Excitement is in
the air leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl match up between the Seattle Seahawks
and the Denver Broncos, and Facebook is also finding a way to be a part of the
big game. The public relations team at Facebook has decided to involve and
reward celebrities who share updates, pictures, and posts with fans throughout
Super Bowl XLVIII.
Photo retrieved
from: http://calvinayre.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/superbowl-xlviii-opening-line-has-denver-broncos-as-1-5-point-favorites-against-the-seattle-seahawks.jpg
These famous
people are connecting with fans during the “WatchWith” party. Celebrities and
fans are being encouraged to use the hashtag #FBWatch during the game when
posting anything relative to the game.
- CNN host Rachel Nichols
- Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams
- New England Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty
- Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty
- Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo
- Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson
- Actor Josh Duhamel
- Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones
This PR move by
Facebook is to get famous people to start sharing “public content” much like
what is done on Twitter. Facebook sees how well it is working out for other
social media sites and is trying to get a foot in the door of celebrities using
their site for more than just the typical fan page. Celebrities don’t usually
do a lot of interacting with fans on Facebook, and the PR folks are trying to
change that. And they figure it might not hurt to throw some incentives in
while they’re at it.
That’s right,
these celebrities aren’t in it for some fun and to socialize with fans over the
biggest night in football. Facebook is planning on hooking them up with some
awesome perks, including free advertisement, partnership with press to highlight
those who participate in a feature about the “WatchWith” party, amplified
promotion and the list goes on.
In order for the
celebrities participating to receive these incentives, they have to achieve a few things on the
social media site first.
They must share a pre-game photo, answer fan questions, comment on the
half-time performances, share their favorite commercials and promote the
#FBWatch hashtag with fans.
It all seems
simple enough, but it sounds strangely familiar. Sounds like Facebook may be
taking a play straight from the Twitter playbook. And why wouldn’t they? Twitter’s
interactive approach seems to be working very well for them. Celebrities and
companies appear to be interested in Twitter’s approach for promotion and
branding tactics. It is huge in the world of marketing, advertising and public
relations. Twitter is also so fast-paced that is constantly changing and
evolving, while Facebook has remained stagnant over the years. Even though
Facebook claims to not be morphing into an exact replica of Twitter, they have
recently added verified accounts, hashtags and are introducing trending topics
Photo retrieved
at: http://content.animalnewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/facebook-hashtags-dont-work.jpg
Facebook has
over a billion users. Why do these semi-famous people need to be offered
incentives to participate in an event that will probably help them gain an even
bigger following? It all just seems like a promotional tactic to get people to
switch from Twitter to Facebook.
Facebook has
been all about changing in the last couple years, so maybe this might put them
ahead of their competition. Or maybe, people will just realize that they prefer
the original Twitter. As innovative as Facebook is, it shouldn’t be this hard
to create something new and fresh for social media users to latch on to.
It seems like a
good try by Facebook PR to try and shift Facebook in a new direction. It’s
justifiable to give consumers what they want, and everyone appears to be
interested in the interactivity that Twitter has to offer. I’ll be eager to see
if the Facebook Super Bowl party is a success for the organization or a
complete bust. It is time for the social media site to be making changes, I’m
just not sure if ripping off Twitter is the way to go about it.
Sources:
- Kafka, P. (2014, January 31). Here's How Facebook Rewards Celebrities Who Post About the Super Bowl. In Recode. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://recode.net/2014/01/31/heres-how-facebook-rewards-celebrities-who-post-about-the-super-bowl/
- Kafka, P. (2013, August 7). Facebook Takes on Twitter by Courting Celebrities, Building Twittery Tools. In All Things D. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://allthingsd.com/20130807/facebook-takes-on-twitter-by-courting-celebrities-building-twittery-tools/
- Coffee, P. (2014, January 31). Facebook PR Really Wants Famous People to Post During the Super Bowl. In PRNewser. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/facebook-pr-really-wants-famous-people-to-post-about-the-super-bowl_b84259
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