While most of the UK were getting their shut eye ready for a gruelling Monday ahead, America was having a giant national party based around an (American) football match, a Bruno Mars concert and lots and lots of adverts.
Over the past few years, social media has become a huge part of the superbowl, with millions of football fans using their ‘second screen’ to follow a constant commentary of Superbowl Sunday through RTs and Shares.
After Oreo’s indisputable social media win last year with their infamous Superbowl ‘Dunk in the Dark’ tweet, published just minutes after a power cut in the stadium, other brands were ready to snatch the viral crown. Many larger brands set up social media ‘war rooms’ across the coasts, peopled with coffee chugging social network experts ready to make a witty, relevant comment in 140 characters or less by any means necessary.
However, while everyone had a keen eye on Twitter, no-one was expecting this year’s Oreo moment to come from another platform entirely – one where the content only lasts for ten seconds and then melts away from existence. Where’s the value in that?
On February 1st, Audi announced it was working with often hilarious satirical online newspaper The Onion to send a series of snaps through snapchat during the game. What these snaps would contain, no-one knew, but the involvement of The Onion suggested that it would be something more than pictures of luxury cars.
During the game, low and behold, a series of irreverent snaps started coming through on America’s smartphones, most of them wry observations on superbowl related internet activity and a few pop culture references thrown in. Screencaps were made and word quickly spread.
Though a few brands, such as Taco Bell and MTV, have been cautiously using Snapchat to reach a younger audience (a majority of its users are teens or in their early 20s), Audi’s pitch perfect campaign is a huge milestone in Snapchat marketing.
