It’s that time of the year again when millions of people throng in front of their television sets to watch the game that cannot be named. There’s no other event in America that attracts such an enormous audience. Not only are they glued to their TV screens, but they’re peeking at their smartphones to engage in social media chatter. 78% of the audience have a second-screen for real-time interactions and conversations about the game. This kind of an audience is opportune for brands.
With more than 100 million people tuning into Facebook and Instagram alone during the game, it has become imperative for brands to go all out with their digital efforts. Instead of shelling out millions for a 30 second ad, more marketers are using social media to build brand awareness, using a connection to football, poking fun at Super Bowl advertising or responding to game events to get attention from fans. Digital media has made it easier and more importantly, cheaper for them to advertise during the Super Bowl.
Brands sneakily talking about the Super Bowl is no big secret. Twitter recently announced a separate award for non-sponsors that win great engagement on Twitter on their Super Bowl content. Like in the past, we decided to dig deeper around the pool of Big Game mentions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from 2013 through 2017 using Discover.
To understand how brands could leverage the Super Bowl while still flying under the radar of the NFL lawyers, we fired up Unmetric Discover. Searching through hundreds of thousands of Super Bowl related branded content we came across some common trends. Let’s dive in:
Recipes
Considering the fact that antacid sales see a spike after the game day, it need not be emphasized that Super Bowl is pretty much all about the food. It is second only to Thanksgiving when it comes to food consumption and brands capitalize on it. Facebook and Instagram are the preferred platforms.
Engagement Baits
Facebook has killed engagement bait, but brands have for the longest time benefited from them. Large brands like Nike and Walmart have done it in the past.
Discounts
Brands tag on to the Super Bowl frenzy by offering discounts. For instance, ShopAtHome offered 50% off on TVs because fans are more than ready to ditch their old TV sets for new ones during the game season.
Today is the Day to win tablets! Make sure to be following us during the big game! #ScoreWithHelzberg pic.twitter.com/uyIZUVVgkT
— Helzberg Diamonds (@Helzberg) February 2, 2014
Contests
Twitter has been a traditional favourite for contests. Esurance got two million people to tweet about their contest without even having an official ad spot. Smaller brands have also been successful in getting better outreach through contests.
Congrats @JessicaQualls95, you just scored $50K! Talk about a big win! #EsuranceSweepstakes #SB50https://t.co/ylbEbyY3ta
— Esurance (@esurance) February 8, 2016
Big prize for the #biggame! RT to win a hydration hookup AND a signed @moneylynch jersey & helmet! #hydratenaturally #BeastMode
— Vita Coco (@VitaCoco) January 30, 2015
Need some #coffee after the #biggame last night? RETWEET by 11pm today for a chance to #win a #coffee #prizepack! #SB49
— Lavazza USA (@LavazzaUSA) February 2, 2015
want a chance to win a month’s supply of #popchips? RT & tell us which game day snack makes your #biggame party pop! pic.twitter.com/CiUvecVoyt
— popchips (@popchips) January 23, 2016
<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/72×72/1f3c8.png" alt="
” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /> BIG GAME Giveaway <img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/72×72/1f3c8.png" alt="
Retweet for a chance to win a $25 #LedoPizza Giftcard! 2 winners picked at 9:59pm 2/7/16. pic.twitter.com/RDg1rcEatL— Ledo Pizza (@LedoPizza) February 7, 2016
Influencer advertising
High profile celebrities are the key ingredient in popular Super Bowl ads. Brands are now increasingly building their digital strategy around influencers to increase their outreach.
Cosmetics
Instagram has been a fertile ground for beauty brands and it doesn’t change with football season either.
Animals
People love their furry friends and it’s no surprise that many of the most shared Super Bowl content have animals in them.
• • • #GoPro #GoProPets #dogs #puppyOther strategies that worked
With an ever increasing amount of content being published during the Super Bowl season, brands channel their creative demons to produce a hotpot of marketing strategies. There’s no single formula to hitting it big with social media and it certainly requires some luck as well.
Here are some of our favourites.
Newcastle Ale
In 2014, beer brand Newcastle Ale decided it would make a Super Bowl ad that acknowledged that it couldn’t afford to advertise during the Super Bowl. It hired actress Anna Kendrick, who jokes in the video that she isn’t “beer-commercial hot.” Their integrated campaign included a microsite, trailers and behind-the-scene videos amounting to more than 10 million views.
.@NewCastle wasted my time with a “Football Ad” they DIDN’T make. Now they want to waste yours with this clip http://t.co/6IA6R2Am5J #Ad
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) January 31, 2014
They did it again in 2015 with more sass.
.@Newcastle needs more money to make a big game ad, mostly ’cause they blew it hiring me!!<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/72×72/1f61c.png" alt="<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/72×72/1f61c.png" alt="
” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” />” class=”wp-smiley” style=”height: 1em; max-height: 1em;” /><img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/72×72/1f61c.png" alt="<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2.2.1/72×72/1f61c.png" alt="
— Aubrey Plaza (@evilhag) January 13, 2015
Borderlands
Video game company Borderlands released a fake ad during the Super Bowl week in 2014. With its bizarre overtones and gross humor it managed to capture many eyeballs.
Monster
The job listing site did a Twitter stunt by making an intentional mistake and threw some good old Twitter snark.
Congratulations Seattle from http://t.co/sPr4G1gHup! #biggame pic.twitter.com/eAa59yw1om
— Monster (@Monster) February 2, 2015
Audubon Society and Oregon Zoo
Hitching on the Superb Owl coverage, these organizations were able to get their word out and get noticed.
Here are some more fan favourites
Hey dome operators at the ‘Big Game’, there are a few Lowe’s nearby if you need some generators.
— Lowe’s (@Lowes) February 4, 2013
Chargin’ Chuck is ready and waiting on the sidelines to step in during the #BigGame! pic.twitter.com/4OuVrUUQTP
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 2, 2014
Don’t panic, our lion is safe! #SB49 #cameo #biggame pic.twitter.com/4ri5v1L8hw
— MGM Grand Hotel (@MGMGrand) February 2, 2015
The key to engaging your audience around Super Bowl is to make sure you have a handle on these three things:
- Listen to what your audience is engaging with on social media. Are they more into recipes or do they like funny memes?
- Look out for what your competitors are talking about
- Display ads and social media content that is relevant to Super Bowl
Get more ideas for big live events by trying out Discover a searchable database of over 700 million pieces of brand content published by over 100,000 major brands in the last five years.
See More “Big Game” Branded Content
Follow all the brand action during the Super Bowl on AdAge’s live Twitter feed, powered by Unmetric Track.
The post 43 Ways Any Brand Can Leverage the Super Bowl appeared first on Unmetric Social Media Analytics Blog.