On Super Bowl Sunday every brand is competing for its 30 seconds (or even two minutes) of fame. The odds are stacked against them. Beer drinking, dip eating and Beyonce-in-Illuminati googling prevent impressions, let alone impact.
But those that can catch the attention of viewers, and hold their interest after the confetti settles, earn extra brand affinity points. Digital and social extensions are the best way to capitalize on the huge investment of one spot.
Some brands see the Super Bowl as a platform for a single spot to increase awareness. But brands that used their Super Bowl ads to launch a fully integrated, sustainable campaign across a wide range of media, are the real winners.
Let’s take a look at the Top 5 Super Bowl Ads according to AdWeek and re-rank them based on how they took their campaigns off the big screen and into “real” life.
5. Taco Bell: Viva Young
The spot about the late-night shenanigans of seniors closes with an endcard directing viewers to the Taco Bell Facebook page. And what do you see when you get there? The exact same spot posted on their wall. No más.
4: Dodge RAM: Farmer
This emotional spot actually has its origins in YouTube. A Farms.com video inspired the remake (with substantially higher production value) for the Super Bowl. RAM announced the “Year of the Farmer,” complete with a dedicated cause microsite that lets users post a Farmer badge to their Facebook timeline to raise money for FFA.
3. Samsung: The Next Big Thing
Samsung Mobile USA did a good job of incorporating parts of its teaser and two-minute commercial into its Facebook page. (The last several posts feature the Baltimore Blackbirds and San Francisco 50-Minus-1-ers.) Their #TheNextBigThing hashtag has also gained traction on Twitter, especially with tweets from celebrity endorsers like @KingJames LeBron.
2: Budweiser: Brotherhood
The life story of a Clydesdale in one minute. The social cherry on top? You get to name the newest foal by tweeting your ideas with the hashtag #Clydesdales. Not only did @Budweiser launch this way, but it also received over 60,000 submissions via Facebook and Twitter. Judging from the integration leading up to the naming, you can bet the new mare, “Hope,” will be featured often on Facebook and Twitter.
1. Oreo: Whisper Fight
Despite how you felt about the TV spot, there’s no doubt Oreo won over the Internet with campaign integration…and a quick-turn tweet. Its commercial ended with an invitation to vote for cookie or creme via uploading pictures to its new Instragram account and tagging #cookiethis or #cremethis. Oreo then commissioned 20 artists to recreate the pics using actual Oreo cookies or creme. The process and creations were featured on Facebook and Instagram. But perhaps Oreo’s biggest win comes from being on-call to create the now famous blackout tweet.
Oreo not only thought through planned digital and social media executions for its spot to create an integrated campaign across multiple touch-points but also built on its successful Facebook and Twitter presence to capitalize on an unplanned, shared-consciousness event. Oreo instantly became a welcome guest at game-watching parties across the nation. And maybe managed to make it onto football fans’ shopping lists as well — or at least their news feeds.
