Super Bowl advertising could very well be the most popular stream of advertising in the world.
Sure, there’s Cannes, and AdWeek’s ‘Best of,’ but the Super Bowl has the rare ability to actually get people excited about advertising. Outside of the Super Bowl, when’s the last time you heard anyone say that they were actually looking forward to watching commercials?
Increasingly, though, big brands are taking the time preceding the Super Bowl–and not just the broadcast itself–and using it to get consumers excited about their products.
For the first time ever, this year, Google is added a gallery of teaser clips to the annual YouTube Super Bowl ad channel–and many ad previews were up and running on the channel before the Super Bowl. Yes, you read that right–previews for commercials.
Lucas Watson, VP for brand solutions at Google, said about the decision, “major advertisers are trying to win the conversation.” They’re taking every opportunity that they can get to showcase their products and get consumers excited about their ads during the Super Bowl, and unsurprisingly, social media is becoming the method of choice for generating hype.
As the New York Times notes in their article about Google’s new release, a study by marketing technology firm Unruly showed that “60 percent of the most-shared Super Bowl spots of all time were introduced before they were broadcast during the games.” Advertisers realize that generating hype is important, and increasingly, they’re also realizing that one commercial isn’t enough–it takes constant reminders to be successful as not only an advertiser, but as a brand.
So how do you “win the conversation” on social media? That’s easy–beat your competitors to the punch by being active consistently.
It’s the same reason that Doritos’ yearly ad contest works so effectively; by having a consistent and interactive presence on social media, they get consumers to forget that they’re even advertising. If you’re consistent in your posting to social media, it’ll be the same case. Consumers or potential clients won’t think anything of what you’re doing–it’ll be more of the same and they’ll forget that anything is even out of the ordinary.
The key with social media isn’t to wait until the Super Bowl to start advertising. It’s to make it such an everyday occurrence that when your customer finally needs an answer to their problem or need, they won’t think twice–they’ll go straight to you. Being memorable certainly helps, but in terms of winning the conversation, consistency is the name of the game.
Image credit: CC by samantha celera
