Methodology note: This analysis is looking at any advertiser that has announced their intention to advertise in the Super Bowl, along with any celebrity cameos, hashtags, or terms that they have shared publicly. We also include common nicknames, themes or abbreviations for the above. Examples: Budweiser includes Bud, but things like avocados from Mexico also includes .
Download our Super Bowl Report!
Discover the social media conversations and trends surrounding the Super Bowl.
Monday February 3, 2020
That’s a wrap, folks! What a game it was, with another dramatic comeback by Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The Chiefs, however, were not the only ones to stage a comeback. Several brands activated celebrity spokespeople in an attempt at nostalgia. Appearances by Bill Murray, MC Hammer, and others set social media ablaze. In the food realm, chili was dislodged from its top spot as the most discussed food, with buffalo wings soaring to their expected dominant position ahead of the big game.
How did the brands do?
A Super Bowl commercial costs a lot of money to air, and when you add in celebrities to the mix, a lot to produce as well. You can’t beat the exposure - nearly 100 million people are expected to tune in to the game, and a big chunk of them are coming specifically for the commercials. That doesn’t mean, however, that every ad’s a hit.
Brands face stiff competition from each other, as they compete to be the most memorable, to be the ones that are remembered on Monday, or better still, quoted til the end of time.
Sometimes they go too far, veering too deep into the absurd, the nonsensical, or even just talking too narrowly to their fans. The Super Bowl attracts a broad cross-section of society, and to speak to just your brand fans in that moment is not the most optimal use of resources.
This year, Olay put on a case study about how to activate and maintain social media activity in advance of the Super Bowl, even if the presumed audience is not your target.
Read on below for a deeper dive into their #MakeSpaceForWomen campaign.
Some ads seemed to be speaking to themselves, their employees, or just goofing around for fun’s sake. This strategy often fails to pass the memory test.
RocketMorgage used Jason Momoa to show what home means to him, in his "sanctuary". A nice sentiment for a mortgage company, but as Jason Momoa stripped out of his muscles into a stick-thin, balding man, viewers were left to wonder -- What’s behind the facade?
Jason Momoa is a phony! A big fat phony! #SFvsKC pic.twitter.com/MgBahagtGe
— Ethan Jay Norman (@SolarEmbargo) February 3, 2020
If Jason Momoa’s looks aren’t real, they seem to be saying, why should they trust the brand?
What goes into a successful campaign for the Super Bowl on social media?
We needn’t look further than Olay who launched their #MakeSpaceForWomen campaign on January 18th, when they racked up 20,000 mentions. This wasn’t a flash in the pan, as when the ad aired during the game, they scored another nearly 90,000 mentions.
What this ad proved was that having a purpose that makes sense is an excellent way to engage the audience you want, regardless of venue.
Approximately 75% of messages about the Super Bowl, the teams, or players, were sent by men, according to Talkwalker data.
Yet Talkwalker data also shows that 66% of Olay mentions were sent by women, and 83% of them were under the age of 35.
This is exactly who Olay wants to hear their message, and they made the message count by partnering with Girls Who Code to get more girls interested in STEM careers.
By encouraging users to tweet and retweet using #MakeSpaceForWomen and tying it to a donation to an important mission driven organization like Girls Who Code, Olay guaranteed themselves a social media success. Using celebrities like Olay did is all fine and good, but people were not sharing the message because they are Katie Couric fans. They shared because they believed, and that’s what Olay was aiming for.
Overall, it was a fantastic campaign that inspired, entertained, and did good for future generations.
How did we do at Talkwalker?
Talkwalker made a few predictions on Friday afternoon about the results of the game. How did we do?
Prediction 1: Mahomes will have only a so-so game.
Result: Well he won the Super Bowl MVP award, so I’m tempted to mark this as wrong. And yet, he threw two brutal interceptions, was sacked four times, and only threw for 268 yards en route to a QBR of 61. In the end, I think it was a fair prediction, and you could argue this either way.
Prediction 2: Richard Sherman will have a monster game.
Result: He made his presence felt, and finished the game with 5 tackles. Yet he was noticeably beat on a few big plays. I’ll mark this as wrong.
Prediction 3: The star tight ends will have big games.
Result: The two opposing tight ends combined for a total of 79 yards and a touchdown. This was incorrect.
Prediction 4: Colin Kaepernick will not play.
Result: This was a gimme, but I need it for a passing score!
Prediction 5: Based on fan sentiment, the Chiefs will win.
Result: This one came true! Always trust the wisdom of the crowd.
There you have it! The Talkwalker platform is better suited for trend analysis and helping brands than analyzing the intricacies of NFL defenses.
Friday January 31st, 2020
Today, Friday Jan 31 we will take a look at the two franchises competing for the title of Super Bowl champion. We hope to answer the questions on every fan’s mind:
- which team is generating more conversation on social media?
- Which team’s fanbase is feeling better about the big game?
- Drawing on these insights - can we predict the winner?
With 2.7 million different conversations under analysis - who’s ahead? Like we expect the game itself to be, it’s very high scoring and very close.
