Social Media Monitoring Project Part 2: The Triumphs of the NFL's Crucial Catch Campaign. But, Are They Enough?
Recap:
Three weeks ago, we looked at the National Football League’s social media dominance. The company has a large following on its various social media platforms and its overall peak interest in the groundswell is higher than its competitors. However, while the company is attracting more interest than its closest competitors, there is little evidence that the league is effectively interacting with its fans on social media. To go along with that, the NFL is still under scrutiny for its handling of a social justice protest by one of its former players, Colin Kaepernick back in 2016. Ultimately, the league must find a way to spread positive brand awareness and win over the Millennial and Generation Z folks that dominate the groundswell. That being said, today we will examine the NFL’s Crucial Catch campaign that promotes cancer awareness and support throughout the month of October. We will also consider some new goals for the company along with recommendations for how to reach them.
Recent Analytics and Comparison:
Before we get into the Crucial Catch campaign’s engagement of the groundswell, let’s review the NFL’s overall social media dominance. As of October 22, the league’s strength and reach dropped slightly compared to the results from October 6. However, the passion surrounding the NFL has risen by 33% in the past couple of weeks and sentiment has become slightly more positive as well. Overall, these numbers are evidence of an overall growing interest in the NFL throughout the month of October, which makes sense considering its season has been underway for several weeks now.
Results From October 6 Results From October 22
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. Crucial Catch Campaign:
The NFL’s Crucial Catch campaign is an annual October tradition for the league with the mission of fighting cancer through early detection and risk reduction tactics. The NFL wishes to raise awareness about the effects of cancer and support the American Cancer Society through the sales of specially NFL-licensed equipment during the month of October. This campaign has taken the groundswell by storm, as the hashtag #CrucialCatch is being mentioned on Twitter by not only the NFL and its teams, but by fans and cancer institutes as well.
As we can see through Google Trends, the NFL’s Crucial Catch initiative skyrocketed in interest throughout the month of October. The peak interest was during the period of October 4-10, coinciding with when the NFL released its official Crucial Catch campaign video to the public (see below). However, the interest has decreased since then, with a recent rise in the past week. The downward trend after the first week of October might suggest the NFL's failure to produce a continuous amount of engaging content for the groundswell to maintain interest in Crucial Catch. While this interest is likely to decrease even more once we reach November, these trends show how successful the campaign was at engaging the groundswell when it first launched at the beginning of October.
Moving on to Social Mention, Crucial Catch has a rather low strength at only 1% along with a 10% reach. However, the groundswell seems to be quite passionate about the subject (73%) and has nothing negative to say about it. While I would expect the strength of the initiative to be much higher than it is currently, the high levels of positive sentiment and passion in the groundswell suggest that the campaign is evoking a positive emotional reaction from consumers. This can only help the brand in the long run as it wishes to attract the attention of those who love the sport of football, but at the same time are passionate about the fight against cancer. The NFL is striving to prove that it cares about the well-being of others, and the Crucial Catch campaign is one of its most effective strategies for doing so.
Goals/Recommendations:
1. Continue Efforts to Attract Millennials and Gen Z
While the NFL’s most popular audience is composed of those who are between the ages of 45 and 55 (Generation X), the league must continue its efforts to attract the younger generations. These are the people who are the most active in the groundswell, so they can easily shape the perception of the NFL on social media. The NFL has already attempted to attract Millennials and Gen Z through its partnerships with TikTok and Reddit. The partnership with TikTok allows the NFL to produce a series of short engaging videos, including those which were used to promote the start of its 100th season last year. Meanwhile, utilizing Reddit enables the league to connect its fans with players and legends through the use of “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) threads.
