Super Bowl Sunday can be enjoyed without ever watching a second of football. Even if you’re not excited to see the New York Giants destroy the New England Patriots for the second time, you can tune into one of America’s favorite events of the year, Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl, who’s recent press release is the funniest I’ve ever read.
Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl VIII has reported some extremely impressive numbers on how they leveraged social on a day when everyone assumed all eyeballs were on a football game. An hilarious excerpt from their press release says it all: “The most pivotal performance was turned in by rookie addition @meepthebird, Animal Planet’s tweeting correspondent, who grabbed 21,000 followers in just one day and received countless marriage proposals.”
Additionally they recorded 8.7 million unique total visitors throughout the 12-hour marathon. AnimalPlanet.com also had 1.4 million videos streamed throughout the day, a record for the site. Most impressively, “PUPPY BOWL VIII ranked #1 for social television in cable this past Sunday.”
It gets better, the Puppy Bowl even beat out NBC’S The Voice on the overall social TV charts. There were, “200,000 Puppy Bowl–related tweets on game day – some from celebrities including LaToya Jackson, Zooey Deschanel, Homer Simpson, Snooki and Kelly Osbourne.” This made the show one of “Twitter’s top trending topics.” Throughout the day #puppybowl, #animalplanet, #kittyhalftimeshow and #fumble (this year’s Most Valuable Puppy–MVP) trended worldwide.
They even showed great numbers for their partner Petfinder.com, proving how important social can be for bringing on sponsors. We spoke with Grace Suriel, Manager, Social Media & Strategy for Discovery Communications about Animal Plane’s Puppy Bowl success story.
Lost Remote: How did you prepare to engage people on social with so much attention around the ads and football?
Grace Suriel: We didn’t really take a competitive approach. Puppy Bowl has always been wildly popular on television and on social media – so we focused on making this year the best ever for digital and social engagement by creating a fun 360-degree television experience. We featured the official #PuppyBowl hashtag prominently on air directly below the Animal Planet logo, and our official Puppy Bowl announcer reminded viewers to tweet along with @MeepTheBird several times throughout the show.
LR: Besides Petfinder, what partners, agencies, social tv companies did you work with?
GS: In terms of social media, we did not work with any external parties; this was a true internal collaboration between production, marketing, communications and digital media. Production came up with the idea of a tweeting bird and executive producer Melinda Toporoff named him. From that point forward, it was a team effort to bring @MeepTheBird to life on Twitter.
Lost Remote: Why do people love to talk about puppies on social media? What have you learned about passionate puppy lovers on social?
GS: It’s no secret that cute animals dominate the Internet, and this is especially true for cute puppies. I think it’s just one of those universal truths that no one can deny. Passionate puppy lovers on social media are among my favorite people in the world. Their Tweets are very fun to read and often hilarious takes on the action we all witness on the field of Animal Planet Stadium. They have such a passion and enthusiasm about spreading the word about pet adoption, and the fans are truly one of the best things about working on social media for Animal Planet.
Lost Remote: How does the Puppy Bowl work?
GS: Animal Planet worked with Petfinder to secure animals from 32 shelters and rescue groups representing 20 states. Some come from as far west as Washington and as far south as Florida…and from everywhere in between, including Mississippi, Vermont, Rhode Island and Kentucky. The puppies range in age from 9 – 17 ½ weeks and there are a variety of breeds represented, including dachshunds, terriers, an Italian greyhound, and collie and miniature poodle mixes. From then on, the puppies each get a chance to play on the field with close supervision from a representative from the American Humane Association.
Lost Remote: Why is this great TV?
GS: I mean… we’re talking about puppies pretending to play football, a kitty halftime show and a piggy pep squad – what’s not to love?