There it is, the smallest of leads for San Francisco.
Now, what good are statistics without analysis?
We might have predicted that the San Francisco region would generate more social media activity. It’s got more population than Kansas City, and it’s the home of the social media companies. The fans in the region therefore, might be more disposed to voicing their excitement or fears about the game on social media. But this just looks at volume.
What are they saying? Who’s feeling good about their team’s odds? Below is a look at the sentiment surrounding each team since the day after the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Today, Friday before the Super Bowl, Chiefs fans are feeling a little more positive about their chances on Sunday than 49ers fans.
Putting all of these disparate elements together let’s see if we can’t make some predictions for Sunday.
This is a theme cloud, showing the most popular phrases about the game, sorted by sentiment.
What can we take away from this? Talkwalker was built to predict trends, not sports outcomes, but let’s see if these predictions come true:
-
Patrick Mahomes, the 2018 NFL MVP will have only a so-so game. His sentiment is neutral.
-
Richard Sherman will have a monster game. His sentiment is very positive.
-
The star tight ends for both teams (Travis Kelce, George Kittle) will have big games too.
-
Colin Kaepernick will not play. (I had to guarantee at least one correct prediction!)
All else being equal, I’ll put my faith in fan sentiment. That means I predict the team whose fans are more hopeful, to win. Therefore, the Kansas City Chiefs will be your new Super Bowl champions!
Thursday January 30th, 2020
OLAY:
#MakeSpaceForWomen is a lofty and noble goal, and while we don’t have a rocketship, we do have space in our blog to talk about what has been a wild ride of a campaign that is reaching cruising altitude at just the right time: Olay’s star-studded ad on a mission.
ATTN: EVERYONE
GIRLS WHO CODE IS GOING TO #SuperBowlLIV!
Our commercial ft. @Astro_Nicole @katiecouric @TherealTaraji @lilly @BusyPhilipps is officially live!
And the best part? @OlaySkin is donating for every tweet using #MakeSpaceForWomen, so get tweeting fam!! pic.twitter.com/vuIxhbCveH
— Girls Who Code (@GirlsWhoCode) January 30, 2020
Olay released the ad on January 19th, as the graph below clearly indicates. Starring Taraji P. Henson, Lilly Singh, Katie Couric, Nicole Stott and Busy Philipps, they’ve received over 188 thousand engagements on their various posts since then.
Look closely: you can see the gender equality entering orbit.
Olay rode a wave of excitement about the ad to capture the most mentions that day. But how do you keep up the enthusiasm? With a good cause.
For every use of the hashtag #MakeSpaceForWomen Olay will donate $1 to Girls Who Code to help put more women astronauts in space, coders in tech, and engineers on bridges.
As noble a goal as that is, frankly it’s not going to help sell make-up.
So let’s check and make sure the campaign is still reaching the right people, considering Talkwalker data has consistently shown the audiences for the Super Bowl ads to be 75% male throughout the week.
All’s well here! Nearly 2-to-1 female to male split and 87% of the audience is under-34. Who says women can't play or succeed in male-dominated spaces?
That’s a campaign that resonates with your target demographic, despite having the odds stacked against them.
SUPER BOWL DIP: UPDATE
As the country gears up for the big game, we have started to consult our shopping lists. What will we serve? What will we bring? What will make my dear neighbor Karen like me most? I imagine that's what they're asking anyways.
Talkwalker can now report a dramatic shift in results for conversation about dips for the Super Bowl.
Chili still leads, but only just!
It just so happens that two of the announced advertisments for the Super Bowl are competitor dips to chili's dominance: Hummus will have a major, and apparently history-making commercial air during the game, and Avocados from Mexico will also do its part to promote guacamole - each doing their part to eat into chili's lead. Buzz around these two dips is certainly high, though chili's competitive advantage lies in it's variety of ingredients and recipes, for now.
Once the ads air, we expect hummus and guacamole Share of Voice to outperform chili's. Not to mention, you shouldn't still be working on your chili by the time the game starts.
Download our Super Bowl Report!
Wednesday January 29th, 2020
Today, January 29th, is all about Post Malone and the new Bud Light Seltzer
Continuing the trend of each brand taking a pre-Super Bowl day for themselves, today has been all about Bud Light...seltzer?!
Bud Light has launched a new product to enter the booming hard seltzer market. Facing a suddenly crowded field of fruity, refreshing flavors, that has meme-makers going crazy, Bud Light has marketed their new seltzer offering as “tasting nothing like Bud Light”.
Bud Light generated over 25,000 mentions today with help from Post Malone.
Who better to promote their newest beverage than an artist who transcends genres like Post Malone? The Super Bowl draws a diverse crowd from all over the country and the world, so much so that celebrity endorsements for brands cannot be niche. Brands need stars with crossover appeal, and Post Malone ticks several boxes as far as his sound and lifestyle is concerned.
Furthering the trend of active engagement, Bud Light has requested that fans vote for their favorite of two spots (below) with the one getting more retweets selected as the one that will air on Super Bowl Sunday.
