SAP CMO on Tackling the Super Bowl
Editor’s Note: Got a killer sponsorship campaign like this one from SAP? Enter it in the 2016 PRO Awards by March 11.
On Super Bowl Sunday, SAP CMO Maggie Chan Jones discussed its sponsorship strategy and experiential activations around Super Bowl 50 in San Francisco.
The NFL, and its partners, offered fans multiple activities throughout the region to celebrate the Super Bowl. Downtown, the NFL showcased its NFL Experience at the Moscone Center, while Super Bowl City on Market Street showcased the free-to-the-public fan village.
SAP took a different approach at Super Bowl City with a goal of breaking through the clutter. As part of its sponsorship strategy, SAP developed the Fan Energy Zone, featuring three immersive footprints with the Fan Dome, Fan Wall and Fan Stage to display the technological prowess of SAP. Coined the “centerpiece” of Super Bowl City, SAP sought to showcase the Bay Area’s leadership in technology and innovation with interactive gaming, social media and data visualizations.
The Fan Dome featured three highly interactive games. “Amp It Up” measured crowd reactions through an interactive music and dance game. “Breakaway” tracked participant motion through a gridiron game where fans could throw passes, dodge defenders and rack up touchdowns for points. Fans could also test their passing skills in a virtual reality quarterback challenge. Additionally, SAP utilized tech-savvy kinetic bikes where fans could power a light show in a race against others. SAP tracked each participant and displayed the leaders and statistics from the games on the Fan Wall, a 50-foot wide video wall.
Evan Vladem, a sports marketing and communications professional at rEvolution, spoke with Chan Jones.
VLADEM: Why was the Fan Energy Zone Powered by SAP so valuable to create as part of your sponsorship strategy?
CHAN JONES: At SAP, we have worked with so many sports leagues for a long time. We look to tell a story using real-time analytics with a mobile-first type of experience and tech perspective. It was exciting at the Super Bowl. First of all, it was in the Silicon Valley and the Host Committee really wanted to make this the most technologically advanced and digitally connected Super Bowl ever. I think they absolutely did that this year.
Looking at us being a tech company, which can truly connect that digital experience—it was really the best thing for us, and for the fans as well.
VLADEM: This year, you developed multiple footprints to leverage your partnership with the NFL. Tell me about this thinking in your initial ideation process.
CHAN JONES: The thinking process really started in three different areas. We think about the design, the technology and marketing all coming together. We worked with the Host Committee as well. We really wanted to figure out a way to showcase that digitally connected fan experience. With that in mind, we were thinking about some of the ways to really showcase our innovation with our partners. We partnered with some of the local Bay Area game developers to build all of the different [touch points]. With our HANA technology, we can really showcase the real-time analytics. Additionally, we can showcase the expansibility of our technology with what the game developers did using our technology. That’s what we really think about.
We started with the consumers. What are the fans going to be looking for? It has to be a fun experience.
VLADEM: With multiple footprints, where did you see the most engagement or value?
CHAN JONES: The value was really driving that fan engagement. Because we are an enterprise software company, a lot of the consumers don’t actually know what SAP is or what SAP does. But when they experience the games, they can say, ‘wow, SAP is the company that powered the analytics and the game experience with our partners.’
That is how we really look at it from a company perspective. We look at ourselves as a consumer business company. That’s what we need to be. Therefore, working with our partners to bring these experiences to fans and consumers is very important.
VLADEM: Branding on TV has been huge for SAP around Super Bowl City. Do the on-site interactions bring more value for your sponsorship strategy or is the awareness on TV and in media?
CHAN JONES: It’s on-site, then digital then traditional media. On Saturday night I had a chance to be at NFL Honors—SAP served as one of the partners at the event. Because of the work that we have done with the NFL, especially around powering the analytics behind their fantasy football, we were a sponsor of the NFL’s Fantasy Football Player of the Year. Leveraging that in the traditional media is important. In addition to what people experience on their mobile devices, digitally and on-site.
VLADEM: It’s very early to evaluate, but were your goals accomplished?
CHAN JONES: Yes. Seeing all of the coverage in the past week, seeing fan reactions, being on-site and seeing our customers on site, I think we definitely accomplished what we came out to do.
VLADEM: In addition, you also developed the official volunteer app. You had 5,000 members of the local host committee acting as brand ambassadors for SAP. Tell me a bit about the app.
CHAN JONES: The volunteer app was the other piece that you didn’t necessarily see on-site. We partnered with the Host Committee to build out with SAP HANA Cloud Platform. This is a way for us to help each and every one of the 5,000+ volunteers to “run simple.” It went with our vision with how we help the world run better and improving people’s lives. Having that app and improving the communication between the Host Committee and the volunteers on managing such a big event, taking place in multiple locations, has really received some great feedback.
VLADEM: How big was that for your marketing mix? It certainly was authentic.
CHAN JONES: It was very important. Literally the day after Super Bowl 49 in Phoenix, we started working with the Host Committee. This was a whole year in the making. In today’s marketing world, you have to really think about the overall experience across different channels. The co-innovation with a technology company that we were able to do with the Host Committee (in this case) is phenomenal. Literally because of that app, we had 5,000 brand ambassadors that knew our brand and had the opportunity to experience our brand—and that’s phenomenal.
VLADEM: Why is it so important for brands to switch up their on-site experience and footprints for consumers year after year?
CHAN JONES: At the end of the day, every brand wants to make their activation memorable. With all of the marketing channels, it’s so hard to breakthrough. Brands really need to think about some of the ways they can do that. In our way of activating this year, we did just that this year.
If you think about sports—this weekend is all about the Super Bowl. At the same time, we also work with NBA on NBA.com stats and other products. We partner with WTA in tennis with on-court coaching, we partner with sailing, soccer. Sports are really in our DNA and something we are very passionate about. We see our customers are passionate about sports.
VLADEM: Are you already looking ahead at 2017 in Houston? What are your initial thoughts or what would you do different?
CHAN JONES: Let’s get through today first [laughter]… Once we get through Super Bowl 50, then we’ll look at Super Bowl 51. We did, however, host the next two Super Bowl Host Committees onsite, playing the games at our site [so they could experience and learn about the approach of partners in Super Bowl City]. The San Francisco Host Committee did a great job in rolling out the red carpet for them so they could really understand what was done and to see it for themselves. We got some great feedback and praise from them.
VLADEM: Maggie—great job at the Super Bowl and thanks for taking the time to chat with today. Good luck!
