The Super Bowl is one of the best days of the year for all of us who geek out over social media + sports, ads and content. It’s not just a powerful production for those who spend $5 million on a spot. Thanks to social and digital, it’s a content production for all the big players (teams, leagues, sponsors, etc.).
For this year’s Super Bowl coverage, I decided to curate a lot of things for you all. From highlights to the bad cases of FOMO, I hope this post inspires you in your work (or things not to do). Enjoy!
PANTHERS
Leveraging Tweetstorms.
When you reply to one of your tweets with another tweet, they show up in a sequence on Twitter user’s timelines (known as a Tweetstorm). The @Panthers used this functionality to their advantage, pushing out sequenced content and taking up more real estate on fans timelines.
For example, they used this GIF sequence when the game kicked off.
While I’m not sure of this exact use case (it could have been more powerful in one GIF), I think there could be something interesting here for brands, teams and leagues. What story you can tell in an interesting sequence? When does previous context help with your Twitter content? It’s something to think about.
Handled the loss and adversity.
We talk about this a lot, but if you work in social media and sports the job is easy if you’re winning. It’s not so easy if you’re losing. The Panthers handled their adversity and loss well. Their Twitter account does a great job of being human, which I think rallies their fans. All throughout the game, even in the 4th quarter, #KeepPounding was trending. A combination of humor and strong, emotional copy makes the Panthers content stand out. Below are a few examples:
We’ll be back even stronger next season. Thank you for being part of this #PantherNation. #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/7qcIbQZmfi
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 8, 2016
Congratulations @Broncos. It was an honor to face the best. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/qStS1GlalI
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 8, 2016
#Respect pic.twitter.com/MWUU5BTKHV
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 8, 2016
If you never climb the mountain, you will never see the view. We will keep climbing. We will #KeepPounding. pic.twitter.com/HpoAHmUcyn
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 8, 2016
I also love when teams think through how to a handle a loss and go beyond the score. The Panthers thank their fans, congratulated the Broncos and didn’t shy away from their content.
EMOTIONAL VIDEO PRE-GAME.
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of emotional, video storytelling. I’m a big believer teams need to go beyond the plays and tap into the emotional element of sports that fans connect to. Forget highlight reels with rap songs before a big game; how can you tell the story of the team’s journey? This video is a great example of that.
We will not go quietly into the night.
We will not vanish without a fight.
We will #KeepPoundinghttps://t.co/7XX6QLzFNI
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 7, 2016
BRONCOS
Access.
The Broncos had some solid access during Super Bowl 50. When planning for a big game or moment, find a way to get that inside access. Whether you’re showcasing the calm before the storm (in the locker room) or following players as they arrive to the stadium, BTS coverage should be essential to gameday. Make fans feel a part of the coverage.
Ready. pic.twitter.com/2xVXTjFwDq
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) February 7, 2016
Here he comes. #SB50 https://t.co/uwgnPua7fF
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) February 7, 2016
Coach Kubiak and his wife, Rhonda, bringing the Lombardi back to the Mile High City. #SuperBroncos pic.twitter.com/BgBtQcNyEU
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) February 8, 2016
Winning sequence.
These days, nearly every team has prepared graphics for wins, even losses and big moments. The Broncos were no exception. And while they did a good job with their some of their pre-planned content (below), they led with a click-to-purchase. Emotion and the celebration should always come before a plug to purchase.
https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/696534534876049408">https://twitter.com/Broncos/status/696534534876049408
NFL
Coin flip cam.
This is simple, but I really loved the coin flip cam content from the NFL. After so many games throughout the season, content can get stale. How can you take on different angles and provide fans with a different perspective? This is a great (and small example) of how you can do so.
Coin toss cam! #SB50 pic.twitter.com/EWaJlX7d5z
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2016
Quality content, period.
All season the NFL has done a stellar job with their content. From their graphics to their GIFS to their quality photos in near real-time, and the Super Bowl was no exception. I love how they diversify content too. It keeps it interesting! My favorite thing was their GIF illustrations:
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696534754867486720">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696534754867486720
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696537532608208896">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696537532608208896
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696536062374580224">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696536062374580224
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696538956402274304">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696538956402274304
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696529393221562368">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696529393221562368
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696512502969061376">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696512502969061376
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696492097080266752">https://twitter.com/NFL/status/696492097080266752
Luuuuuuuuuuuuke!!! #SB50 #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/M35vOq0e5Q
— NFL (@NFL) February 8, 2016
GRAPHICS
A few highlights of graphics from the evening.
FOMO
As with every big event, many brands try to interject into the conversation and fail miserably. Brands shouldn’t understand some golden rules when it comes to real-time: Most great moments aren’t planned, you can’t force it and you still have to remain on brand. Below are some of the worst offenders from tonight’s Super Bowl.
https://twitter.com/McDonalds/status/696530128327692288">https://twitter.com/McDonalds/status/696530128327692288
Wings, pizza & tailgate selfies. While tailgating, AT&T customers used enough data to share 5.8M pics on social. pic.twitter.com/rb9hi1dfgV
— AT&T (@ATT) February 7, 2016
We call tails. Just sayin’. #SB50 pic.twitter.com/w4PWq7V46N
— Charmin (@Charmin) February 7, 2016
Phone's on silent. All eyes and ears on @ladygaga. Pre-anthem goosebumps #SB50 #StartStunning pic.twitter.com/m8u1J4r4S3
— Wix (@Wix) February 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/kfc/status/696525960556912641">https://twitter.com/kfc/status/696525960556912641
Nice leap from #Carolina! #SB50 pic.twitter.com/TWLpO3edTx
— Party City (@PartyCity) February 8, 2016
What stood out from the Super Bowl to you? Share your thoughts below!
Thanks for reading!
This is a bit late considering it doesn’t have anything to do with the game specifically, but I really hate when teams/whoever don’t match their content with their team uniform.
I feel like every promotion last week of the Broncos should have been of them in their white uniforms and the Panthers in their black.
That’s what the teams are wearing, and it’s how their identified throughout the Super Bowl… it’s a golden opportunity to create that deeper sense of uniformity and it’s disrupted when a photo of Broncos in orange or Panthers in white appears. You shatter that image.
I know that was kind of random, but I’d been waiting to vent it out somewhere. I really enjoyed this! Cheers.
If you followed the Panthers all year long you would see that all of their gameday content matches whatever uniform they were wearing. (ex. white graphics when wearing white uniforms, black graphics when wearing black, etc.)
[…] comparing the two teams on their social media presence across multiple platforms, make sure to read Jessica Smith’s post reflecting on the lessons and takeaways from […]
Great post. We had a lot of similar takes – of course we were chatting about it over twitter so no surprise. http://www.whitehot-marketing.com/social-media-lessons-from-sb50/
Thanks for the recap. Great stuff.
If you’re interested, I compiled a Storify after the game of some content that stood out to me: https://storify.com/bbergen45/super-bowl-50
What was amazing, I thought, was the amount of brands attempting to live tweet the game. We also had some local news channels and brands coming up empty in terms of how to contribute to the game.
Outside of media covering the game and the team accounts, I just don’t think fans are looking for that type of content from anywhere else. Not sure why so many brands wasted time/money trying to provide live coverage of the game.
I saw many brands sharing SB commercials, throwing money behind one tweet containing the commercial we already saw, and then using elements from their commercial to live tweet the game — with next to no engagement.
I enjoy being on the team side because I don’t have to worry about executing some campaigns like we saw on Sunday. I think it’s a great opportunity for brands, but many try to do too much.