Track the social pulse of the Super Bowl

It's a common misperception that only B2C brands can make an impact on a consumers life. I think it stems from the fact that few B2B brands have been able to create meaningful content that highlights their brand promise and why it's important to people in society.
(See - Dow Chemical and their human element campaign)

Yesterday I found one B2B brand that is already making an impact on the Super Bowl conversation, an impact that is gaining steam every day.

SAP, a leader in software solutions (whatever that means), is using it's expertise and advanced visualized social media solution to give fans a new way to experience the Super Bowl.

With a partnership with Netbase, SAP is giving fans an inside look at the nationwide pulse of each teams fan base on social media. Their site called Super Bowl Stats Zone delivers an easy to follow data map of the US where a colored circle represents the amount of social chatter and the team that is dominating this chatter in each state. SAP has been recording this data since the first Sunday of the playoffs and will be continuing through the end of Super Bowl Sunday.

Although the site is not as robust as I anticipated, especially coming from a brand that is a global leader in data solutions, it does give NFL fans a fresh look at how each team dominates the nationwide social landscape. From their news press SAP says it's expecting to visualize and highlight the real time effects that big plays have on Super Bowl Sunday. For example: how will the games first interception affect the social chatter, how about the first TD or what if there's another episode like last year where the entire stadium goes dark? Fans who are second screen mavens will be able to follow the national chatter during every pivotal moment of the game.

What I learned from the data:
1. Most states, besides a teams home state, root for the underdog
2. The midwest has a lot to say about the Seattle Seahawks
3. Colorado is the only state where the Denver Broncos dominate the social chatter

What I'm missing from the data:

• I don't know if these mentions of teams are positive or negative. Were people rooting for or against the Seahawks? Yea, they dominated the conversation but what was being said?

• I would love to see this data broken down even deeper by time of day or milestone in the game such as each quarter. To see how each pivotal play changed the conversation.

• It could be more robust. I wish they would have a variety of maps depending on what the conversations were. Maybe segmenting the data by age or by social channel. It would be awesome to know if people are using Twitter to post their hate for a team and then using Facebook to post their love? We know each social site builds upon different user motivations.

Data visualization is a huge opportunity for all types of brands, especially when it comes to highlighting the nuances of social media. I'm just waiting for a brand like Google, a social media brand or even a mobile carrier like Sprint to jump on this bandwagon. These brands know how to take content and create emotional connections with people and they also have access to data to bring this kind of insight to life in a more impactful way.

Although this site and experience could be better, I will still be on the couch come Super Bowl Sunday with this site up and running. Eager to watch the nation converse about the memorable moments of the game.