The Super Bowl is the biggest stage for television commercials, in fact sometimes they can out stage the actual game! This year had quite a few great commercials, but how many of them took advantage of this increased attention? With close to 100 million people watching and the increase in the second screen, did anyone use this opportunity to capture permission or further our relationship? The quick answer, no. While we did see some ways to connect (Shazam, Facebook URLs, Hashtags), a majority of the advertising seemed to add these as an after thought or without explanation and worse yet, a majority did nothing. Not even a mention of their website. Some people at my get together didn't understand what #SoLongVampires actually meant or that Shazam was an app. We are no longer friends, but you get the point...the Super Bowl is a time to reach mainstream culture and utilizing techniques that haven't caught on with a large audience is a missed opportunity to either establish a relationship with a new audience or further current ones.
Here is the breakdown and what was used as an opportunity to keep me engaged (note: this was not a scientific study but an observation from watching the game and keeping notes). The biggest statistic, 32% of commercials I saw had no, I repeat, no call to action. Not even a URL to their website. Here are some more:
- 6.4% included a hash tag as part of their campaign and the same percentage used Shazam to "extend" the experience
- 16.7% featured twitter or Facebook promotion (includes hash tags)
- 51.3% featured a website address
- 1 brand used a QR code
- 1 SMS call to action
Hoping next year we see more calls to action that extend this moment beyond the 30/60 seconds. With spots going for millions of dollars, growing fans, subscribers, or visits shouldn't be an after thought. Visit Hulu to see commercials from the game.
What did you think? Do you think any brand did a great job at capitalizing your attention?
