Whether the New York Giants or New England Patriots win the Super Bowl this year, neither will be as big of a winner as the mobile and social sectors for the big game. According to a recent survey by research firm Harris Interactive as commissioned by mobile marketing company Velti, fans are progressively connecting beyond their in-person friends, turning to the game broadcast itself for Super Bowl updates and interaction.

Watch ads or check your phone?

The research furthers that a third of Super Bowl users will watch the game “with device in hand.” This will enable mobile users to check their phones 10 times more during the game. Over 80 percent of viewers said they will use their mobile device as much as they did during the same event last year.

Fans are also likely to check their mobile devices for status updates on Facebook or Twitter during commercial breaks. “People have to do something while the teams are in the huddle or during timeouts, so their phones are a good activity,” Zencka said. And to think, a 30-second Super Bowl ad slot comes with a $3.5 million price tag.

“Viewers are sitting in front of the television with a mobile device in their hand and they’ll likely check that ‘second’ screen often,” Velti Executive Krishna Subramanian said in a press release. “There’s no going back now from the fact that the Super Bowl is truly a two-screen experience. Mobile is the second screen that completes the full circle of user engagement – turning advertising into content.”

In retrospect, here are mobile users’ engagements during last year’s Super Bowl (courtesy of iProspect via):

– 61% of Facebook users who identified as Super Bowl fans posted status updates during the game in 2011.

– 28% of users who identified as fans directly chatted or messaged with friends. – On Twitter, the record for most sports-related posts per second was broken six times, culminating at game’s end with 4,064 tweets per second.

– Overall, last year’s Super Bowl generated more than 4.5 million tweets in six hours. – In the United States, Twitter traffic during the game increased by 50% over the previous day.

– 2011 Super Bowl ads have been viewed more than 360 million times online.

– 39% of Super Bowl related searches from mobile devices in the week surrounding last year’s game came on Super Bowl Sunday itself.

– Traffic to Yahoo‘s mobile homepage jumped by as much as 34% over normal during breaks in the action.

– Sports-focused mobile traffic on Yahoo jumped by as much as 387% over normal during commercial breaks.

Brand’s mobile focus gains BI

With this much focus on mobile during the event, brands may as well target the hefty mobile usage and social presence of fans through engaging marketing campaigns and viral videos on YouTube. Twitter and Facebook are getting more and more traction as conversation hubs over the last few years’ major live events. These, on top of the exploding tablet and smartphone usage, will need some heavy thinking from marketers as the figures are becoming harder and harder to ignore. They need to have some strategy to take advantage of this Super Bowl’s mobile craze.

“With millions of people using their mobile phones today for brand interaction in addition to traditional communication, the Super Bowl offers companies a significant opportunity to socialize their marketing campaigns,” said Mark Reino, CEO of Merit Mile Communications. “What’s more, companies that leverage cloud marketing for precision targeting, automation that keeps costs low and enhanced ROI metrics will be the clear winners during the Super Bowl.”

The real value of mobile connections is the direct access to consumers and the potential for business intelligence that follows as a result.  Mobile is the segue between the intangibility of a television broadcast and the physical access of a handset.  Mobile devices are individualized and can establish a long-lasting connection between a brand and a consumer.  We’re seeing this concept evolve within mobile ad standards, with Millennial Media’s latest product update for targeting consumers that have already demonstrated interest in a brand.

Mobile also adds an edge of urgency with the perk of web access.  This immediacy is what brands are picking up on, making the “on-demand” trend a two-way street for content marketers and end users.

“The power of mobile is that it’s immediate–a merchant has the ability to make an announcement with regards to the Super Bowl, or even a time-sensitive discount during half time, and hook them with their loyalty program, incentivising customers to come back,” says Adam Weizer, CEO of Servistree.

“What’s starting to gain traction is the realization that mobile is immediate.  The people that really get this is the younger generation.  I believe email marketing will fade out and mobile will take precedence as people become more familiar with how to use text on their mobile devices.”

Should you actually decide to interact with Super Bowl 2012 on your mobile device, here are some top apps to follow the big game online.

Contributors: Kristina Farrah