This Sunday I decided to take a break from the Big Game and social media, and I’m really glad I did. Not only was it a terrifically horrible game, but interactions on social media were probably just as bad.
Last year’s Super Bowl was rife with opportunities for real-time marketing, as we saw with Oreo’s “dunk in the dark” tweet, and the others that followed. Oreo, and their advertising agency 360i, were well prepared for any opportunities that presented themselves. However, this year, they decided to “go dark”, and not live tweet during the game, which was probably the best decision they could have made.
This year’s game did not have any such opportunities like last year. However, brands still tried to force some, started interacting with each other, and forgot about the game, and the fans, completely. As both a consumer and professional in social media, I’m slightly disappointed by what I saw. It was the worst kind of advertising – in your face and forceful.
The worst account of all was JC Penny. First of all, we all know JC Penny has had trouble in the last couple of years with their advertising. In the summer of 2012, JC Penny missed the mark when rebranding, which caused consumers to loose faith in the brand. After that, Penny apologized to consumers for the confusion they caused. If you don’t remember, check out this article here and here. Second, consumers are a little freaked out about the recent security breaches at Target and other big retailers. So, when JC Penny pretends that their Twitter account is hacked during the Big Game, it doesn’t sit well with the public.
Real-time marketing is a great tactic, and as brands and advertisers we should always be looking for opportunities to be relevant. However, we cannot manufacture those moments, and should not try to, or consumers will loose faith in what we are trying to communicate to them.
Shayna Blumenthal 
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