The game came and gone (pretty low scoring one if I say so myself!) but what brings together many professionals across social media and marketing together: The Super Bowl Ads!
I always love to see what is launched, discussed, and highlighted not just during the game, but also for the commercials. It’s also become a “work” event for me to explore what are some of the things that are showcased online. This Super Bowl did not disappoint as far as elements to discuss.
Many people and news outlets have provided their own commentary on what the trends were and what stood out for them as far as the commercials goes, but I wanted to share w/ you some of my thoughts on the trends of the night from a social media professor perspective.
Here are some of my reflections:
Unexpected Collaborations. Bud Light did have a TON of buzz last night for their Game of Thrones collaboration for one of their commercials. Some people considered it to be their favorite commercial of the night, but others did not like it. Personally, as a GoT fan, I loved it and it was unexpected! You did not think Bud Light would be the brand that would bring forth the show into the spotlight in this way. This is what made this commercial stand out – it was not unexpected!
Power of stories. I think some of the brands like Microsoft and Verizon did win the storytelling element for their commercials. Both featured real people sharing unique stories and experiences that were tapped into their brand. These tugged at your heart strings and you felt – yes, this is what it is all about and we were able to see the clear message both brands were trying to share here.
Welcome to the SHADE Bowl. Seriously, I thought I was watching the Snarky/Shade Bowl instead of the Brand Bowl for some of these brands! Got to give the brands credit, they probably were listening and seeing what audiences were talking about online, so they realized they had to jump into the conversation.
My favorite responses of course came from Snickers (we missed you all here!) and of course the winner was Mercedes.
Brands engaging with other brands and audiences. There were several brands that were able to interact with each other on social, while tying in to the game as well. Pringles and Rams did a good job in this, but also Amazon and Alexa. We are seeing the level of engagement for brands here on social for a big event like this to be pretty established at this point. When it comes to what types of engagement, that’s still something we need to explore.
Got to give it up to Coca-Cola for continuing their personal engagement on social as well. I have had several brands like Hyundai, Budweiser, and Coca-Cola engage with me during the game. These social teams get it – you not only need to PUSH content out, but respond and engage in conversation.
New brand players to the party. If I were to tell you I spent nearly the entire game (3+ hours) engaging with a peanut (yes- a PEANUT!), you’d think I was pretty crazy. Well, it happened! Mr. Peanut, a client of Gary Vaynerchuk and VaynerMedia, got everyone’s attention here with their social media presence with their GIFs, engagement with brands, and their giveaways they were sending out to people.
Brands calling out for other brands. Oh SNAP! This was the year of the going after beer brands for using corn syrup. That’s exactly what BudLight did here for their commercial highlighting the difference they have between competitors Coors Lite and Miller Light. Of course, NCGA responded on Twitter to the commercial and it sparked a lot of dialogue. However, next time you tweet – double check you use the right user handles.
Takeaways
Like all aspects of branding and marketing initiatives, there are certain things we can takeaway from all of these campaigns and note for the future. It’s important to discuss what are some changes, trends, and improvements each of these brands could utilize here.
NO Call-To-Action statements. This was a HUGE change here from previous campaigns. No hashtags to use. Not may websites to visit in the commercial.
This was surprising. How else will you spark audience members to take action? If you are looking at return on investment, don’t you have to show based on what you have said, shared, and talked about – people took some sort of action? I was really amazed to see how many brands did not do this in their commercial.
More diversity in the content and posting strategy. While I did like what Mr. Peanut did for the Super Bowl, it would have been nice if the brand had done a few things differently. First, love the giveaways, but did we need that many? Also, you could tell the brand was focused on engaging with other brands during the conversation – but it missed a HUGE opportunity to engage with people.
Personalized messages, gifs, or other ways to create these micro experiences would have put them at the top of the social brand engagement channel. In this one category, they (along with several other brands) missed a HUGE opportunity here to make a memorable impression that lasts beyond the game. That’s the ultimate goal for social is to formulate these relationships for the long term.
Future of snark in social and branding. This is something I think will be interesting to see and watch for the future. Will brands have to be snarky to get the attention from audiences? Does this need to happen?
While I did see a few brands showcase this as part of their personality for the game, is this a good long term strategy for them? It may work for Wendy’s, but time will have to tell here to see what this has in store for the future.
Integration of Influencers. I think we did see some here for the commercials and social media activities, and the NFL had a great commercial to celebrate 100 years of their organization. Their influencer? Ninja – just one of the biggest names in the gaming industry.
Was he prominent? You could have missed him. Was he noticeable? Yes. This was one way a brand could integrate an influencer while still being on brand for them.
Some brands looked “tired.” I am not saying they were looking asleep or anything, but you can tell they were not on their A game. They were almost going through the motions to say “Hey, we are at the Super Bowl and this is what we can do with $5 million for a commercial and social media campaign!” My advice is this – rest, relax – take a moment to breath. Come back to us when you all are rested and can do your best in your work. It’s okay to take a break when needed.
The energy was lost, and it was surprising to see here. However, I think that’s where the “new” players coming into the mix really shined. They locked down, honed in, and made sure EVERYBODY at the party knew they were here and they have arrived.
Overall, I think there were some takeaways and trends to note for this year, but there were also some things to note for the future.
Let me know what you all think about this. Have a great day!
Best Wishes,
