Attracting one of the largest TV audiences of the year, Super Bowl night has long presented giant opportunities for many advertisers and PR pros alike. In an attempt to generate buzz and grab the audience’s attention, brands are eagerly spending upwards of $5 million for half a minute of airtime, producing the funniest/most original commercials of the year.
However, if in the past the ads themselves were at the center of the public relations effort, today, more and more attention is paid to their amplification through social media.
For instance, to help leverage its first-ever live commercial, which aired during the Super Bowl, candy brand Snickers had launched a 36-hour Facebook Live broadcast in advance of the event. Matching a western theme of the brand’s live Super Bowl ad, the broadcast featured invited guests, including YouTube star Tyler Oakley and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green.
Procter & Gamble’s Mr. Clean made its Super Bowl debut during last Sunday’s game with an ad that reimagined the brand’s mascot in an unexpectedly “sexy” way. Mr. Clean’s social media managers further amplified the conversation by engaging with other Super Bowl brands in a series of lighthearted tweets:
The brand’s efforts paid off, generating over 3.8 million online views for Mr. Clean’s “Cleaner of Your Dreams” add and making it the third most-watched Super Bowl ad this year.
Wine brand Yellow Tail, who also made its debut in the Super Bowl this year, tried to spark conversations on social media by sending its new mascot – the Yellow Tail Guy – on a mission to deliver a truckload of 4,000 bottles of wine to the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis last Thursday.
The brand’s attempt failed, however, as the Yellow Tail Guy’s offer was politely rejected by the Anheuser-Busch’s security guard. Nevertheless, Yellow Tail shared the whole ordeal on social media, asking the audience to offer ideas of what they could do with the 4,000 bottles of rejected wine.
These are just a few of the numerous ways brands are now trying to extend the reach of their advertising dollars through public relations and social media strategies. Usually, commercials that manage to attract online attention in advance of the Super Bowl, tend to also become among the most popular spots during the Big Game.
And, while some of these PR tactics proved to be more successful than others, we are sure to see more brands engaging their audiences in even more creative surprising ways in the years to come.