Examining Super Bowl 50's Ad Campaigns

                                                                                    Photo Source: Forbes 

DVR and recorded programming has made made it easier than ever for buyers to skip TV ads. However with the Super Bowl being the most watched live television event, 30-second advertising spots were selling for $5 million for this year’s big game (Keeney, 2016). With the high cost of Super Bowl ads, it is important that companies target their audience appropriately.

Kerpen explains that brands should engage in conversations that are important to their target audience rather than trying to push their products. Kerpen (2015) stated, “In order to win your customers’ mindshare now, your marketing can’t be solely about your brand, or products, or features and benefits anymore. More than anything, you have to get your customers talking, or have you get involved in their already ongoing conversations” (p.47).

The Super Bowl is great opportunity for brands to get their customers talking. However, successful Super Bowl campaign can not be carried out in a 30-60 second spot. In 2013, Oreo successfully hijacked the Super Bowl by tweeting, “You can still dunk in the dark” during the game’s blackout. Oreo’s trending tweet showed companies the importance of integrating social media into their Super Bowl campaigns. “Thanks to Oreo, and the ubiquitousness of social media, Super Bowl advertisers now have to work harder to create an impact with a powerful ad coupled with tweetable moments, memorable hashtags and ads that will share well.” (Super Bowl Commercials, 2016).

Photo Source: Twitter 

In last year’s Super Bowl, 50% of advertisers created hashtags to support their campaign and that number is sure to climb this year (Super Bowl Commercials, 2016).  For this week’s discussion, choose a Super Bowl campaign that specifically stood out to you and consider the following questions:

• Did the company follow Kerpen’s suggestion to spark a conversation with its customers by avoiding marketing a product? If so, did the company move this conversation to social media? Follow the brand on social media and see how customers are responding to the brand’s message.
• Explain why you think the Super Bowl campaign succeeded or failed. Please provide a link or embed the commerical into your post.

References:

Keeney, T. (2016). Super Bowl Commerical 2016: How Much Does an Ad Cost? Retrieved from http://heavy.com/sports/2016/02/super-bowl-commercial-cost-2016-ad-how-much-money-expensive-value/.

Kerpen, D. (2015). Likeable social media (2nd ed.). New York : McGraw Hill Education

Super Bowl Commercials. (2016). #Hashtags Matter- Top Social Media Campaigns of SB 2015. Retrieved from http://www.superbowlcommercials2016.org/best-commercials/best-social-campaigns-super-bowl-2015/