In the land of the blind, a one-eyed man is king. Or one-cookied. Luckily for Oreo, the margin between brands who 'get'? social media and those who don't continues to grow. With 21,035 likes; 6,987 shares; 15,767 retweets; and 5,860 favorites and counting, Oreo's tweet's reputation precedes it. In case you are not one of those who liked, shared or re-tweeted, the tweet read: "Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark." The average alliteration was retweeted 10,000 times within the hour. What Oreo Got Right With half of Super Bowl ads containing a hashtag, Oreo was far from the only brand on the social media bandwagon. It wasn't the fastest, nor the most intelligent, but what Oreo's success is attributed to is a broader understanding of social's place in the media mix. Providing reporters with the 'inside scoop'? on the agency's quick thinking is what made the difference between 140 characters and the unofficial best ad of the Super Bowl. Controlling the Conversation It was not a brilliant quote, awe-inspiring design, or any cleverness beyond mere competence that lead to Oreo's success. By releasing statements to reporters hungry for material, in an age when the pre-releases of ads have stolen the currency right out of their pens, they pounced. In the world of social, too many brands allow poor practices to escape from them, for they provide much more interesting stories than brands doing it right. Bringing publicity to the people behind the tweets humanized the brand, which is arguably the most important goal of social media marketing. Twitter taboos are seemingly inevitable, and the key here is to strike preemptively. Seizing the Moment As Slate notes, the difference between Oreo's fleetingly famed spot and what dozens of other brands produced on the fly was not rocket science, nor was it magic. Oreo simply had a grasp on the bigger picture of social media. As a good friend and public relations professional once told me, 'A tweet is like throwing a shot of whisky into the ocean,'? in pursuit of getting a fish drunk. Well, Oreo told the press exactly where and how it threw that metaphorical shot, and like clockwork they stampeded in and celebrated it. Invite Your Fans In Brands and people alike often forget that while social provides the vehicle, it is really content that drives virality. For Oreo, the tweet was much more than a timely comment. It was bringing the audience into the 'mission control'? room with Oreo execs and the social media team - putting the viewer in their shoes. The self-proclaimed 'culture jacking'? romanticized and humanized the creative genius of the digital agency responsible and gave the brand more credibility for relinquishing control in a heated moment. Other brands also benefited exponentially from the ability to tap into the cultural zeitgeist to engage their audience, including: LifeStyles, Audi, Tide and PBS. Priceless ROI Today's 140 character or less landscape has upped our societal threshold for being impressed. Those hundred-thousand-dollar-plus seconds of ad time are doomed to fail, with such high expectations to live up to. That fact made earned media all the more priceless; the world was hungry for fame they could be all the more a part of, beyond choosing their own end to a commercial. Social Bowl XLVII Oreo captured the magic real-time broadcasting achieves, something brands have trouble with beyond sponsorship and experiential campaigns. What made this two-bit, essentially free advertisement's success surpass the billion-dollar, celebrity-studded TV spots was that it made viewers feel the brand was right there with them. When companies can show their loyalty through the highs and lows of something as emotional as the Super Bowl, people will want to show the loyalty right back. The Tweet in Summary Was it a stroke of luck or a stroke of genius that gave Oreo so much fame for so few dollars? In 140 characters or less: Oreo showed a higher understanding of the media landscape, and by calling it 'culture jacking,'? kept the magic alive. #Winning!
