Super Bowl Social Media (SM 313)

In general this Super Bowl, I was not super impressed with many of the advertisements. According to Statista, “the 2019 Super Bowl LIII is the event with the highest average cost for a 30-second advertisement with 5.25 million U.S. dollars”... to spend that much money on advertisements that can’t properly tell a story is a huge missed opportunity. There were features of a few of the commercials I think were on the right track or had a redeeming feature about them, however the only company I truly think was able effectively tell a story is Pepsi. The other company I found it worth while to critique was Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer, because of what I believe was a missed opportunity.

Pepsi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sYElEbRzKA

What They Did Right:

I personally believe that any brand that can embrace what consumers are already thinking and run with it successfully, nailed it. Pepsi’s ability to retell a story that’s already been a running joke, meme, etc. made their Super Bowl ad a success in my book. Acknowledging that “Is Pepsi ok?” has been considered a negative in the past, was the entire premise of the commercial. From there the commercial retold and reframed the story and even portrayed a more positive connotation with the word “okay”.

Releasing this commercial and campaign before the Super Bowl was a power move for Pepsi. This commercial and social media campaign had people talking and much anticipating what else they would see from Pepsi. Even a week later, their social media pages are popping with #PepsiMoreThanOK, as you can see below. Their commercial and social media combination of this campaign allowed for a continuing storyline of “Pepsi being more than ok”

Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8Er3GEZVzg

For context, I would consider myself a decently regular consumer of spiked seltzer, one of the latest crazes for millennials. I definitely have seen the Bon & Viv logo in the aisles among boxes of White Claws and Trulys, however I never once could’ve told you the brand name. Bon & Viv’s logo is arguably doesn’t look too much different than the extremely popular White Claw logo with the same nautical theme and white can.

What They Did Right:

I now know the brand and name better than I did before. I think if anything they caused enough of a wave in the sea of Super Bowl Ads (pun intended), to gain brand awareness over anything else. Am I compelled to buy Bon & Vivs? No. Which leads me into,

Where They Went Wrong:

Bon & Viv told the story mimicking that of the hit show, Shark Tank. Personally, I think you needed to know the premise of the show to understand the ad itself…a miss, not everyone watches Shark Tank or understands why the show is relevant to the Spiked Seltzer.

It appears their campaign on social lasted about a week, with the Super Bowl in the middle of this time span. The posts aren’t very interactive and don’t seem to have as much of a story telling ability beyond the mermaids and shark tank scenario. I think they missed the chance to engage with consumers.

Overall, I believe both of these companies represent both how to make the most of the investment of Super Bowl Ads and where there was missed opportunity. I think the key is creating a platform and conversation in which consumers can engage around your product and brand.