What These Super Bowl Statistics Teach Us About Marketing Recipe Content

Super Bowl Sunday is almost upon us, and if the top Google search queries according to Google Trends are to be believed, football fans have one thing on their minds: Food.

Source: Google Trends

This is no surprise. Football and food go hand-in-hand, and for many, the Super Bowl is more than just a football game. It's a social event; an opportunity to get together with friends and family. With that comes the pressure to feed a crowd. Some will turn to their own tried and tested favourites. Others will order in. A staggering 48 million Americans order takeout or delivery for the Super Bowl, and Dominos sees a 350% increase in slices sold. For many though, the search for the perfect Super Bowl Sunday recipe starts with a simple Google Search.

Here in Recipe Guru's Dublin office, we don't know much about American Football. Our sporting attention this weekend will be on the first game of the Six Nations. (Although we're fully on board with Super Bowl levels of eating, and we love a good halftime show.) In our New York office on the other hand, Dunstan, our Chief Commercial Officer, will be glued to Super Bowl LIII and reluctantly supporting the Patriots. According to a list compiled by Google Trends of the 'Most uniquely searched Super Bowl recipes by state', it's likely that he will be digging into a bowl of freshly made Spinach dip. (I checked - he won't. Pizza and pasta will be on the menu.)

Of course, spinach dip isn't exactly an unusual addition to any party, let alone a Super Bowl get together. Neither is buffalo chicken dip (the top search in Connecticut, Virginia and several other states), or nachos (favoured by fans in North Dakota and Alaska). There are some more unique choices though. Irish stew in Iowa stands out as unusual, as does pea and peppercorn mash in New Mexico. (We couldn't even find a recipe for this, but we're intrigued.)

Our changing dietary preferences are also represented on the list, with the people of Massachusetts on the lookout for gluten-free pretzel recipes, while in Nevada, vegan cheesy bacon spinach dip is on the menu.

Google didn't specify how they made the connection between these search terms and the Super Bowl, or if these search terms just happened to gain traction in the run-up to the biggest sporting event of the year. Sure, the people of Pennsylvania and Arkansas are most likely searching for chicken wing recipes in preparation for the Super Bowl, but it's conceivable that the Irish stew search term mentioned above is in response to Iowa's record-breaking low temperatures and a craving for something warming and comforting. Perhaps Arizona, Tennessee, Washington and Wyoming are simply big fans of cake? (It would be interesting to dig deeper into this very broad search term to find out whether there are regional differences in the sort of cake recipes their residents are seeking.)

In reality, it doesn't matter whether every search is Super Bowl-related or now. The lesson here is that recipe preferences are very much location based. A one-size-fits-all approach to recipes and how we promote them simply doesn't work, particularly when there are significant cultural differences between different parts of the same country. Personalisation is key. For grocery retailers in the US, for example, a winning approach would be to segment their customer data by location in order to uncover any particular recipe and ingredient site search and browsing trends. These insights should form the starting point for providing a completely different recipe content experience depending on where in the US the customer resides. Of course, location is far too broad a dimension to make any real difference on an individual basis, but as you can see from the Google Trends list, it can give significant insight into the preferences of particular regions which can then be further refined using behavioural data to give customers a truly personalised recipe experience.

Source: Google Trends

Here's the full Google Trends list of the most uniquely searched Super Bowl recipes by state:

Alabama: White Chicken Chili Alaska: Nachos Arizona: Cake Arkansas: Fried Chicken Wings California: Baked Chicken Breast Colorado: Broccoli Cheese Soup Connecticut: Buffalo Chicken Dip Delaware: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake D.C.: Bagel Pigs in a Blanket Florida: Cake Georgia: Buffalo Chicken Dip Hawaii: Football Cupcakes Idaho: Salads Illinois: Jalapeño Poppers Indiana: Fried Rice Iowa: Irish Stew Kansas: Buffalo Chicken Dip Kentucky: Taco Salad Louisiana: Cupcakes Maine: Paella Maryland: Pizza Massachusetts: Gluten-Free Pretzels Michigan: Pizza Minnesota: Tacos Mississippi: Granola Bars Missouri: Broccoli Cheese Soup Montana: Lentil Soup Nebraska: Pigs in a Blanket Nevada: Vegan Cheesy Bacon Spinach Dip New Hampshire: Cakes and Cupcakes New Jersey: Buffalo Chicken Dip New Mexico: Pea and Peppercorn Mash New York: Spinach Dip North Carolina: Cobb Salad North Dakota: Baked Nachos Ohio: Buffalo Chicken Dip Oklahoma: Chicken Noodle Soup Oregon: Banana Bread Pennsylvania: Chicken Wings Rhode Island: 7 Layer Dip South Carolina: Turkey Chili South Dakota: Cupcakes Tennessee: Cake Texas: Spinach Dip Utah: Bacon Wrapped Smokies Vermont: Lasagna Virginia: Buffalo Chicken Dip Washington: Cakes West Virginia: Buffalo Chicken Dip Wisconsin: Buffalo Chicken Dip Wyoming: Cakes

If sourcing recipe content is a real pain point for your organisation, why not take a break from gorging on Pea and Peppercorn Mash and get in touch. We'd love to talk you through the benefits of working with Recipe Guru and how we can help drive engagement and sales. Email jane@therecipeguru.com and let's cook up something delicious together.