Tracking 5 Top Post-Game Customer Experiences
Many Super Bowl advertisers will extend their campaigns long after the final whistle. Here’s a look at some of the top post-game customer experiences from some of the world’s largest brands.
Over one hundred million people watched as the Kansas City Chiefs won their first Super Bowl title in 50 years. In addition to the hype of the event itself, advertisers spent approximately $5.6 million on a 30-second spot to reach those hundreds of millions of viewing eyes.
Among the biggest names in the advertising game were:
- Amazon Prime
- AB InBev
- Cheetos
- Coca-Cola
- Heinz
- Little Caesars
- MGM
- Microsoft
- And more
While each brand developed clever and compelling commercials, some advertisers thought ahead with a much longer game. Their goal was to use the initial commercial as an awareness piece, and provide a more sustainable and fulfilling customer experience after the game ended.
So which brands were the most successful at building those experiences? Let’s look at a few of them and learn what worked best.
Discover: choosing yes or no
Rather than use their full 30-second slot to deliver one message, Discover split their time to deliver two distinct 15 second ads. This was a strategic move to raise awareness around two frequently asked questions about their products:
- Yes, Discover cards are accepted at many different businesses
- No, there are no annual fees on select Discover credit cards
In both cases, Discover took clips from famous movies and TV series where characters were emphasizing yes or no, and inserted those clips into their ads. This allowed Discover to tap into iconic pop culture moments to spread their message and connect with the masses.
By splitting their paid time into an experience for 2 different ads, Discover came out as a leading brand determined to provide an immersive, engaging experience for their followers. Airing 2 ads as bookends around one commercial from another brand allowed Discover to tell two similar yet distinct stories with a consistent look and feel. Strategically, this is a great way to get people to remember the content of the ads and, ideally, remember the brand sponsoring them.
Discover also partnered with advertising agency, Spark Foundry to build a consistent post-game customer experience. This partnership led Discover to craft a multi-channel campaign spanning:
- TV
- Social media
- Online video
- POS display
- Streaming audio
- Terrestrial radio
- Site takeovers
- And more
Mountain Dew: shining new light on a new product
Mountain Dew used their slot to develop a clever parody video of a cinematic classic. The brand repurposed scenes from The Shining, replacing the film’s star Jack Nicholson with Breaking Bad alum Bryan Cranston in the commercial. The move allows Cranston to subtly promote the new Mountain Dew Zero product as he parodies scenes from the original movie, including the film’s famous “Here’s Johnny” moment with the words changed to “Here’s Mountain Dew Zero.”
As part of their post-game experience, Mountain Dew is keeping the content from the commercial fully in play. Their strategy is to break the commercial down into small, bite-sized moments for quick and easy consumption. Those clips will be broadcast on platforms such as:
- Snapchat
- TikTok
Additionally, Mountain Dew has developed a special Snapchat filter that will turn consumers into parodies of the twin little girls from the original movie. The goal is to drive engagement with the Mountain Dew brand using the filter and the content created by users.
They’ve also launched a viral challenge on TikTok. It’s called #AsGoodAsTheOG, a play on the tagline from the Cranston commercial that promotes Mountain Dew Zero “as good as the original.” Thousands of submissions have been attached to the hashtag with the ultimate goal of converting engagement with the challenge into purchases of the new product.
Planters: saying goodbye to Mr. Peanut
Ahead of Super Bowl Sunday, Planters announced they will end the life of their 104 year old mascot, Mr. Peanut. To commemorate the occasion, Planters used their Super Bowl time to feature the funeral of the beloved character as a way for fans and loyal consumers to say a proper goodbye to the iconic mascot.
Celebrities of human and cartoon fame turned up for the funeral, but the biggest takeaway from the commercial was the birth of “Baby Nut.” It’s through Mr. Peanut’s successor that Planters intends to build a captivating customer experience for fans of their brand.
The brand ran a live Twitter thread inviting followers to comment on what act they would like to see Baby Nut perform. Those suggestions played out in near real time as an animated Baby Nut performed acts to fans’ delights.
Baby Nut was also used to drive direct points of sale on a subsidiary of the Planters website. They created Baby Nut-themed merchandise that was made available for sale, and capitalized on the Twitter experience to drive interest in and conversions on those products.
Olay: #MakeSpaceForWomen
Olay invested significant amounts of time and resources towards positioning their brand as the “anti-aging” brand that women can trust. It’s also a brand that stands for female empowerment, a message clearly reflected in the brand’s Super Bowl commercial. They shot the content with an all-female cast of celebrities to show women are as much fans of football as men.
One of the most interesting pieces of the Olay campaign is their partnership with Women Who Code. This is a growing movement that encourages all women, especially young women, to pursue interests in various fields of science and technology.
To help promote the cause, Olay launched the #MakeSpaceForWomen social media campaign. They pledged to help raise $500,000 for Women Who Code by encouraging all fans and followers to submit a post with the #MakeSpaceForWomen hashtag. Olay vowed to donate $1 for every share, encouraging fans to wrack up the tally to the full amount.
The #MakeSpaceForWomen hashtag will also be repurposed for the post-game experience. They developed a microsite tied to the campaign where consumers can quickly shop and purchase Olay-branded products in support of the Women Who Code movement. This is a great way to build a consistent experience around issues that matter to women in tech and generate quick-hit revenue for the business.
TurboTax: all people are tax people
Unlike many advertisers, who stuck with the 30-second slot, TurboTax opted for an extended airing during the big game. Theirs is a 45 second commercial that functions similar to a music video, featuring people singing and dancing to the theme of taxation.
It’s hard to make tax season fun, but TurboTax found a way. They also created a microsite to extend the fun of the game into a riveting post-game experience. The biggest highlight of this strategy is the announcement of a special sweepstakes.
The #W2Step sweepstakes runs through February 9th, and invites fans to upload a video of them dancing with the #W2Step hashtag. The dance judged as the most creative will win a prize of $5,000. This is a great way to build active engagement with a community of followers and, with tax season around the corner, it gets people thinking of TurboTax as their go-to point of contact for help sorting through all tax-related issues.