By Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief
While “Puppy Monkey Baby” may be a phrase we (unfortunately) won’t be able to forget, the advertising efforts behind the Mountain Dew ad probably didn’t deliver the results the beverage company was looking for.
The bowl game winner’s ring goes to TurboTax this year, according to a report from Merkle’s Digital Bowl Report that identified the companies achieving success across digital channels, through paid search, SEO, social media, display advertising and email outreach.
It was great to read a report that outlined the behind-the-scenes business tactics that help deliver a return on investment for companies that are committing millions of dollars to a one-night event each year.
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Here’s what TurboTax did right, according to the report:
- Display advertising – TurboTax used tracking pixels to facilitate future remarketing, and teased its ads on YouTube;
- SEO – The TurboTax Super Bowl landing page was mobile-optimized and used product rating microdata to bring a new product to the search results page; and
- Social Media – Using real-time engagement tactics, TurboTax promoted content that reinforced the brand message. The brand also motivated participants by offering product giveaways as rewards.
Other brands that scored big in the digital arena during the event included Taco Bell, with a good effort in paid search; Squarespace, which promoted brand education with livestream commentary; and Doritos, by tapping into user-generated content with the #CrashTheSuperBowl video content, which also used last year’s subdomain and URL.
Of course, the fact that “Puppy Monkey Baby” is going to stick in our brains, for good or bad reasons, does count for something. When we think back to the ad images that first appear in our minds when we ponder the Super Bowl, we’ll remember the ones that affected us on the most basic levels. My problem with this particular ad, though, is that I had to look it up online in order to remember which product was being advertised.
Other brands have done a much more effective job of shocking or surprising us but also ensuring that we remember the brand being advertised. For example, I know the commercial with Betty White and the recently departed Abe Vigoda is an ad for Snickers.
For the record, I also enjoyed and will remember the Amazon ad with Alec Baldwin; the Super Bowl Babies ad; and the Doritos baby sonogram spot.
