After a slew of technical failures during November's Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul boxing match live stream, advertisers are more aware than ever of what can go wrong during a popular event. And with Netflix's "NFL Christmas Gameday" just around the corner, which will feature Beyoncé performing during the Ravens vs. Texans halftime show, brands can strategize to make the most of a potential broadcast outage.
An outage for a high-traffic live event like Netflix's jeopardizes the intended audience of a livestream ad spot. But it also positions brands to potentially capitalize on a cultural moment.
While advertisers can’t control the technological reliability of a live event, they can develop a contingency plan to stay connected to their target audience during an outage. Experts say brands should build a crisis management strategy that bonds with consumers using humor, instead of sharing in collective disappointment.
It takes more than timeliness
When the power went out during 2013's Super Bowl, Oreo captured consumer attention and made headlines by tweeting a photo of an Oreo captioned: “You can still dunk in the dark."
An instant social response from a brand is no longer novel, and Pepsi social analyst Jazmin Griffith said the bar for brands to stand out during notable, live event moments has never been higher.
“It’s not enough to just ‘be there’ anymore,’’ she said. “Consumers want brands to add value to the conversation, whether that’s through humor, empathy, or cultural relevance.”
Creating a contingency plan
While live events are inherently unpredictable, planning for things to go right while preparing the flexibility to pivot in real time is key, said Rodobaldo Gonzalez, director of social media at ad agency Spark.
“Create a plan for how you will react to the unexpected,” he said. “Who is the team? How will you adjust your normal process to move more quickly than usual? How much risk are you willing to take?”
Doing the right work ahead of time requires both legal and creative alignment, according to Griffith. This includes preparing pre-approved content templates, keywords, and tone guides. She also stressed that brands should look beyond X and turn to Threads, TikTok comments, and live chat streams to join the conversation.
Filling the entertainment gap
Kerry Tucker, co-president of VIRTUE Worldwide, said the best value advertisers can bring is giving consumers back the entertainment they’ve lost, instead of focusing on pushing or repurposing a costly spot.
“If something goes wrong, you have an audience and a brand that’s super disappointed, but consumers are less concerned about [advertisers'] wasted money in a Super Bowl spot than not being able to watch the game,” Tucker said. "Instead of trying to cover it up, make light of it and give the consumer something to supplement the viewing experience they’re missing out on.”
After a woman went viral on TikTok last December when her waterproof jacket got soaked in the rain, The North Face responded by flying her to the top of a New Zealand mountain and giving her a new one—which is what she playfully requested in lieu of a refund. While a game day blackout might not warrant the same elaborate mission, advertisers can lay out a social strategy to turn a disappointing moment into a new opportunity for audience connection.
For Griffith, this supplemental entertainment could look like “your own Christmas game day mini-series on social, with live updates, behind-the-scenes commentary, or even a 'how the game should’ve gone' parody.”
A 360-degree approach to marketing is essential in today’s media climate, according to Tucker, both to drive home your main creative and use it as a security blanket.
“If something goes wrong on one screen, you now have all of these other touchpoints to communicate with your audience,” said Tucker. “Doing that upfront work to scenario plan, even if those scenarios seem really far fetched, is worthwhile.”
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