Now that the excitement (and disappointment) from Super Bowl LI has died down a bit, it is time to talk about what is really important… the commercials.
Several brands chose to infuse their commercials with political and social undertones and it has created a buzz, but the focus of this post is about how brands can leverage social media to gain and maintain momentum for such a big ad spend. One of my favorite commercials, probably because it centers around Mr. Clean dancing, serves as a solid example.
So let’s take a look at how social media was used. The Mr. Clean Super Bowl 2017 commercial was actually posted to YouTube more than a week before the Super Bowl. This is important because as the Super Bowl approaches, there is more search volume for “Super Bowl Commercials”.
The Mr. Clean brand uses hashtags effectively and directs you to their prefe
rred social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter. These platforms are likely the most popular among the brand’s ideal customer base. The YouTube posting of the commercial garnered almost 9 million views at the time of this post.
The native video was also posted on Facebook. The results were not as significant as those on YouTube, but considering how targeted the Facebook views are, it was very successful. There were more than 5 million views and 69K responses to the ad.
Again, the brand used hashtags effectively and the caption entices you to watch. It’s like being in on a secret before everyone else gets to see.
Notice that the Facebook video was posted only a day before the Super Bowl. This is likely due to the fact that Facebook is a much more dynamic platform.
In addition to Facebook, the Procter & Gamble team took to Twitter. This tweet identifying the commercial as a favorite was retweeted more than 1.2 thousand times and favorited more than 1.7 thousand times. “Mr. Clean” was one of those who retweeted.
The strategy doesn’t end there. Mr. Clean, who interacts with his followers as a real personality, posted a video challenge to keep the momentum going on Facebook. It appears to be working, with more than 21K views at the time of this post.
Do you think the pre and post-game social media strategies are smart? Was there another brand that used a stronger strategy? Post your thoughts in the comments.