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Every year, millions of Americans tune in to watch the Super Bowl. While the top teams from the AFC and NFC face off for the championship title, marketers are competing to steal the attention of the year’s largest television audience.
Super Bowl advertisements have become as much of an American tradition as the game itself. Super Bowl 51 was surely no exception, but advertisers are having to adjust their strategies for modern consumer culture. Although television is the main medium for advertising during the big game, savvy marketers are turning the conversation from TV to digital media outlets.
Tom Brady may have snagged his 5th Super Bowl title, but these digital marketers are the real winners.
The Pregame: Bai's Teaser Ad
Like the players themselves, marketers spend months gearing up for the big game. Brands log countless hours studying successful campaigns from years past, analyzing the competition, and developing a winning strategy. The most successful brands used social media to launch their Super Bowl campaigns before the game even started.
Teaser Ad's give viewers a sneak peek at how a brand will chose to spend their $4.5 Million for 30-seconds of airtime. Check out how @drinkbai used twitter to promote their Teaser Ads to get viewers pumped.
What are you doing this weekend? #SB51 @drinkbai pic.twitter.com/tLTamGaHEq
— Justin Timberlake (@jtimberlake) January 31, 2017
Avocados from Mexico's Super Hashtag
With social media becoming more integrated with every day life, an #SB51 campaign isn't complete without an official hashtag.
@Avosfrommexico created a hashtag that turned the eyes of viewers from their TV screens to their smartphone screens. Combine Jeremy Piven, Jon Lovitz, avocados, and a viral hashtag, and you've got a winning team. Avocado's from Mexico's #AvoSecrets scored big with twitter users. As social media marketers know, timing is everything. Avocados from Mexico live tweeted during the game, sharing play by play #AvoSecrets.
#SB51 Halftime #AvoSecrets: Some players will watch the show, others will watch this: pic.twitter.com/39MVf1LGEA
— Avocados From Mexico (@AvosfromMexico) February 6, 2017
84 Lumber's Intercepted Advertisement
One of the most memorable ad's of the 2017 Super Bowl was from 84 Lumber. Yes- a lumber company that you had probably never heard of before February 5th. It's almost as hard to believe as overcoming a 25-point deficit and scoring the winning touchdown in overtime.
84 Lumber leveraged their campaign on the current political climate, creating an advertisement that Fox deemed as too controversial to air. The digital marketers behind the Journey 84 campaign addressed this situation by cutting the ad short and redirecting their audience to digital media. Curious viewers the nation over flipped open their laptops and mobiles to "complete the journey" of this intercepted advertisement online.
In fact, this ad drove so much traffic to the Journey 84 landing page, that the website crashed. Controversial? Yes. But when was the last time a lumber website exceeded bandwidth?
Hyundai For The Win
The job of a digital marketer is to find innovative ways to use new technologies and digital mediums to best communicate with their audience. Hyundai did exactly that with their heart warming #SB51 commercial.
Unlike any other Super Bowl ad in history, this one didn't even exist until after kick-off. The Korean motor company took an overtly patriotic stance with their Super Bowl ad.
They traded actors for military personnel, and months of preparation for a few hours of filming to create a campaign that resonated in the hearts of their target audience. Through the use of live video, Hyundai was able to give deployed US troops the experience of watching the game straight from the bleachers next to their family and loved ones. And then, they turned it into a commercial, #FTW.
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