LBi Shows Only Two Super Bowl Advertisers with Sustained Post-Game Social Media Conversation

Feb. 17, 2010 - PRLog -- Seven days after 38 companies spent millions on ads they hoped would boost their brands, research shows that only two companies – Dove and Flo TV – have realized any significant jump in social media conversation longer than the expected 24-hour spike following the Super Bowl.  The research by LBi Atlanta shows brands failed to take advantage of their massive ad buys to engage their customers in digital conversations over the long term using the social web.

The results of this second phase of the ongoing “LBi Social Media Deep Impact” Super Bowl study were released today (http://lbiatlanta.wordpress.com).

Seven-Day Research Highlights:
•   On average, conversations mentioning Super Bowl advertisers’ brands had dropped back to five percent higher than their pre-game level, a barely significant increase considering that immediately following the Super Bowl, conversation volume for these same brands was about seven times higher.
•   New brands, Dove Men + and Flo TV have maintained levels of social media conversation 2.5 times their pre-game level.

“It’s clear from these results that most Super Bowl advertisers did not impact the level of social media conversations surrounding their brand beyond game day,” said Michael Nurse, Customer Strategist for LBi Atlanta. “The brands missed an opportunity to leverage the incredible number of Super Bowl viewers and the cultural interest in Super Bowl ads to create a social engagement with their customers that could last over an extended period of time.”

Opportunities for Brands to Improve

While every brand is faced with unique challenges and opportunities, LBi Atlanta has identified four brand executions that could make their television ads work harder and longer for them in the digital space:

•   Thank consumers for their interests by responding to the comments they leave about your advertisements on the social web
•   Invite and incent consumers to develop and share content that builds on your advertisements through the social web
•   Invite consumers to create your ad for next year’s Super Bowl or to create follow up ads that extend the campaign
•   Incorporate your ad as part of an offline event or series of offline events disseminated through the social web

The study was conducted by LBi Atlanta (www.LBiAtlanta.com), the global marketing and technology agency.  These results are part of an ongoing study that is examining the lasting effects of Super Bowl ads on digital conversation. The agency will continue posting insights to its blog (www.lbiatlanta.wordpress.com) and will examine the impact on conversation volume and sentiment 30 days after the Super Bowl and then six months after.

Methodology

LBi Atlanta used Sysomos, a leading provider of social media analytics, to track the companies’ social media impact.  Sysomos tracked mentions of brands mentioned in Super Bowl ads in mainstream news articles, online forums, comments, blogs, and other social media sites.

In advance of Super Bowl Sunday, each of the 38 brands was analyzed for their social media mentions over the last six months (click here for details www.lbiatlanta.wordpress.com).  This created a baseline of how often on average each brand was mentioned daily.  Brands were then analyzed in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, on Super Bowl Sunday, and on the Monday after the game.

To gauge the ads effectiveness long-term, the survey will track each brand for several months, reporting back after seven days, one month and six months.

Day One Research - Highlights from the day after the Super Bowl:
•   Every Super Bowl advertiser generated more conversation the day after the Big Game than it had in the previous six months. The smaller, newer or lesser known the brand was, the higher the index of the number of blog mentions the day after compared to the previous six months.
•   The ads with the most impact on increase in brand mentions were not necessarily the ones that viewers considered to be their favorites.
•   Generally, CPG brands performed extremely well, with Doritos, Budweiser, Snickers, Dove + Men and Diamond Foods all increasing conversation volume by at least 6.75 times their previous averages.  Coca-Cola had the largest social footprint in our baseline period and still managed a healthy 29 percent increase in volume.
•   Technology giants Google and Intel outperformed the two industrial giants Coca-Cola and Honda.

About LBi Atlanta
LBi Atlanta is a full service global digital marketing and technology agency and a member of LBi International AB's worldwide portfolio of interactive agencies, providing award-winning strategy, creative, and technology solutions for leading brands around the world. LBi’s clients include Bayer CropScience, Roche Labs, Newell Rubbermaid, Calphalon, Graco, Rubbermaid, and The Ladders. Learn more at http://www.lbiatlanta.com.

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Leff & Associates is an Atlanta-based PR agency specializing in media relations, media training and crisis communications.