The Smartest Super Bowl Commercial

It seems the general consensus about the Super Bowl commercials is that they were overall a bit...underwhelming this year. However, the first commercial to air after the big game caused a huge buzz on Twitter. Esurance aired a commercial promoting a contest they are hosting worth $1.5 million! Within seconds of the commercial airing, #EsuranceSave30 was already trending on Twitter and is still trending today worldwide.

Although this commercial created plenty of publicity for Esurance and its contest, it also opened the door for plenty of scamming accounts including @EsuranceSavings, @EsuranceWin, and @MillionEsurance. (For public knowledge, the only account affiliated with the contest is @Esurance.)

Regardless of the potential scams, Esurance's contest promotion via Twitter was a huge success. It seems the most intelligent Super Bowl commercials over the past few years have been incorporating social media. In fact, public relations professionals began using #BrandBowl to discuss the brands' new tactics of utilizing Twitter as opposed to solely relying on the Super Bowl commercials alone. Not only were companies tweeting things related to their commercials, they also tweeted amongst each other.

This new trend shows no sign of slowing down. Integrating social media into their advertisements allows companies to speak directly to their consumers and, in turn, builds a sense of brand loyalty and good relationships.

What do you think about the spike in social media advertising? Share your thoughts below!