When you’re a corporate brand in an enormous metropolis, social media and content is a valuable asset. Something as simple as a presenting sponsor of a highlight or logo in the background of a video or picture can deliver brand impressions that sponsors value. While the New York Giants lost a close game on the field, their social media no doubt made them a little money, with varying degrees of content and engagement across the big four platforms. Here is a quick review:
Snapchat was strictly a pregame tool. Maybe a win would have resulted in post game content, but there was nothing during the game, even at home at MetLife Field. The content before the game was typical of the many NFL teams. Great access to warm-ups on the field, seeing several players in action, with some not-so-sneaky sponsor integrations, including an Odell catch in the “Pepsi Corner,” followed by a slow pan of Pepsi on the background LEDs. (This was also done for Facebook and Twitter). There did not appear to be any NY Giants Snapchat, as only the NFL game geofilter was utilized on the team Snapchat on game day. Also notable was the fairly consistent promotion to visit Giants.com.
A check on the box, with fair pregame access, and good for diehard fans, but not something that excites beyond the weekly norm. (Again, don’t take for granted the access, but many fans are becoming more conditioned to it now, requiring more to the move the needle)
While many NFL teams are not too active on Facebook, the Giants consistently posted throughout game day, including sporadic updates during the game. There was consistent sponsor integration, but typically paired with good content, including the aforementioned shot of Beckham in warm-ups and a pregame injury report video sponsored by Quest Diagnostics. The in-game posts were just graphics for some Giants scores, a halftime graphic, and links to photo galleries and stories. (Noticeably absent, and surprising for the Giants, was a final score graphic, another element easily affixed with a sponsor logo) Website traffic is likely the explanation for not sharing photo galleries natively. Post game content was few and far between (mostly just on Twitter), with the latest post of the day a sponsor-integrated shared link to the website for a photo gallery and chance to win a camera. Not a lot of native, share-worthy content and engagement happening, but a mix of timely and mostly visually appealing content.
Perhaps the least busy platform for the Giants on game day is Instagram. This was a place for repurposed content (including a solid, prepared graphic ready for Beckham to reach 200 career receptions) and other content seen also on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. A good, curated mix from content the Giants are producing for social, in general, though posting was sparse after game time and nothing that was visually stunning [volume was pretty good preceding the game in the hours/day before]. The Giants also did not try out an Instagram Story, a bit surprising, particularly for a home game and for a team looking to activate every channel to distribute their content to fans. The Giants are present on Instagram for their fans, but it is not their top priority for social content and community.
The Giants were most active throughout the day on Twitter, where there was a combination of game updates, sponsored content, and some native videos and photos. The Giants had no engagement with fans [maybe they liked some tweets?], but did retweet players before the game and at least invited fans to participate in a sponsored UGC contest. The Giants also tweeted out their own news, as opposed to some that choose to retweet team reporters or radio broadcasters. During the game, the team was consistent with score updates and several, nicely prepared graphics to celebrate big plays, including customizable templates to detail scoring plays. Again, there was a plethora of sponsored content — branding for plays, for photos, for highlights, and more. The fans are there and they want the content, but the overflow of broadcasting content at fans without much personality and conversation (no absence of !!! points to celebrate big plays, though, so not robotic] leaves a bit to be desired.
Even with the loss, there was a good volume of content after the game, including some native video (with links to full pressers) and a good amount of live-tweeted quotes to express the sentiment of players and coaches post game. Some team go virtually silent after a loss, but it was good to see the Giants give fans on Twitter the info they crave and a taste of the feeling and thoughts in the room. Win or lose, fans would prefer to have access to the content than not. Kudos to the Giants for this.
The size of the NFL audiences and the way it all coalesces each Sunday (for most) in one massive day of peak consumption is unparalleled in American pro sports. The Giants take the time to produce a steady stream of content and have found ways to monetize it by tagging and tying in sponsors. Win or lose, an engaged audience is there if you put a little time into producing content.
What is your take on the G-Men?
