“The Super Bowl isn't for kids, I had a great time though and it was worth every nickel of it because by doing this lame piece about the game I can put it on my expense account.”
~~ Andy Rooney, (January 14, 1919 – November 4, 2011) American radio and television writer; most notable for his weekly broadcast "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney," a part of the CBS News program 60 Minutes from 1978 to 2011. His final regular appearance on 60 Minutes aired October 2, 2011. He died one month later, on November 4, 2011, at age 92.
With the digital ecosystem (e.g. Twitter, YouTube, Hulu, Facebook, etc.) in constant motion, comes a wealth of options for advertising campaigns. This is becoming more prevalent as more creative advertisements rely on user participation via social media and crowd sourcing.
The decision of whether to release a Super Bowl ad in advance, have a teaser campaign or hold off on the ad altogether until Super Bowl Sunday is what the CMO (Chief Marketing Officers) considers.
Particularly in light of the fact that the Super Bowl 2012 online audience was 3X larger than the reported 111 million Super Bowl 2012 TV viewership -- supporting the trend that television audiences are being replaced by the online audience and social media's ripple effect spreads information quickly.
Practically all of the Super Bowl 2013 ads have been pre-released online, with the exception of a few who advertisers who held off and implemented "teaser ads" to generate user interest.
Overall, the advertising strategy and theme revolves around user engagement which is why the existing trend of teaser campaigns is slowly but surely being replaced by online and TV commercials that request consumers help them choose the winning ad by voting via social media channels.
From Coke asking consumers to choose their favorite ending and Pepsi asking for fan photos that will appear during the Pepsi Halftime show, to Audi asking viewers to share their brave moments, Doritos® wanting consumers to pick which ad should run on Super Bowl Sunday, and Toyota asking consumers to share their wish on Twitter, it is apparent the cultural movement of sports, particularly the Super Bowl, is progressively shifting towards social media and crowd sourcing. TV advertisers who do not integrate internet relevancy and social media campaigns stand a great chance of losing leverage and compromising the brand.
Of the seven user participation themed ads, Audi, Coke, Doritos and Budweiser will show the winning TV ad on Super Bowl Sunday with the help of on consumer votes.
User participation ads this year represent, roughly a fifth (or 19%) of the total 36 Super Bowl advertisers included user participation that involved heavy social media and crowd sourcing.
Below is a list of the seven advertisers who implemented social media and user participation in their advertising campaigns. To view the actual ads, on YouTube, visit this blog: http://myblog.allthingsdigitalmarketing.com/2013/02/super-bowl-2013-tv-ads-integrate-social.html.
Audi's Prom Night ad campaitn features 3 videos “Worth It,” “Buddies” and “Tradition. Viewers Share your brave moment, and vote online at and can choose how it should end by picking 1 of the 3 videos. The final spot was announced on Jan. 27 and will air during the Super Bowl.
Coke's CokeChase contest features a bus of showgirls, caravan of bad landers and posse of cowboys all on a desert compete for a GIANT bottle of coke. Vote on who you want to win the chase on the CokeChase.com Web site.
Doritos by Frito Lay ad campaign, “Crash the Superbowl,” lists the 5 video finalists on Facebook; to name a few - “Fetch,” “Road Chip,” and “Fashionista Daddy,” asks for your vote.
Lincoln “The Story Behind the Script” ad Stars NFL Emmitt Smith, the DJ voice only talking to the lady in the car. Curated by Jimmy Fallon (who collected the script ideas). The “SteerTheScript.com” and share road trip experience, took 6 million tweets and Jimmy Fallon picked the ones he liked to create the 30 second spot for the 3rd, quarter; Viewers can also go see the 90 second version online.
Pepsi, Sponsor of the Halftime show, asks viewers to participate by tweeting what’s happening (ended Jan 11th) at #PepsiHalftime pepsi. The photo submission ended 1/21/13
Th Pizza Hut “HUT HUT HUT” commercial wants viewers to believe that the "hut" shouted by quarterbacks at the center actually is for the Hut in Pizza Hut. In return, Pizza Hut salutes quarterbacks in this year's Super Bowl commercial “Thanks for the shout outs,” Now share your best "hut hut hut" at facebook.com/pizzahut.
