The NFL’s GIPHY channel has forever provided fans with quick, animated versions of their favorite players and moments from the season. So much so, that our GIPHY content received 3.8B views during the 2018 season alone.
While we could’ve stayed satisfied with that number, we knew we wanted to step it up a notch, and we knew we COULD.
Our objective was to increase our season-long views, establish a strong GIPHY sticker strategy that serves as “helmets-off” content for our players and shows their personalities, provide new angles to our content, and continually increase quality as well.
First, we knew the best way to increase our season-long views from 2018 would be to consider creating as much content as possible. Not only did we do our standard game-broadcast gifs, but we started tapping into new places for quality gif content. We dove into the archives in honor of our 100th season, debuting a new gif collection of some of the greatest NFL legends. We tapped into show content, uploading Hard Knocks content to GIPHY for the first time, and in near real-time of the episode so fans could use them in their social conversations. We also tapped into other original content such as a feature we did about players and video games, broadening the usage of our content but staying true to our brand.
Next, we wanted to create on-field gifs that you don’t normally see on our channel. So, we utilized the NFL’s Live Content Correspondent program, creating GIFs from the footage they were capturing on the sideline for our new "Sideline Cam" subchannel. These offered a unique new look, and a whole treasure trove of new gif potential. We also used these as an opportunity to increase quality, making sure to carefully color correct them, and making them square to stand out more in-feed of other social platforms.
Finally, we went all-in on GIPHY stickers. Knowing their wide-spread popularity and high rate of use on other platform, we began increasingly our sticker library with best-in-class content. We made sure we had animated logos of each team, and even some fun football phrases.
We also started utilizing our time with players to build reaction packs. We filmed a “Pro Bowl Reaction Pack” with Pro Bowlers, and a “Rookie Reaction Pack” at Rookie Premiere, showing them in their new uniforms. We also created Super Bowl Reaction Packs at SBLIII and SBLIV featuring big-name players and influencer football fans who came through Radio Row.
The NFL GIPHY channel outperformed itself once again in 2019.
Our Stickers Packs continue to be huge hits on our GIPHY account, in fact, the most viewed GIF on our entire channel IS a sticker. It features Baker Mayfield dancing and has garnered a total of 229M views.
The depth and variety in our sticker packs continues to help showcase our players in a new and unique light, helping put their personalities on display and continue to build and strengthen their fan base.
And finally, the NFL GIPHY channel is in the top 5 most viewed Partner Channels EVER on GIPHY.
