What we are seeing right now is a huge push not only for traditional commercials, but also for social media and digital campaigns that are integrated into the game as well.  Not only this, brands are focusing on generating online word of mouth a few days or even weeks ahead of time so people are paying attention to these commercials during the game.

In many ways, social media is really transforming how brands engage, advertise, and interact with their various audiences in an innovative and strategic manner that ultimately draws people into a story and experience. Here are some trends we can see coming for the commercials for the 2013 Super Bowl.

This is of course not the first time that the Sugar Bowl has implemented and incorporated social media strategies and tools – but you can check out this post on Social Media Today that highlights the history. Many established social media blogs like Mashable have created infographics and guides dedicated just to the social media activities for the Sugar Bowl.

Social media command centers are also part of the equation as well – brands are going to be focused on what people are saying in regards to the commercial and are willing to voice these insights with their communities online.  I am sure my friends who are researching and working in sports public relations and social media are watching these particular trends very closely.

Research and analytics are driving these insights even before the game, and I am sure we will see some reports on who was talked about most and who “won” the social media portion of the Sugar Bowl.  Salesforce Marekting Cloud already posted on what are some of the topics people are talking about related to the upcoming Sugar Bowl. Sysomos also posted a guide for their readers as well – producing informational content that is visually appealing and based on data appears to be one of the early trends we are not only seeing for athletic events, but for 2013 as well.

However, you may want to check out Livefyre and their NewsHub for the Super Bowl – you are able to see in real-time interactions, mentions, pictures, and even has a separate tab for commercial and social tv components. This is pretty impressive and a great tool to not only look at from a research standpoint, but also share with students about how data and real-time conversation and analytics are key components for all social media campaigns – big or small.

Either way, the Super Bowl Game is going to be fun to watch and also follow on social media.  We will be able to not only see the conversations emerging about the game, but also on the commercials and individual experiences others want to share with others.  I think this will be the visual storytelling super bowl to remember.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Best Wishes,

Karen