Toyota, Let’s Go Places #WishGranted Asks viewers to tweet their wish at #wishgranted where Kelly Cuoco will grant some wishes. http://youtu.be/iymBRSUfz9U
What do you think? Are the social media and pre-releases of Super Bowl 2013 ads good thing for user engagement or do you prefer to be surprised on Super Bowl Sunday?
There’s still time for some advertisers to participate and to join as an online panelist to rank the Super Bowl with USA Today’s Ad Meter. http://admeter.usatoday.com/
Please visit frequently and share this with your social media and professional network. Thanks.
Additional resources:
♦ http://www.superbowlcommercials2013.tv/2012/11/super-bowl-2013-commercials.html Super Bowl 2013 TV ads
♦ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Super-Bowl-commercials-2013/368567936544738 Super Bowl 2013 Ads on Facebook
♦ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/business/media/a-sellout-for-super-bowl-commercial-time.html Super Bowl Commercial Time Is a Sellout, The New York Times
♦ http://adage.com/article/special-report-super-bowl/buying-super-bowl-2013/238489 AdAge Advertisers in Super Bowl 2013, AdAge
♦ http://www.businessinsider.com/2013-super-bowl-ads-everything-we-know-2012-12?op=1 UPDATED: Everything We Know About The Super Bowl ad Lineup So Far, Business Insider
♦ http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/02/05/The-Big-Big-Business-o... GM to Forgo Pricey Super Bowl Ads, Wall Street Journal
♦ http://admeter.usatoday.com Be a part of the USA TODAY Ad Meter panel, USA TODAY
♦ http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/01/23/advertisers-give-sneak-peek-of-super-bowl-commercials-online Advertisers Give Sneak Peek of Super Bowl Commercials Online, CBS San Francisco
♦ http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2013/01/23/Marketing-and-Sponsorship/SB-Spots.aspx Should Super Bowl Ads Be Released Early?, Sports Business Daily
♦ http://myblog.allthingsdigitalmarketing.com/2012_02_01_archive.html Some SUPERBOWL Ad Resources 2012, AllThingsDigitalMarketing Blog
♦ http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/entertainment&id=8966269 Kate Upton Mercedes Benz Super Bowl 2013 ad video, ABC
♦ http://consumerist.com/2013/01/23/best-buy-banking-on-amy-poehler-to-break-its-super-bowl-ad-losing-streak Best Buy Banking on Amy Poehler To Break Its Super Bowl Ad Losing Streak, The Consumerist
♦ http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2012/02/05/The-Big-Big-Business-of-Super-Bowl-XLVI.aspx#page1 The Big, Big Business of Super Bowl XLVI, The Fiscal Times
♦ http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/tv-zone-1.811968/super-bowl-ads-coca-cola-says-goodbye-to-bears-hello-to-mirage-1.4502186 Super Bowl ads: Coca-Cola says goodbye to bears, hello to 'Mirage', Newsday
♦ http://youtu.be/6uFQAqwbwSg Coca Chase 2013 Ad, Youtube; Vote on who you want to win at cokechase.com
♦ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAqxpWfAm2c Doritos® Teddybear Prison themed ad “Crash The Super Bowl, YouTube; This year a public vote will choose one Doritos ad to air during the Super Bowl
♦ http://videocontestnews.com/2013/01/16/how-much-did-the-2013-finalists-spend-on-their-crash-the-super-bowl-entries How much did the 2013 finalists spend on their Crash the Super Bowl entries, Video Contest News
♦ http://www.cbspressexpress.com/cbs-entertainment/video?watch=1acf7jgh6b Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2013, CBS Press Express
♦ http://www.wtsp.com/video/2117465788001/1/Kate-Upton-stuns-in-a-leaked-Super-Bowl-commercial Kate Upton stuns in a 'leaked' Super Bowl commercial, WTSP.com
♦ http://admeter.usatoday.com/articles/view/countdown-of-champions The Best Super Bowl AdMeters Ever, USA Today Ad Meter
♦ http://neworleanssuperbowl.com Super Bowl XLVII New Orleans H
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