The league has already set the groundwork for creating engaging content that is targeted towards the younger generations. However, to truly win over Millennials and Gen Z, the NFL needs to come up with more inspiring ways to spread brand awareness on social media. For starters, the league should converse with its fans on its various social media platforms. When a fan comments on a post with a question, the NFL should respond with a clear answer. This will show the fans that they are appreciated and being listened to by the league that they know and love. Additionally, the NFL should come up with more purpose-driven campaigns to promote the sale of their merchandise. The Crucial Catch campaign accomplishes this perfectly as it promotes buying officially licensed colorful NFL gear with the return of donating to the American Cancer Society. However, this campaign only lasts throughout the month of October. That being said, the league should come up with initiatives for each month that can be devoted to helping out a cause. For example, World Kindness Week takes place in November while Giving Tuesday is happening in December, which involves donating to non-profit organizations around the US. To capitalize on these days, the NFL can create some special gear to be sold that raises money for various non-profit organizations. This will give the younger generations more incentive to buy the merchandise as it gives them the option to support the cause they choose while rocking some stylish gear. Ultimately, there are many opportunities for the NFL to engage Millennials and Gen Z, but the league must take aggressive action to win over that audience.
2. Have a Greater (And More Genuine) Voice Regarding Social Justice Issues
As mentioned previously, the NFL is under tremendous scrutiny for how it handled the situation with Colin Kaepernick, a former player, kneeling during the National Anthem before several games back in 2016. Specifically, the league is faulted for colluding with its team owners to keep Kaepernick out of the league due to his controversial protest. The NFL hurt its cause even more back in February when a Super Bowl commercial was released promoting the league’s “Inspire Change” initiative. While the commercial started out with an emotional story told by a former player whose cousin was killed by a police officer back in 2015, the NFL failed to mention Colin Kaepernick who was a key player in sparking the movement. According to Hannah Giorgis, the NFL’s social justice investments emerged from an overlap between its players’ off-field activism along with team owners’ philanthropic benevolence. The league is accused of using this narrative to make itself look better when in reality it has always solely cared about its own image.
The league needs to address these accusations. Of course, the players can start a coalition dedicated to fighting racial injustices, but the league itself is not going to be listened to until it shows the public that it made a mistake with its handling of the Colin Kaepernick situation. Creating a rebooted Inspire Change campaign can help the league position itself as a genuine believer in the Black Lives Matter movement. The NFL can accomplish this by releasing more commercials, but this time mentioning the courage of Kaepernick and the remorse for how he was treated for his actions. Its closest competitor, the NBA, also established a social-justice coalition to have a voice in the issues surrounding criminal justice and police reform. However, the league has never punished any of its players for sharing their voice regarding social justice issues, and it continues to serve as a leading voice in the Black Lives Matter movement. Of course, everyone makes mistakes, so the NFL should be able to make up for its handling of the Colin Kaepernick situation. It can accomplish this by continuing to promote its social justice initiatives while at the same time expressing remorse for its previous wrongdoings.
3. Use the Next Three Months to Your Advantage
November, December, and January are crucial times for the NFL to spread brand awareness. Due to season delays as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the NBA and NHL seasons are scheduled to start in January at the earliest. This gives the NFL a tremendous opportunity to grow its brand as the only sports league in season throughout the next several weeks. The league should continue to do monthly campaigns. While the Crucial Catch initiative ends at the start of November, the NFL Votes campaign mentioned in Part 1 can continue to be used to create buzz around the upcoming election. After that, the league can come up with more ideas to engage the groundswell, whether it is through additional charitable campaigns or coming out with contests for fans to win special prizes. Once the World Series ends in the coming week, the NFL is going to be alone in the spotlight. That will be the best chance for the league to generate additional buzz in the groundswell.
Photo: Wikipedia
Conclusion:
The NFL has been tremendously successful on social media throughout the past year. Its Crucial Catch campaign is an annual hit, as it strengthens the brand by committing itself to a purpose-driven cause that sells merchandise. However, consumers are not ignoring the fact that the league has been known to care more about maintaining its own image than truly ensuring the wellbeing of others. Additionally, the league’s most prominent audience is made up of Generation X which is a generation that has a less dominant social media presence than the younger generations. That being said, the league must engage Millennials and Gen Z to gain more power in the groundswell and it must make up for its previous mistakes in its handling of social justice protests. What better time to do these things than during the upcoming months when the NFL will be the only league in-season? Fulfilling these goals will ensure the league’s unquestioned dominance over the rest of the sports leagues in the United States.
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