With the Super Bowl only a few days away, every aspect of the matchup on the field has been ruthlessly dissected, overanalyzed and predicted. Almost equally as important to the action on the field, is the drama that will happen between TV timeouts, namely the commercials. With a record cost of ad placements, the country will be tuned in to watch the best and worst spots and discuss them over bagels at work on Monday morning. One trend that has been picking up steam as of late is the strategy of releasing these marquee spots AHEAD of the big game and seeding them online prior. Is this a good strategy? As in most cases, there's no simple right or wrong answer but an argument to be made for either side. Today, Matt and Ellis defend each point. Rainone: Super Bowl Sunday. Advertisers are paying a ton of money ($3.5million) not just to reach the largest television audience each year, but also to create conversations. What's the big deal if those conversations start the week before? In fact, that's actually more coverage for the brand now as opposed to next week when ALL of the commercials are going to be dissected. Watts: The goal of the spot should depend on the individual advertiser. While some may want the buzziest of buzz, others might simply want tangible results (i.e. sales, drive to web, etc.). While conversations are great, it may not be the end goal. Take for example the 'Old Spice Guy'? campaign. It debuted during the Super Bowl, had TONS of coverage and viral-ness (virality?), but actually didn't quite catapult sales as much as everyone thought as it was supported by an unprecedented, national couponing effort. Another factor here to keep in mind is how that campaign / experience was refreshed with a boatload of great content, not just hammering home the same commercial over and over again. Rainone: If advertisers are confident that they have developed great commercials, it should be good enough the second or third time viewers watch it. Watts: How many times can you realistically expect a viewer to watch a commercial with complete interest and intrigue? It's not like the audience is watching 'Inception'?. While we industry folks may have a romanticized vision of a captive audience getting caught up in the artistry of a :30 second production ' the reality is anything but that outside of Super Bowl Sunday. The GEICO caveman wasn't funny the first time I saw it, and it won't be on the thirtieth, no matter when it airs. Rainone: We also have a bit of a skewed outlook on this since we're in the industry and we're actively searching for the spots. In reality, that the majority of the Super Bowl audience probably hasn't seen the commercial by the time it airs. The ad that's probably getting the most attention this year is the Ferris Bueller/Honda spot. At the moment, it is hovering just under 15 million views if you aggregate views across a few sites. Assuming there's probably going to be almost 100 million more people than that watching the game, it's safe to assume that there's no harm in doing an early release. Watts: I wouldn't look at is as, 'what's the harm?'? but rather, 'how can we make this even better?'? For those that consider an early release, the opportunity to deliver a simple 'refresh'? of the spot, still exists ' that way it's entirely new to new viewers but still rewards those that have seen it. Refreshes can range from introducing a longer spot (from a pre-release :30 up to a :60) with additional scenes and longer narrative to a simple tag that drives online for more info / entertainment. Doritos has been pushing their user-generated 'Crash the Super Bowl'? contest for a couple of years now and it's possible that some of the best entries won't make it to air (or even as finalists). I'm expecting to see a call-to-action somewhere for viewers to go online and view the other finalists. Rainone: What's the worst thing that could happen for advertisers that do pre-release? Someone says 'oh, I've already seen this one'? and then gets up to use the bathroom. What's the net loss in impressions there? 0. The best thing that could happen is that someone says, 'oh, I've already seen this one, you guys, quiet down so you can hear the punch line.'? What's the net gain on that? A fully-attentive audience. Watts: I wouldn't say there's absolute harm in it per se, aside from losing some thunder from the anticipation and reveal when it first runs. With information moving faster than we can even understand, and an era where spoilers are released in the blink of an eye, this shouldn't come as a surprise. You want to consider the worst case scenario? If the Super Bowl no longer becomes about releasing the latest and greatest, the idea of it being an event-within-an-event is lost as well. How intently did you watch the commercials during the AFC Championship? Imagine that same level of bland interest except that the advertisers paid a fortune for that time when you're planning your next trip to the nacho platter / bathroom (not necessarily in that order). Boom. Super Bowl ad dystopia. Terrifying stuff.
