audience where they are. Because more than 80% of visitors engage with the experience on mobile, we strategized and designed with a mobile-first mentality, focusing on immersive storytelling and intuitive interactions. That gave us the opportunity to introduce new elements, including authentic March Madness footage in the hero experience, scrollytelling, motion design, and refreshed brand themes. Our goal was to capture the energy of the tournament while creating a modern digital experience that felt uniquely connected to QQQ’s identity as the Official ETF of the NCAA. The result was a highly engaging, mobile-first experience that drove a 61% increase in engaged sessions and attracted 1.8 million visitors.

ETFs can sometimes be complicated to understand. How did you make the information about QQQ more accessible to more people without being too technical?
Bryson: Through data analysis and user testing, we knew that most visitors engaging with the campaign were either new to investing or unfamiliar with ETFs. Rather than overwhelming users with technical product details, we focused on creating a simple, intuitive narrative that introduced QQQ in a way that felt relevant and approachable. We used storytelling to connect the themes of innovation, performance, and opportunity while keeping the content concise and jargon-free. From there, we provided clear, low-friction pathways for users who wanted to learn more, allowing them to explore at their own pace rather than forcing them through a traditional financial education experience. This approach helped us balance accessibility with education, making QQQ easier to understand while still encouraging deeper engagement. In fact, we saw a 175% increase in conversion actions, and 80% of unique visitors who took a conversion action continued exploring additional QQQ content, demonstrating that simplifying the experience helped drive curiosity rather than limit it.

What tools powered the experience, and what was the biggest hurdle on a tight timeline?
Venera: To build this experience, we initially laid out the bare bones in Figma and pushed its prototyping capabilities to bring the page to life. From a layout perspective, it is a very simple page, but the “just-in-time” and “just-right” animation triggering is what makes the experience feel eventful yet focused, directly reinforcing the main message. For browser execution, our developers relied heavily on GSAP (GreenSock Animation Platform) to power these scroll-triggered animations smoothly across all device sizes. Fine-tuning the transition timing and easing curves was probably our biggest hurdle, but hitting that “yeah, that’s it!” feeling made the process incredibly satisfying.

This season’s theme is “Built to __”, celebrating the ways projects are crafted to standout. We’re curious how you’d finish this sentence: “This year’s March Madness experience was built to ___.”
Bryson: This March Madness experience was built to transform the way users experience Invesco QQQ through sports and innovation.

The table is being set and the whistle is about to blow, stay tuned for this year’s winners! See Past Winners including Invesco in our Winners Gallery.