"Not that the ads will be the best ever. It may be that 2011 Super Bowl advertisers now are so focused on spreading the message across so many media channels that many forgot to focus on the content of the central message itself."
This article, "Super Bowl ads mix old and new media," by Bruce Horovitz in USA Today, discusses the effects new media has on advertising and marketing tactics in contemporary society. The Super Bowl has become the first "transmedia bowl." What does this mean? It means that the campaigns used during the Super Bowl commercials are not just tv commercials, they are a "multichannel, multiplatform, deeply social experience." The commercials are directing viewers to other forms of social media that will help them become more interested in their product. For instance, Sketchers shoe company is using Facebook to show images of an add with Kim Kardashian declaring her break up with her trainer in order to gain followers for their product. This add will lead viewers to Sketcher's Facebook page and if a viewer declares their own "break up" they can get a personalized video from Kim Kardashian or win a workout session. The catch phrase is "break up to shape up" and although it sounds ridiculous, using social media and a celebrity icon will get viewers to buy these sneakers much faster than they would in the past.
This is not the only company who has thought to use social media as a campaign method. For instance, Bud Light constructed a guessing game that brings people to the brand's Facebook page before the game. "Audi is using Facebook and a Twitter hash tag in the ad this year to drive game viewers to tweet about the ad and check it out on Audi's Facebook page." The list of companies using Twitter and Facebook in order to further their campaigns is endless. The point of this post is to show how multi - media is consuming our lives. These ads would never have such desire to include social media in their design a decade ago. We are living in an era where technology is prevalent and each company is competing to remain ahead in every form of social media possible. Do you think this causes the real content behind these messages to be lost?
Every company has a Facebook page and a Twitter because if they don't, they will fall behind in the marketing world. What is this saying about our culture? How many forms of social media is too many? Also, did you see the difference in this years Super Bowl ads compared to previous years when social media was not as ubiquitous?
Rian,
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was really interesting, and I have a few thoughts I'd like to share with you. I think it is really interesting how so many companies are using Facebook and Twitter to market their products, and this year's Super Bowl was definitely a great example of it. Something that was really cool about this year's Super Bowl was that Twitter launched an interactive page that allowed fans to rate commercials just moments after they aired. The page also allowed the fans to directly Tweet at the companies and provide them with feedback about their commercials. Many major companies said the feedback was extremely constructive and that they feel it will allow them to make even better commercials in the future. Twitter also said that the program was so successful that they are considering using it for other highly anticipated events. Most recently, Twitter launched a page that allowed fans to rate celebrities' clothing after they walked down the red carpet at the Oscars....my personal favorite was Lady Gaga showing up inside an egg!