Super Bowl LI

Still wallowing over the loss of the Atlanta Falcons, the Super Bowl is still very prevelant in my mind. I have analyzed the game, the commercials, and now I wanted to take the time to evaluate the digital media used during the largest sports game of the year. An average of 111.3 million Americans tuned into this year's game, so it is no doubt that brands want a piece of this action. With a 30 second traditional television ad costing about $5 million, brands are looking to leverage digital and live ads on Snapchat, and other forms of social media, to connect with consumers.

If you recorded yourself being doused by Gatorade on Snapchat (like I did), then Gatorade was successful in their campaign to connect with their audience. Snapchat charges around $750,000 for a custom Snapchat lens on peak days such as the Super Bowl. This is much cheaper than the traditional television ad, and occasionally more successful. For those who may be unaware, a Snapchat lens  allows users to add special effects to selfies. Users' open the app, frame their face, touch the screen, and below appears a menu of lens options. There are many standard lenses, but the first few slots are reserved for the daily sponsored lenses. Snapchat's lenses are to digital advertising what commercials are to television advertising. Just like television ads in the Superbowl, Snapchat users expect the lenses to be entertaining on event days. Users' are eager to open the app and see what marketers have created for them. An average Snapchat consumer spends 20 seconds playing with a sponsored lens; that's 20 seconds of a consumer actively being involved with a brand. Snapchat's daily audience reaches 150 million, which is greater than the Superbowl's viewing audience. Therefore, Snapchat allows brands to reach those consumers that may not be a fan of football, but still want to be apart of the hype on social media. On Sunday morning Gatorade tweeted a GIF of the lens to build momentum, and by the end of the almost every Snapchat user had been soaked with the orange sports drink.

The statistics from Gatorade's Super Bowl lens has proven it to be a successful advertising campaign, and I have no doubt that many other brands will follow suit in the upcoming years.

Sources

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/02/05/brands-capitalize-live-video-snapchat-instagram-super-bowl-li

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/snapchat-best-brands#sm.00001e35dn1pq1dciugdr5zo3bcif

http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/02/02/snapchat-lens-super-bowl-ad/

http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-ratings-2017-how-many-people-watched-patriots-vs-falcons-nfl-game-sets-2487347

http://www.ibtimes.com/snapchats-super-bowl-sponsored-lens-gatorade-had-more-100-million-views-2298865