There’s been a lot of attention for the smart, timely Oreo tweet during the power outage (and kudos to them for having the guts to do it), but let’s examine what a couple other brands did and didn’t do during the game.
On the heels of the power outage, Audi was actually out of the gate more quickly, offering to send LEDs to the unfortunately-for-them-at-that-moment named Mercedes-Benz Superdome. By 5:00 p.m. last evening, that tweet had been retweeted over 9,500 times and favorited over 3,000 times.
From our perspective, this played well for Audi in three ways. First, they’re able to capitalize on a social audience that was already tuned in to their messages (their Bravery/Prom spot had run in the first quarter). Second, the content of the tweet (the mention of LED lighting) reinforces a differentiating factor of their product line. Finally, it’s always fun to take a lighthearted jab at the competition.
Conversely, Mercedes-Benz, which got a lot of attention for their spot featuring Kate Upton in the run-up to the game, was all but mute during both the fourth quarter when their Soul spot ran and in response to the tweet from Audi. Their posts seemed to be limited to what appeared to be pre-scheduled ”Watch our spot…” and “What did you think of our spot…” tweets.
All of this reminded us of the Southern California billboard wars between Audi and BMW where BMW checkmated Audi’s initial “Your Move” billboard. That luxury car dustup escalated to hilariously include a blimp. Audi was a willing sparring partner on Twitter on Sunday — and Mercedes-Benz missed the chance.
The Super Bowl created opportunities for regional brands as well. As an example, Engauge was able to take advantage of this real-time social interaction with the grocery chain Food Lion. To engage their target audience of party preppers in the lead-up to kickoff, Engauge hosted a Twitter Party from 6–7:30 p.m. that connected those individuals to one another. In a rich social experience, questions were asked, tips were shared and photos were taken. In that hour and a half span, the Food Lion brand was able generate 650,000 impressions with just over 500 tweets — for a lot less than a traditional Super Bowl ad. Using real-time tracking tools, such as Hashtracking, analytics were easy to pull on the fly as the action took place.
Some brands were even able to sit back and enjoy the game while garnering attention from the community at large. During the #SuperBowlBlackout, Buffalo Wild Wings began trending due to their traditional TV spots where staff and patrons affect the outcomes of sporting events.
Topical reach wasn’t limited only to brands; even pop culture figures like the Hayden Planetarium’s Neil deGrasse Tyson got in on the act, commenting on the amount of wattage that Beyoncé might produce to solve the power outage. He offered to calculate it… for science.
And going back to Oreo, does anyone remember what their commercial was about? We sure don’t. While the Ravens won the game, the power of 140 clever characters clearly won the day for that brand.
