As everyday people, we too get caught up in the hype of big time events and find brands’ strategies and marketing tactics unique to those extraordinary circumstances. But while the scale and magnitude of this week’s Super Bowl is hard to match on any given day, as marketers the social and communication strategies we saw are very applicable in our day-to-day. Taking a page from this year’s playbook of successful social campaigns, here are three strategies that brands should employ year-round.
Lay the groundwork before a big event.
In the context of a one-time event like the Super Bowl or even the upcoming Oscars, pre-releasing an ad is not common practice for many brands. Sure, it creates some early social activity but can also squash the in-the-moment madness. This year, however, we saw several brands extend the life of their ads and build social conversation by releasing traditional game night material several days to even a week leading up to the game.
Take Tide, for example. The brand released multiple spots starring Rob Gronkowski and his lack of dry cleaning skills in the days leading up, which generated more than 100,000 initial Twitter messages prior to the game itself. Then, during the game, the company debuted a totally new but companion commercial starring Terry Bradshaw and his barbeque sauce-stained shirt. It was clear on social that this content switch was an immediate hit and, just after it aired, people started talking about Tide even more, garnering an additional 18,707 mentions. Tide took the surprise and delight route this year: going above and beyond to entertain people and give them several pieces of content with which they could interact on social.
Use this tactic to extend the lifecycle and impact of everything from a conference sponsorship to a new product release. Seed concepts with influencers for a few weeks or spark the interest of your community with well-placed spots or product teasers ahead of a time-sensitive moment. Complement those initial tactics with your main event for longer lasting and more dimensions of impact.
Share a message that’s bigger than the game — and your brand.
More than one brand used the massive visibility to express their deeper values and share broader…