We all know how important the Superbowl is, yet Superbowl commercials always trump the actual game. Mostly because the event has become a social gathering more than watching an important game of Football. We can’t all agree on the two teams that have made it to the final so instead, we discuss the exclusive commercials.
This year’s batch of commercials were entertaining to say the least. Some were funny, some were emotional, and some were even shocking (I’m not talking about you Groupon,) but the main thing that stuck out for us was the lack of social media implementation. What happened? Where were the calls to action to follow on Twitter and Facebook? Why did no one have a commercial that tied into a social media platform? We can’t really figure that one out! However, we can talk about who succeeded the most at getting their numbers up.
According to research from ClickZ.com ” [ClickZ] began noticing Super Bowl advertisers tease their TV commercials via social channels on Jan. 18; so our team benchmarked the Twitter and Facebook stats for in-game advertisers that were publicly known at the time. (Late entries such as Groupon are not included.) We compared those numbers to data collected at 8 p.m. EST on Monday from the same brand accounts.”
Mercedes Benz started their “Tweet Race” in early December. A race that started by “Liking” their Facebook page to then a selection of four teams of two people to compete in a race, fueled by their tweets, to the Superbowl. The winner of the race would receive tickets to the actual game as well as the brand new Mercedes they drove in. They saw a 40% increase in their Facebook fans and a 95% increase in their Twitter Followers. Not bad.
The second biggest winner, Bridgestone Tires, gained a 461% increase in Followers because they were the official sponsor of the Superbowl XLV
. According to ClickZ: “During the days before the Super Bowl, the brand ran Promoted Account ads targeting football enthusiasts and people with shown interest in tire products. It also purchased Promoted Tweets for Sunday.”
E*Trade and Teleflora were also amongst the big winners of this game, but what does this really mean for companies? Are compelling, original, or shocking ads enough to increase your Twitter and Facebook followers?
We’re hoping that next year’s Superbowl brings in a wave of Social Media Campaigns online as well as in commercials.
What were your thoughts on the commercials? Annoyed that you couldn’t do more on the social media platforms?