We’ll be back later this week with more on this year’s batch of Super Bowl TV ads, but this is 2010, so those traditional commercials only tell part of the Super Bowl marketing story. There are several different social media components of Super Bowl 44, so we’ll consider them one by one.
First off, the NFL has made a concerted effort to incorporate user-generated content in its own marketing of the game itself. Much like the Grammys’ emphasis on the shared creative partnership that has developed between artists and music lovers, NFL.com has collected and hosted the fans’ reactions and thoughts, aggregating a wealth of Tweets, blog posts, and Flickr photos, all relating to the NFL’s big day. The focus of this campaign differs slightly from that of the Grammys, as the NFL correctly recognized that the disconnect between the players competing on the gridiron and the fans watching at home is vast. Rather, it emphasized the shared American experience of watching the game. The NFL also took the step of introducing the what must be the Super Bowl’s first ever official Twitter hashtag (#SB44).
Beyond the NFL itself, advertisers have expanded their efforts to utilize social media to supplement (or, in the case of Pepsi, replace) their traditional TV ads. Mashable has categorized two distinct ways in which companies used social media:
1) Controversy Generators: These include, according to Mashable, ads that were banned by CBS, which have found a life online. GoDaddy is no stranger to this strategy, as the company is perhaps more well-known for its racy Super Bowl spots than for the affordable web-hosting service it provides. But ManCrunch, a gay dating site, has also taken advantage of CBS’s decision to ban its submitted ad.
2) Buzz Generators: Companies such as Coca-Cola, Budweiser, and Monster have all supplemented ads that aired during the game. Coca-Cola, for instance, has created a Facebook app to allow users to share virtual cokes, gaining in the process access to snippets of the broadcast commercial. Budweiser asked for fan feedback through its Facebook page in order to determine which 30-second spot would be used on TV.
And, lastly, BrandBowl 2010 has set itself up as the go-to source for Twitter reactions to Super Bowl ads, keeping track of the game within that other game. According to the BrandBowl leaderboard, Doritos and Google turned out to be the big winners of Super Bowl advertising.
According to the site, “Brands aren’t just what the ad makers say. Brands are also what the public thinks.” In this age of social media, that sentiment strikes me as true.
Related posts:
- Super Bowl Advertising is Not Just About Buzz
- Super Bowl Ads Move to Pre-Game
- Which Super Bowl 2009 Ads Worked?
- Super Bowl 44 Ad Review
- Pepsi’s Social Media Strategy