T-minus 24 days to my favorite day of the year ' Superbowl Sunday! There is nothing better than the culmination of 17 weeks of gridiron mayhem complete with 3 weeks of playoffs where anything can happen ' hello Seahawks! However, this very well might be the last NFL event we get to watch and enjoy before the looming lock out. While the thought of having a fall season without NFL RedZone makes me sick, dedicated fans like me aren't the only ones losing out as the NFL season touches more than just their fans and players. The domino effect of the lockout is staggering, as almost every industry, big or small, is impacted by football in some way. On Monday, AdAge reported that lost revenue in the ballpark of $12 billion.1 That's a lot of beers and pretzels that won't be sold in stadiums next season. In addition to lost ticket sales and Sunday Funday bar tabs; Las Vegas will take a huge hit, as will the Mom & Pop Pizzeria in town that spends all day Sunday delivering to fans hungry from cheering their team on all day. It's easy to forget that when it comes down to it, the NFL is a business, and they are going to do their best to protect their interest and make sure that money stays in their pockets. From here, it will be interesting to see how sport sponsorships are approached by potential clients in the future. I won't be surprised if all sports sponsorships suffer after this, as it is hard enough measuring ROI on a good day, you can't measure something that isn't there. Where is the incentive for a company or city to shell out millions of dollars to be a sponsor of a sport or event that could potentially fall apart and disappear ' who remembers 2004? As a result of the 2004 NHL lockout, an estimated $2 billion in revenue was lost from tickets, media, sponsorships, and concessions by teams.2 The city of Atlanta alone lost out on the 2005 NHL All-Star game, which usually generates between $15 million and $18 million in revenue for the host city.3 Yikes bikes. While I did receive Commissioner Goodell's email to fans last week explain in his commitment to avoiding a lockout, I'm still scared. (And by scared I mean terrified.) On the bright side March 1st, the deadline for the NFL and Players Associate to renew their collective bargaining agreement, is still more than a month away. And until then, I will savor everything the NFL has to offer what's left of this season. And last, but certainly not least ' GO PATS! Sources: 1 Over $12B at Stake if NFL Lockout Prevent 2011 Season 2 The hockey lockout of 2004 ' 05 3 Cancellation is a serious blow to fans, host city
y Pete D'Andrea, SVP, Sponsorship and Events As the football season comes to a close (with another Cowboyless Super Bowl) it was pointed out by several friends that it is my turn in the hood to host the Super Bowl party. Seems simple ' some wings, lots of beer, and a bunch of guys huddled around a TV stuffing their face for 5 hours - Wrong. I was quickly reminded that I graduated college many years ago and no longer live in a house with 10 other dudes. After taking 30 seconds to let this sink in (25 of those seconds remembering how easy life was back then), I began to think this isn't much different than another day in the office planning an event. So let's dig in. After the brief meeting with the CMO (aka my wife Nicole), a budget and core objectives were set: Host a great event that the neighborhood will be talking about and posting on FB Make sure me and my neanderthal football buddies can focus on the game and talk football for 5 hours straight Don't ignore the wives and make sure they have something to do The game will last about 4 ' 4.5 hours so make sure our guests don't lose interest Tough day to hook a babysitter so the kids have to be invited and need something to keep them busy (i.e. out of the way if they aren't watching the game) These are some similar challenges we face when planning an event for young kids. It is important to think about and plan for the entire family to maximize attendance and participation at your event. Of course the experience for the kids needs to be relevant to the brand and fun and exciting but you also need to consider the parent and build in activities for them as well. Setting up areas that allow the parent to take a break, get some refreshments, relax on comfortable furniture while still keeping one eye on their child is key. Build activities where the parent can participate with the brand along with their child and not just be a spectator. Reward the parent with adult relevant prizes along with younger themed prizes and swag for the kids. Include this messaging in your pre-promo to make sure parents know there will be something in it for them. These type of tactics will build a common thread between the parent and the child, build parental endorsement and increase sharing within online communities via the parent. I don't know of too many employed 8 year olds that are driving so it is important to remember Mom or Dad when building out your event experience. So back to delivering on my CMO's objectives: Establish a core football room ' minimum of 2 big screens so every play can be viewed at every angle, replayed, rewound and replayed again Non-football watching youngsters ' in the basement with babysitter (this way you only need 1 for the neighborhood), X-Box, Wii, and collection of American Girl dolls to dress, undress and re-dress TV in kitchen ' can't miss the game while reloading the cheese and crackers and'?¦..doesn't everyone always end up in kitchen? Boxes ' small dollar amount for football pool to keep interest even in a blow-out And if all else fails ' FREE WINGS AND BEER ' isn't that enough? (sorry Nicole