#PostyBar pic.twitter.com/i016RN5Ty5
— Posty (@PostMalone) January 29, 2020
This is not a new concept, it’s been in vogue for a few years and it seems to work well when paired with a spokesperson such as Post Malone, who has a very engaged fan base. The fans get to sit back during the game and feel they contributed to the creative process.
Be prepared of course, for a very loud and vocal segment of the population to declare they have no idea who this person is. That happens every Super Bowl, and Post Malone has gladly taken up the cause this time around.
Both ads are okay, but too frenetic borderline hysteria ..... creative yes, not sure they make me want to run out & BUY the product ..... then again, I may not be your demographic.#budweiser #PostyStore #PostyBar
— Robin (@robinkoretsky) January 29, 2020
This is what it looks like on a map when you send a very viral tweet to a very engaged audience, in case you were curious.
Talkwalker has searched deep inside our crystal ball (okay fine, it’s an AI-powered Natural Language Processing engine but they didn’t let us in to the Witchcraft club with that name) and we are now able to share with you a few educated guesses about which spot will air on Super Bowl Sunday. More than likely, the other one will air at a later date anyways, so no need to be a sore loser!
We see massive increases in use for these hashtags, but only one can win!
#PostyStore is on top of #PostyBar in this word cloud, and in the competition.
There you have it, at least so far, #PostyStore will be your ad on Super Bowl Sunday. If like me, you’d prefer to watch the #PostyBar spot, get out there and use the hashtag!
Download our Super Bowl Report!
Tuesday, January 28th, 2020
Today, Tuesday Jan 28th belongs to Hyundai and their cah you can pahk with a clickah
The Super Bowl Ads
The two weeks after the Conference Championships are mostly devoid of football, and fans attention turns elsewhere. Some brands have made a decision to capitalize on this lull, and in recent years have been releasing their ads, or teasing their ads early. This is a strong strategy for brands that are able to do it well, capitalizing not only on a quiet period, but getting fans excited for the big game.
Who’s doing well so far this year? It’s not who you might expect.
Olay is generating 13,000% more conversations than they were two weeks ago!
Hyundai is currently setting the internet on fire with their ad for a self-parking car. Of all the brands advertising in the Super Bowl this year, this tweet is the most liked so far.
Wicked smaht @Hyundai #ad https://t.co/v3kBgSLtKH
— Chris Evans (@ChrisEvans) January 28, 2020
As you see, big spikes in conversation are being awarded nearly every day!
If there’s one other takeaway for brands from this year’s Super Bowl it’s that sponsoring the Halftime show and bringing in awesome performers is a winning strategy for sustained conversation. There are fans who only watch for the Halftime show, and the performance this year in Miami features two superstars - Shakira and JLo.
Super Bowl LIV
Let’s not forget about the actual athletic competition that’s going to occur on Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
Looking at our hashtag clouds we see that Kansas City is winning with the most popular hashtag, their team hashtag #ChiefsKingdom with nearly 46k mentions. 49er specific hashtags are spread out amongst a wider variety of hashtags with their team hashtag #BeLegendary getting only 4.6k mentions in the time since they won the NFC Championship. More popular is #49ers, and #GoNiners. Hashtags are not the most important thing in the world, but they do matter in a teambuilding sense. Kansas City has done that well here, they seem to know how to mobilize their fans behind the social media metrics that matter.
Reflecting their dominance on social media, the Chiefs’ QB Patrick Mahomes is the game’s most discussed player so far with 41k mentions compared to 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo with only 11k.
These trends are reflected in the sentiment of both teams’ fan bases leading up to the game. The Chiefs have an edge here too, with 37% positive sentiment to San Francisco’s 31.4%
So, currently social media indicates this game will go the Chiefs’ way, though that could change and of course, feats of prowess in the digital realm mean nothing on the gridiron.
THE FOOD
Here’s what matters: what we shove in our faces on Super Bowl Sunday.
We took a look at the most popular main dishes and dips in advance of the big game, to provide you, dear reader, with the insights you need to be a smash hit at your Super Bowl party.
Looking at dips - there’s a clear winner. Dominating the conversation with 92% of all dip and Super Bowl conversations is chili . Is chili classified correctly here? You can dip it, so it’s a dip. It has 110,000 mentions since January 13th, generating 14.1 million engagements. We expect chili to lose some of its share of dips in the coming days as people start preparing their other dips, but with such a big head start, and so many ingredients, we don’t expect it to be dethroned from the top spot by the start of the game.
But are we wrong to classify chili as a dip? Sound off in the comments if you think so.
Looking at share of entrees we have a much stiffer competition with sandwiches leading the way currently. There are nearly 38,000 conversations between two pieces of bread. This of course includes all your regional variations such as hoagies, grinders, subs, and even sourdough for the fans in San Francisco.
From our base of 106k mains and entrees conversations, in second place and third place we have the two more conventional big game foods: pizza (26.4k mentions) and wings (20.6k mentions) with 25% and 20% of the conversation respectively.
Wings, Pizza: You need to up your game!
Check back tomorrow for more updates!
