Dive Brief:
Procter & Gamble skin care logo Olay took the pinnacle spot in Merkle’s 6th annual Digital Bowl Report, which evaluates Super Bowl advertisers’ digital advertising efforts, together with how well they aid ad campaigns throughout four areas: social media paid to seek, SEO and virtual media, in step with a press release.
The digital elements for Olay’s ad — a horror-movie-themed spot starring “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actress Sarah Michelle Gellar — ranked inside the top 10 in all four Merkle classes and became inside the top three for search engine marketing with a Super Bowl-focused landing page and optimized YouTube video. The campaign, Olay’s first for the Super Bowl, also earned excessive marks for virtual media with retargeting pixels and paid to seek creative.
Avocados From Mexico (AFM) got here in 2d, after ranking first in the Merkle record ultimate year. The marketing campaign earned pinnacle marks in SEO and real-time social engagement.
Dive Insight:
As the lowest-scoring game in history, Super Bowl LIII additionally had low viewership and a slate of advertisers gambling it safe, with a number of the maximum interesting advertising taking vicinity off of TV displays. Brands with nicely idea out digital techniques to complement their expensive TV commercials had an opportunity to maximize their funding. As entrepreneurs plan out next year’s Super Bowl strategy, they ought to pay attention to the campaigns with the aid of Olay and AFM and the way they were able to make a mark with in-game spots and make bigger the rush on digital structures.
Olay teased its Super Bowl advert ahead of the game, and the #KillerSkin spot featured Gellar being stalked by way of a creepy masked man is a nod to horror films and shows she cannot use her phone’s face recognition feature because of her Olay skin care recurring. The marketing campaign focused on Olay’s Skin Advisor era and embraced a lady-empowerment message that focused on breaking down gender stereotypes, aligning with a longtime dedication for the logo. Olay was additionally aiming to hook up with female soccer lovers, who make up 45% of the NFL fan base, in keeping with the 2018 NFL Fan Insights Study referred to by means of Ad Age.
AFM announced plans in November to air a lighthearted Super Bowl ad to run across digital platforms, shopper advertising and meals provider channels. The marketing campaign marked AFM’s 5th immediately year as a Super Bowl advertiser. Leading as much as the huge sport, the logo released a 15-2nd teaser starring actress and singer Kristin Chenoweth seeking to educate 3 puppies the way to bark the logo’s jingle, observed by means of a poker-themed teaser. AFM launched a 60-2d virtual advert and its 30-second in-sport spot. The emblem also launched a digital platform and partnerships with The Onion and Adopt a Pet nonprofit, alongside an animal-matching device powered with the aid of IBM Watson.
Pairing in-game commercials, which this yr went for north of $5 million for 30-2nd spots, with digital components, is prime for successful Super Bowl campaigns, as marketers can develop they’re attain across more than one platforms. This 12 months’ Merkle report checked out the content of campaigns, as well as pre-sport techniques, how they engaged with clients throughout the marketing campaign and how they organized their conversations. The document additionally checked out whether manufacturers leveraged teaser video content beforehand of the sport to drum up exhilaration and used real-time ad buys at some stage in the game.