Super Bowl XLVII will be remembered for a variety of reasons: the historic matchup of the brothers Harbaugh; a 35-minute blackout in the 3rd quarter that nearly let the 49ers come back; but for social media it was the power of one clever, nimble team that could take advantage of a perfect opportunity and create the only ad everyone still talks about the next day.
Power out? No problem. twitter.com/Oreo/status/29...
- Oreo Cookie (@Oreo) February 4, 2013
But Oreo is no stranger to rapid-fire tweeting. Though it feels like eons ago in internet-time, last September Oreo found itself in the middle of a (mostly) fun Tweet drama when it ran a campaign asking if followers sneak cookies into movie theaters. Shane Adams, a social media manager at AMC Theaters was quick to respond with this:
NOT COOL, COOKIE. RT @oreo: Ever bring your own Oreo cookies to the movie theater? #slicksnacker
- AMC Theatres (@AMCTheatres) September 25, 2012
Oreo played back, but they were ultimately outmatched by Adams's quick wit. Adams wrote a post-mortem post explaining a bit how his team was structured and why that contributed to them winning the day. Lesson learned, and last night Oreo had a team ready to act at a moment's notice. Shortly after the game, Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i (Oreo's ad agency) said to BuzzFeed, "We had a mission control set up at our office with the brand and 360i, and when the blackout happened, the team looked at it as an opportunity." Specifically stating that, "You need a brave brand to approve content that quickly," Oreo seemed to have found just that bravery.
But other companies moved quickly, too. For instance, Walgreens kept it simple:
We do carry candles. #SuperBowl
- Walgreens (@Walgreens) February 4, 2013
And Matt McGee of Marketing Land plenty of other companies use the blackout to their marketing advantage, but specifcially noticed Audi (among other companies) take the opportunity to both promote themselves while poking fun at their competitor:
Sending some LEDs to the @mbusa Superdome right now...
- Audi (@Audi) February 4, 2013
Yet sadly, possibly the most missed opportunity of last night was this:
This is a publicity stunt for Star Trek: Into Darkness #SuperBowl #Blackout
- Lance Ulanoff (@LanceUlanoff) February 4, 2013