Social Media Measurement Reveals Most Popular Super Bowl Ads

While sports commentators analyzed the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory over the Patriots, many viewers were analyzing Super Bowl television commercials. Social media measurement reveals viewers’ reactions to commercials.

A survey by Burson-Marsteller’s Fan Experience group and WPP Group’s PBS research consultancy revealed that 64 percent of viewers planned to use social media during the game. The survey also found that:

87 percent of “constant social media user” said they’re interested in the social content brands provide alongside commercials.

63 percent believe the Super Bowl is not the appropriate place for political messages.

Facebook is the social channel of choice for 53 percent of survey respondents, followed by Instagram (22 percent), Twitter (20 percent), YouTube (17 percent) and Snapchat (16 percent).

Before the game, 13 percent learned about ads from news stories, and 12 percent looked for previews of ads.

Most Mentioned on Social Media

Avocados from Mexico, Pepsi and Doritos were the top three brands mentioned on social media, according to one social media analysis.

The most mentioned advertisers were:

Avocados From Mexico (137,073)

Pepsi (#Cindycrawford, 38,246)

Doritos (26,887)

Bud Light (20,667)

Kraft (9,890)

The most popular hashtags were:

#Guacworld

#Pepsigenerations

#SpitFire

#DillyDilly

#FamilyGreatly

Tide cleaned up on Twitter. The laundry soap brand generated 52,254 tweets during the game, with 32 percent being positive, 49 percent neutral and 19 percent negative, Digiday reports. Referencing past popular Super Bowl ads, its commercials in every quarter of the game asserted tongue in cheek that all Super Bowl ads were Tide ads because they featured clean clothes.

Social media measurement can also find ads that viewers disliked the most. That award goes to Dodge Ram’s ad that showed workers and shots of Ram cars with a Martin Luther King Jr. speech from 1968. Many social media users felt it was inappropriate for the company to use the civil rights speech to sell trucks. The brand received 48,777 mentions on social media and 81 percent of them were negative, Digiday reports.

In a growing trend, more brands are monitoring social media during the game for mentions of their brands and hashtags. Marketers realize the game offers an opportune time to communicate with customers. For instance, LIDS, a retailer of athletic headwear, monitored its hashtag, #SBLIDS, across Twitter and Instagram. It prepared social media posts before the game to be prepared to post them immediately after the game based on who won.

The same social media strategy can be applied to other events or programs that have many fewer viewers.

Bottom Line: Social media measurement can provide insights into viewers’ reactions to Super Bowl commercials – and during other events or programs. Through social media measurement, marketers can learn the number of mentions ads generated and if mentions were positive, neutral or negative. By studying viewers’ reactions, marketers can better plan future campaigns.