Rihanna & Fenty Beauty Were the Game’s MVPs
Super Bowl LVII is now in the history books, and as always, it was a major cultural event that generated a lot of attention on social media. With nearly 7 million total tweets, the Super Bowl continues to be a major driver of online conversation. Once again, we used proprietary AI-powered text analysis from Canvs AI to analyze the social conversation around the game, including analysis of the emotional reactions. This analysis is a standard part of our syndicated streaming and linear TV measurement solution, Canvs TV.
Compared to the 2022 Super Bowl, Super Bowl LVII saw significant growth in all major Canvs AI metrics. Total tweets increased by 16% and emotional reactions (the percentage of Tweets with emotional expression) increased by 22% (Figure 1). This continued growth suggests that the Super Bowl remains a significant cultural moment that captures the attention of people around the world.
Source: Canvs Compare, 2021-2023 Super Bowl Airings Windows
Read As: Super Bowl LVII earned nearly 7M Total Tweets and 2.7M Emotional Reactions, for a Reaction Rate of 39%
So what were the major drivers of conversation during Super Bowl LVII? According to Canvs, Rihanna dominated online conversation during the Super Bowl, accounting for nearly 27% of all conversation about the event and generating 1.9 million total tweets. This was largely due to her highly anticipated halftime performance, which generated overwhelmingly positive reactions.
The most prevalent emotions associated with Rihanna’s performance were Love (45% of reactions), Cried (8% of reactions), and Crazy (6% of reactions). Many viewers were impressed with her catalog of hits, while others were moved by her emotional performance. Some even speculated that she may be pregnant, generating even more conversation.
Outside of Rihanna’s performance, her pregnancy announcement accounted for 15% of conversation around the performer.
Source: Canvs, Rihanna Specific Tweets during Super Bowl LVII Airing Window
Read As: Emotional Reactions specific to Rihanna during Super Bowl LVII were primarily positive, with emotions such as Love (45%), Cried (8%), and Crazy (6%) appearing most frequently
In terms of brands, Fenty Beauty, Rihanna’s cosmetics business, was the most mentioned product on social media during the Super Bowl, with 43,000 mentions. This was largely due to Rihanna’s feature of Fenty Beauty products during her halftime performance. Apple Music, which sponsored the halftime show, was the second most mentioned brand with 11,000 mentions. These metrics show the value of the halftime show as a unique show within a show as a showcase for performers and brands!
Other brands that topped the list of most mentioned commercials included Booking.com, Bud Light, and Google. (Figure 3)
Source: Canvs, Brands Mentioned during Super Bowl LVII Airing Window
Read As: Rihanna drove the highest levels of conversion during the Super Bowl LVII airing, accounting for 1.9M Total Tweets and 27% of the overall Super Bowl conversation
Of course, there was also a football game. While the social conversation is clearly driven by broader cultural and commercial touchstones, the game was one of the most exciting in Super Bowl history, coming down to a late fourth-quarter, game-winning field goal. The major drivers of game conversation during Super Bowl LVII centered on the quarterbacks for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts, respectively. Mahomes accounted for 6% of the share of total conversation, while Hurts accounted for 2%.
While the Chiefs were the game-winning team, we would have to say that Rihanna and the Fenty Beauty brand came out on top. Despite an official sponsorship, Fenty Beauty earned the highest volume of Twitter love and an estimated $5M in media impact value on the back of its influencer founder. As Rihanna has done so often, this performance will no doubt show the way for influencer-led brands going forward.
