TWITTER: THE REAL WINNER OF SUPER BOWL XLIX

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On Sunday night the New England Patriots captured their fourth NFL championship in dramatic fashion, but for those of us in the social media world, it was easy to see that Twitter was once again the real winner of the Super Bowl.

 

Record Breaking Bowl

This year’s Super Bowl earned the title of most tweeted about event ever, generating 28.4 million tweets during the game. Partly to blame is the growing popularity of Twitter and Pro Football in general, but there’s also a cultural shift taking place. Phone in one hand, remote control in the other, we’re entering a world where watching TV is a two-screen activity.

Brands did a good job capitalizing on this captive audience,  this graphic  showcases the number of mentions each brand received during the big game. McDonald’s was the clear winner followed by Nationwide Insurance  (who actually received a  lot of negative tweets due to a controversial commercial.)

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Like commercials during the Super Bowl that have become “must watch TV” , corporate tweets during the big game have started to become an attraction in themselves. As brands figure out what works and what doesn’t, tweets are becoming more and more unique, creative and interesting. But what is it about Twitter that makes it so powerful during live events?

 

Real Time Responsiveness 

One of the major advantages Twitter hold over traditional media is speed. Rather than taking months or weeks to produce a great commercial, a  tweet can be whipped up in a matter of minutes. It’s hard to compete with the social network’s  ability to provide commentary on a situation as it’s happening. The ability to put out relevant content in real time like Oreo’s dunk in the dark tweet from a few year’s ago, is incredibly powerful. This year we saw a lot of this type of action from brands, including this tweet from Denny’s that tried to make light of an end of game brawl.

 

Brands Become Self Aware

Creating trust with an audience is a big part of any brand building strategy. Whenever a company can seem a little more personal and not look like a  lifeless money making machine they have to take it.  This year we saw a lot of brand self-awareness that helped accomplish this goal. Companies Twitter handles’ acknowledged other ads, tweeted at other brands and even tossed compliments at other organizations.

Doritos, for example, noticed the onslaught of dads and puppies in this year’s commercials, so they created this tweet.

Proctor and Gamble ran a heartwarming commercial aimed at re-branding the phrase “like a girl,” which JetBlue immediately participated in with this photo of two female pilots.

Finally, McDonald’s really knocked it out of the park (apologies for the cross-sport metaphor) with a series of tweets that complimented other brand’s efforts and even offered free give-aways of their products!

Snickers and Disney were a few other examples of brands to receive the “I’m Lovin’ It” treatment. This campaign not only made the golden arches look generous, it also helped boost their follower count, Well done McDonald’s.

 

Cleverness is King

The emergence of the two-screen viewing experience is opening up a lot of unique opportunities for advertisers. Luckily for consumers the currency for success seems to be creativity and entertainment. Monster.com did an excellent job of being clever with this fake social media gaffe.

You might think that brands having an active presence on Twitter would be annoying, but exactly the opposite is true. In order to be effective these tweets have to be entertaining, interesting or useful. It’s a win-win for consumers and brands! It’ll be exciting to see what kinds of things company’s come up with during the next big event.

What was your favorite branded tweet from the Super Bowl? let us know in the comments section below.