Analytics Is a Star Player in Super Bowl XLVIII

How can a B2B company explain analytics to consumers (in this case, football fans) and humanize its brand at the same time? That’s what SAP is attempting to do with the “NFL.com Stats Zone with Insights from SAP.”

As excitement builds for the Feb. 2 Super Bowl XLVIII, SAP is putting the finishing touches on its Stats Zone, a 40-by-45-square-foot facility, currently located in a Long Island warehouse. Once it’s completed and tested, Stats Zone will be shipped to Times Square on Super Bowl Boulevard, where it will remain from Jan 29 through Feb. 1. Approximately 1 million people are expected to visit the Boulevard, which stretches from 34th to 47th Streets on Broadway.

The interactive display will provide real-time analytics on all online conversations about the Super Bowl—not just those on Facebook and Twitter, but all mentions of the game and its players throughout the Internet. The insights are generated by SAP’s social media analytics by NetBase, a cloud-based tool that will quantify consumer sentiments about the event.

The topics being measured and analyzed include:

  • Contenders for the fantasy player of the year
  • Player versus player comparisons
  • Team versus team comparisons
  • Trending hot topics
  • Fan support, state by state, for each team.

Sentiment questions being asked include deciding which team—and quarterback–has the most passionate fans; whether fans prefer talking about the game or the halftime show; whether they think offense or defense is more important; and how many people want it to snow on game day. (On Jan. 23, 65 percent wanted it to snow.)

The goal of all this is to “talk to fans in a way that they can relate to,” according to Dan Fleetwood, SAP’s group director of global sponsorships. It’s about “making fans better informed, enhancing customer engagement and humanizing SAP.”

Football fans can register online for a free RFID-based badge, or they can get one at the Boulevard. The badge provides access to all the attractions along the Boulevard.

Inside the Stats Zone, people with badges will be able to use tablets to vote on football-related issues. Fans will also be able to take a photo that shows them wearing their favorite football team’s uniform; the image will be emailed to them. In addition, they will be able to view the finalists for the NFL.com Fantasy Player of the Year.

Stats Zone visitors also will be able to take a 10-question quiz using one of two touch displays. Each participant gets points based on how many answers are correct and how quickly they are answered. After the quiz, Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, who is an NFL analyst and SAP ambassador, appears on the display screen to analyze the test results, which are then emailed to the fan.

“Our goal is to make football fans smarter about the game and its players by providing content about topics they are passionate about,” explains Ben Richards, an executive at GMR Marketing, SAP’s event marketing agency.

SAP will track how many people use each kiosk in the Stats Zone and the cities they come from. However, the company will not collect any personal information on visitors. The NFL manages all email addresses.

Football fans who cannot get to Times Square can get real-time information about the Boulevard and the game at www.sap.com/superbowl.