Because last night’s Super Bowl game was a blowout, an unprecedented number of viewers turned to the “second screen” to cure their boredom, generating a record 24.9 million tweets. Brands eagerly jumped in on the conversations, providing some much-needed entertainment and proving that you don’t need to buy a Super Bowl spot in order to score major marketing points.
Here is a list of my top five Super Bowl brand wins on Twitter –not driven by commercials during the game:
#5 Heinz
During halftime, Heinz tweeted a great, visual representation of the score that had people talking before the company’s Super Bowl ad ran later in the game.
.@Broncos Time to play ketchup #SB48 #Halftime pic.twitter.com/F3tPoXKkrG
— Heinz Ketchup (@HeinzKetchup_US) February 3, 2014
#4 Newcastle
Several days before the Super Bowl, Newcastle launched the #IfWeMadeIt campaign with Anna Kendrick. During the game, the company trolled brands with commercials and posted a Newcastle version of many of the ads at ifwemadeit.com (much like Priceline did with sock puppets).
Newcastle paid me to tweet about an ad they didn’t make. It’s weird time people. @Newcastle http://t.co/KG0ulFSpbf #IfWeMadeIt #ad
— Anna Kendrick (@AnnaKendrick47) January 30, 2014
#3 Doritos
Doritos selected 50 fans to send to the game dressed in bright orange thereby creating the Largest Human Doritos Chip. The company then “photobombed” plays.
Are we making you hungry? #Doritos pic.twitter.com/NyFEcL4TV9 — Doritos (@Doritos) February 2, 2014
#Doritos JUST set a world record for the Largest #HumanDoritosChip! @RecordSetter was there to officiate: http://t.co/EeglWC3jVP — Doritos (@Doritos) February 3, 2014
#2 J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney caused a lot of chatter with its incoherent tweeting at the beginning of the game. Though some of it was negative, accusing the company of being drunk, J.C. Penney confessed to #TweetingWithMittens and featured a product for the upcoming Olympics. The company then followed up with fans who predicted that the company tweeted with mittens (like our very own Brian Murray) and sent them a pair.
Who kkmew theis was ghiong tob e a baweball ghamle. #lowsscorinh 5_0
— JCPenney (@jcpenney) February 2, 2014
Oops…Sorry for the typos. We were #TweetingWithMittens. Wasn’t it supposed to be colder? Enjoy the game! #GoTeamUSA pic.twitter.com/e8GvnTiEGl
— JCPenney (@jcpenney) February 3, 2014
#1 Esurance
Last week, Esurance had fewer than 10,000 followers on Twitter. The company now has over 115,000 followers and millions of people hoping they will win the $1.5 million the company saved by buying the first commercial after the Super Bowl. Incidentally, the amount saved was 30 percent, which is what the company claims to save you if you switch to Esurance.
When we save money ($1.5M), you could win it! Tweet #EsuranceSave30 for a chance http://t.co/ppLBoPyGYE Subj to rules pic.twitter.com/vyZTvEOkQH
— Esurance (@esurance) February 3, 2014
A few minutes after the commercial ran, #EsuranceSave30 was trending, passing other popular topics like Peyton Manning, Bruno Mars, and Coca-Cola. A day later, the hashtag still prominently sits at the top of the list, giving the brand the win of the game without having to pay for a spot.
