Hey football fans, the big game has been over for a few days now and while most of the NFL talk has shifted to off season contract negotiations, injuries and trade rumors, I wanted to pass on some interesting information about how we used our smart devices during the game as a follow-up to my earlier piece concerning Superbowl XLVll ad campaigns. This information comes courtesy of the mobile advertising and marketing firm Velti.
Even though this Superbowl fell short of the mark in terms of total TV viewers, (108 million as compared to last year's 111 mil.), it was the most covered game ever in terms of total media coverage. And advertisers were willing to pay the 4 million dollar cost for a thirty second commercial spot, the most expensive in history, because they knew that that would be the case. They realized that the brands with the most effective campaigns, targeting the internet through mobile devices, would reap the biggest rewards in terms of customer engagement.
According to Velti, the big winner was Jack in the Box with it's "Hot Mess" commercial which drove the highest spike in mobile activity for an ad during the game, followed closely by Taco Bell's "Live Mas".
Whereas, as you might guess, the lowest amount of mobile activity was seen during the halftime show. A testament to the kind of popularity being enjoyed by Beyonce Knowles right now, despite the absence of any wardrobe malfunctions.
During the game itself mobile usage was reflected in the ebb and flow of the action, spiking when the Ravens held a big lead (it did seem a bit lopsided in the beginning), and dropping dramatically during the closing minutes when the outcome of the game seemed to be in question. And during the power outage, we all made a dive for our devices, causing another surge in activity.
Interestingly, of all states in America, California recorded significantly more impressions per minute on average throughout the game and of all Android device users, Kindle Fire and Samsung Galaxy owners were the most active. You can read into those stats what you will.
To me, overall, these statistics are clearly indicative of the priority that we give to being "connected" at any given time during our day, no matter what the activity is that we are engaging in. It's also clear that rather than considering our devices as a distraction, we see them as an enhancer of almost everything that we do.
As mobile technologies continue to develop and prices for devices and services continue to drop, and as the total number of internet users continues to grow in America, (currently estimated at 77%), this trend will continue to grow, changing the way that advertisers seek to engage their customers and the way that we interact with our favorite brands.
And TV viewing is changing as well. Just imagine commercial free TV! Why? Because the target customers already spend far more time "watching" their mobile devices than they do their TV sets. And with the advent of the new "smart TVs" which can stream internet content, why would anyone be watching broadcast or cable television stations, much less the commercials being played on them?
Radical you say? Never happen? ...We'll see.
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