The following guest post is written by Nick Cicero, Strategic Services at BRaVe Ventures.
For the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Live Sauza 901 Tequila got into the real-time marketing (RTM) action by banking on a series of planned and unplanned pieces of content that, like their co-founder Justin Timberlake, were smooth and subtle, yet effective.
It takes some BRaVe storytelling skills to navigate the real-time marketing waters with great content and engaged fans when the moment is pretty much one viral bit after another and everyone is trying hard to be just as witty online (there had to have been at least 20 SNL-related trending topics on Sunday from Turd Ferguson to Eddie Murphy).
Topping more than 9 Million viewers and more than a million tweets (Nielsen Social Data) the Twitter feeds saw a few brands like McDonalds, Applebee’s and Steve Madden adding RTM quick hits around #SNL40 action, but Sauza 901 committed to creating content throughout the night, taking a few different approaches to tell the story of Timberlake’s musical montage with Jimmy Fallon to introduce the special.
Why Wait When You Can Build Your Own RTM Moment?
What’s most impressive about Sauza’s #SNL40 social strategy is they used Timberlake to set up their own RTM opportunities.
Notice JT’s Instagram sipping a cup of tequila backstage before he went on TV?
The SNL twitter account shared his pic to their million plus followers:
Sauza 901 replied to SNL’s tweet with a manual RT, injecting their brand into the organic thread of SNL’s tweet and added a little brand ownership.
Then Sauza promoted the tweet, the combination of amplification, relevance to #SNL40 and use of @NBCSNL account in the tweet gave the social proof that opened up discussions #CreatedWith SNL, Justin Timberlake and Sauza 901 instead of just the brand alone, which would probably end up pushing people away.
Outside of the Timberlake storyline, Sauza did continue to create content throughout the show to support their earlier efforts.
Their creative mixed up live-tweeting with highly visual puns that tied into relevant moments like “LIME from New York” or the less funny (and more branded,) but more timely “Commercial break! Perfect time to get yourself a #Sauza901 cocktail.”
LIME, FROM NEW YORK…. here we go! #SNL40 @jtimberlake pic.twitter.com/fnE5PscfOs
— Sauza 901 (@Sauza901) February 16, 2015
While these were well-timed and not terribly…corny (for lack of a better term) they weren’t as effective as the Timberlake discussion.
Keeping the Conversation Going
RTM without engagement is like telling a joke with earplugs in.
Which is why we’re glad Sauza 901 didn’t “Showtime Rotisserie” their SNL content (set it and forget it) and actually engaged with their fans through til the very end, which is really the point of RTM anyways.
The Payoff
Out of all of Sauza’s tweets, their JT/SNL promoted post by and far has the most engagement and reactions as expected.
With more and more events like #SNL40, or even your favorite weekly TV show like The Walking Dead, moments are being defined by the audience, not always the show. The talent knows this, the producers know this…what nobody knows is how or when people will break the script and create these moments.
Live TV is built off this, Kanye performing while laying down on the stage, or grabbing Matt Laurer’s mic before the introduction, Katy Perry riding a mechanical lion wearing a flame-coated dress, Timberlake sharing a photo of him with a cup of tequila, intentional or not the eyeballs on these moments are sure to generate screenshots and memes in an instant.
Brands that listen can pick up on those moments and take advantage of extending these storylines reactively, or plan for events to create their own storylines around as in the case of Sauza.
By aligning content with trending topics, worthwhile stories, and relevant concepts, brands can prove that they’re more than just a business and reinforce a lifestyle.
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One last thing, Beam Suntory has a number of brands under their umbrella, but most importantly they have perhaps one of SNL’s most famous adult beverages, Courvoiser, the drink of choice for one Leon Phelps, the Ladies’ Man.
Noticeably absent from the SNL40 special, it would have been fun to see Courvoiser give some nod to the character.
Or maybe McDonald’s could have at least bought someone a fish sandwich….
