Sure, this year’s Super Bowl game wasn’t very competitive. But, the marketing frenzy surrounding the game was in full swing, and it was a fight to the death. Without a 30 minute blackout or another stand out moment during the game, brands were left fighting for the attention of 100 million viewers.
Not all brands (okay, most brands) didn’t succeed. Some seemed to spend more time tweeting at each other than focusing on engaging viewers. Coors Light bantered with JC Penny, Party City and White Castle corresponded throughout the game, and Domino’s and Ford went at it.
But, despite the brand-on-brand action and general flop of most real-time marketing efforts, there were some moments that stood out. Courtesy of Digiday, here are some of the best real time marketing moments from Super Bowl XLVIII.
5. Oreo
Oreo has been showing other brands how it’s done on social for a while now. The Super Bowl was no different. Last year, they had some real-time marketing success during the game. So, rather than crash and burn after a successful run last year, Oreo did the honorable thing: they went dark. Before the game started, Oreo tweeted that they were going dark, and to enjoy the game. Sometimes, the best real-time marketing is taking yourself out of it.
Hey guys…enjoy the game tonight. We’re going dark. #OreoOut
— Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) February 2, 2014
4. JC Penney Despite their recent struggles and their irrelevant real-time banter with Coors Light, JC Penney did have a winning real time moment during the Super Bowl. JC Penney managed to make fun of real time marketing while benefitting from it at the exact same time. In the second quarter, they started tweeting nonsensical typos that made it seem like the person in charge of tweeting had had one too many. Turns out it was just a stunt to promote its “Go” mittens, which let you type on your smartphone. The tweets got a lot of attention, of course – who doesn’t want to see a brand “drunk-tweeting” during a major event? Even though it was a stunt, everyone still loved it. Mission accomplished.
Toughdown Seadawks!! Is sSeattle going toa runaway wit h this??? — JCPenney (@jcpenney) February 3, 2014
3. Newcastle Newcastle makes a big deal about not buying ad space during the big game. But, they still get in on the action, and wield the power of real-time social marketing to show how they would have made various brands’ ads better. They basically act like a troll, but it works for them.
.@GoDaddy, that quitting ad was crazy in a good way. See how we would’ve made it crazy in a crazy way: http://t.co/ZyTYPtuDpY #IfWeMadeIt — Newcastle Brown Ale (@Newcastle) February 3, 2014
2. Hillary Clinton
You can’t always count on Hillary Clinton for a laugh out loud tweet. But, during the game last night, Clinton trotted out her self-deprecating and witty side (while also taking aim at Fox News) and garnered a TON of retweets and favorites for her efforts. Well done, Ms. Clinton. Well done.
It’s so much more fun to watch FOX when it’s someone else being blitzed & sacked! #SuperBowl
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 3, 2014
1. DiGiorno Pizza
DiGiorno is known for its crazy social media antics. Of course, they didn’t disappoint during last night’s game. By the third quarter, it was clear that Seahawks would absolutely trounce the Broncos. So, DiGiorno pulled out a topical tweet that got over 16,000 retweets. So funny, and perfectly timed.
YO, THIS GAME IS LIKE A DIGIORNO PIZZA BECAUSE IT WAS DONE AFTER TWENTY MINUTES #SuperBowI #SuperSmack #DiGiorNOYOUDIDNT
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) February 3, 2014
