Welcome back to this week’s Social Mashup! We’ve got a heavy dose of sports and social media news for you this week. Leading off is Facebook and USA Today’s announcement of an app allowing fans to rate Super Bowl commercials, the Phoenix Suns looking to hire a social media sideline reporter, reports of a Twitter integration into Apple’s iOS5 and Sports Illustrated’s ‘Football Rivals’ app.
Facebook and USA Today to Build App to Rate Super Bowl Commercials
Facebook and USA Today are working together to create an application that will rate commercials airing during Super Bowl XLVI which users will be able to view, rate and share the ads on the application that’s to be housed on Facebook and the media company’s dot com.
Instead of the usual Ad Meter focus group that USA Today uses to measure the performance of commercials, the news outlet will focus on the app rankings as the prime source of measurement. This will be a first for online consumers to have their voice heard in choosing the winner of the USA Today Ad Meter. Both Facebook and USA Today are looking to generate advertising revenue from the app on each of their platforms with joint sponsors. Director of global business marketing at Facebook, Mike Hoefflinger, said,
The USA Today-Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter is going to give millions of people the ability to not only interact with the various Super Bowl commercials, but to rate the ads and share with their friends on Facebook. Making the Ad Meter social brings it to an entirely new level and we’re proud to be a part of it.
David Payne, senior vice president and chief digital officer of Gannett, believes the app puts the consumer in the middle of the conversation,
Social media is changing the face of consumer engagement and this partnership more than ever, puts the consumer at the center of the conversation around advertising’s biggest annual event.
Phoenix Suns Hiring Social Media Sideline Reporter
The Phoenix Suns’ social media reporting is stepping out of the press box and onto the sideline. The team is on the lookout for the first-of-its-kind social media sideline reporter for this coming NBA season (assuming there will be one). Throughout the game the reporter will be featured in the team’s in-game presentation and give updates on the Suns’ trending topics, tweets from fans and interact with followers on Twitter . The social media reporter role will enhance the team’s broadcasts on Fox Sports AZ and Arizona Sports 620, as well for the fans in stadium. To help support this new aspect of reporting, the team hopes to sign a presenting sponsor.
Interested in becoming the first social media sideline reporter? All you need ot do is upload a one-minute audition video on the social media network of your choice with the hashtag #SocialSideline and fill out this form.
The Suns are also featuring five social media nights each featuring a different platform: Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, LinkedIn and Google+. Fans who sign up for this five-game ticket package will receive a 5 percent discount.
To here more about the innovative social media ideas that the Phoenix Suns have up their sleeves check out this video of Pat Coyle’s interview with Jeramie McPeek, VP Digital for the Phoenix Suns.
Pat Coyle interviews Jeramie McPeek, VP Digital at Suns from Coyle Media on Vimeo
Twitter Integrated into Apple iOS 5?
Say it ain’t so. Reports are swirling around that Twitter will be integrated into Apple’s upcoming iOS5 update. According to Twitter’s VP of Engineering, Michael Abbott, the microblogging site has grown more over the last nice months than it has in the past five years. This is bound to increase if reports are true. With the integration, the access to Twitter will be infinitely easier as the ability to tweet will be woven through all the core functions of devices supporting iOS5.
With the ease to share a link, status update, photo or video with just one tap on the screen, will certainly be trouble for Facebook who plans on being a mobile company within a year or two. Facebook currently has a strong foot in the mobile space, with 43% of its 800 million users accessing the site via mobile. However, the Apple-Twitter collaboration is breaking down the barrier of entry, which lets be honest, we are a lazy people. If we can share something with just one quick tap versus opening up another application and going through a long process, the quick tap wins 95% of the time. How easy will it be? This is what it could look like when you want to tweet a photo:
Abbott also sees, in the not-so-far future, Twitter capitalizing on information gained from location that will resurface tweets that are relevant to the user. He gives this example, perhaps you are visiting a new city and their is a fire in the area. You probably won’t be following the local fire department on Twitter like a resident of the city might. Twitter then could bring this information about the fire to your attention. Abbott said,
I appreciate information coming to me rather than having to go find it.
In comparison to Facebook Abbott stated,
We’re not a social network. We’re an information network.
Another potential threat Facebook may see is advertising. If Twitter collects location data from users, it could eventually tie this information into its advertising plan and make ads more relevant to users in a “location-sensitive advertising platform.”
Facebook may have lost out in mobile operating system integration, because we all know that Android aka Google is not going to be picking up Facebook any time soon, (not with Google+ on the radar and the two in constant competition for domination of the online world), but don’t expect Facebook to derail from its mobilizing plans. Word is that Facebook is coming out with its official iPad app this week at Apple’s press event tomorrow. We shall see. We shall see. It will no doubt be interesting to see what comes next.
Sports Illustrated Football Rivals App
One of the most well-known magazines for sports is looking for ways to transfer content to the digital world. In doing so, Sports Illustrated has come out with a compelling, engaging and shall we mention free app for the iPhone, iPad and Android. The Football Rivals app features 10 of the greatest rivalries both college and professional football have known.
The app takes you through the 300+ pages with a timeline for each rivalry highlighting important dates and games with text, audio and video clips narrated by Emmy award winner Kyle Chandler from Friday Night Lights.
Sports Illustrated reminds users of the company’s legacy in producing intriguing content and imagery with a interactive digital experience. Included with the text, audio and video is 3D functionality, rare photos, inside stories, interactive trivia, key statistics and previews of this year’s matchups.
Watch this video to see the app in action and all the incredible content integrated in the app.
These are the 10 rivalries covered in the app:
- Texas vs. Oklahoma
- Auburn vs. Alabama
- Florida vs. Georgia
- Kansas vs. Missouri
- Cowboys vs. Redskins
- USC vs. Notre Dame
- Ohio State vs. Michigan
- Army vs. Navy
- Packers vs. Bears
- Cal vs. Stanford
Will this be how we consume content in the future, through a digital, interactive experience?
