The Superbowl and Social Media: A Great Campaign Example

The Superbowl is an enormously popular sporting event and it certainly gets its fair share of attention in the social space. Smart marketers are making use of social media to attract and engage with football fans who are using social networks on a daily basis. Recently I read about an interesting (and successful) social media marketing campaign that revolved around the Superbowl (and it was created by a Vancouver agency, way to go!)

The campaign was created by Think! Social Media,  a digital agency based in Vancouver, BC, that specializes in social media marketing and campaigns for the tourism industry. Their Superbowl campaign was run on behalf of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau last week (the Superbowl was held in Dallas) and was meant to engage football fans and get people talking about Dallas as a travel destination. Using the concept that sports teams, especially football teams, have an "extremely passionate community" Think! Social  Media decided to try and connect these factions through a "shared passion."

Essentially, Think! reached out to popular travel/lifestyle bloggers based in Green Bay and Pittsburgh (the teams that played in the Superbowl, in case you're not a football fan, or have been living under a rock) and promoted the fact that a "mystery man" would be located in each of the cities and if a fan approached the "mystery man" and told him the secret phrase, "Have you been to  Dallas lately?" they would instantly win tickets to the Superbowl. Over the course of a week, the bloggers gave their readers more and more specific clues as to the mystery man's whereabouts and encouraged readers to discuss the campaign in detail over multiple social media sites. The results? An extremely popular viral campaign that reached a global audience thanks to the power of social media.

The campaign is a great example of how you can use a community, built around a connecting theme, and encourage them to participate and take part in your campaign. You can read a full description (plus the campaign results) on Think! Social Media's website.

Take a look and let us know what you think about the campaign!

Posted by Amberlie Denny at February 7, 2011 2:30 PM

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