Dive Brief:
- Snickers and the WWE have partnered for the WrestleMania event coming up in April, including a total brand takeover of the wrestling organization's YouTube page by the candy brand the day of the event as outlined in a joint press release from both companies.
- Other elements of the brand partnership include promotional Snickers activity at WrestleMania Axxess, a four-day interactive fan festival, a Snickers presence at WWE events leading up to WrestleMania, retail promotions and custom digital and social content including a Snapchat live story.
- According to the press release WWE’s YouTube channel is the number one sports channel on the platform. The original content created by WWE for Snickers will leverage the brand’s “you know you’re not you when you’re hungry” messaging that has been part of snickers main advertising approach for a couple of years.
Dive Insight:
As viewership of live sporting events grows across digital channels, big sponsors like Snickers are shifting their spend from TV to platforms such as YouTube, Twitter and others. Not only are marketers attracted to the large audiences, but digital also enables them to take advantage of a number of features not available with TV to create integrated campaigns.
The results are promising. Snickers’ partnership with the WWE for WrestleMania 32 from earlier this year created more than 1.5 billion impressions across WWE’s and NBCUniversal’s global platforms with channels and promotions including TV, digital and social media, retail activation and appearances by WWE wrestlers.
The trend toward big digital sports sponsorships appears to be heating up this year as TV viewership continues to decline and live streaming options grow. Earlier this month, JBL Harman and American Express became the first sponsors of Twitter's live original sports programming with the National Basketball Association. The NBA also has a big presence on Snapchat.