With major league sports back in action – along with college football – sports fans have found themselves with a welcome commodity – choice. Social media is tracking what are proving to be the most effective and strategic ways to compete.
According to international social media analytics firm Talkwalker, Anheuser Busch (AB InBev) has made the most noise with sports partnerships this summer, as their beverage brands are trying to make the sports comeback resonate with fans stuck at home through experiential marketing.
#ultracourtside
AB InBev tested virtual experiences with Michelob Ultra’s partnership with the NBA – the beer brand sponsored a digital experience that live streamed fans onto screens at the game so that they could “attend” while watching the action at home. The ad experience, and with it the announcement that Michelob Ultra is the new official beer of the NBA, garnered the brand 24,300 mentions in July with campaign hashtag #ultracourtside, generating 70,000 mentions since the season kicked off, Talkwalker reported.
$18 Nachos….and a brand boost of 550%
Another brand, Babe Wine, is producing football-themed candle scents so that fans can feel like they’re at the game – “Jockstrap,” “$18 Nachos,” and “Hashtag Field Goals” (aka Turf scent) – are among some of the varieties available. The move caused their online mentions to increase 1,200 percent in the last week, and engagement with the wine brand online has increased 550 percent, according to Talkwalker. This is the largest spike that Babe has seen since October 2019, following the announcement of the partnership that made them the “official wine of the NFL.”
#showtimecam brings Bud Light engagement to 266M
Bud Light is also getting in on the action with the launch of its “Showtime Cam” at last Thursday night’s opening game. The stunt enables fans who can’t be at the game to interact with players through live-streaming video in stadiums, creating a way for viewers at home to celebrate exciting moments along with their favorite teams. NFL fans can enter the #showtimecam contest by tagging Bud Light in posts for the chance to have their Tweets and videos featured during the regular season. The Showtime Cam premiered on Sept 10 during the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, and by the following day it had 3,000 engagements and a potential reach of more than 266 million. Now, with a few more games under its belt, Bud Light’s marketing stunt has racked up 4,200 engagements since then.
About Talkwalker
Talkwalker is a social listening and analytics company that empowers over 2,000 brands and agencies to optimize the impact of their communication efforts. We provide companies with an easy-to-use platform to protect, measure, and promote their brands worldwide, across all communication channels. Talkwalker’s state-of-the-art social media analytics platform uses AI-powered technology to monitor and analyze online conversations in real-time across social networks, news websites, blogs and forums in 187 languages. Talkwalker has offices in New York, Luxembourg, San Francisco, Frankfurt, and Singapore. It is also the home of Talkwalker Alerts, a free alerting service used by over 500,000 communications and marketing professionals worldwide.
