For dog food brand Ollie, a standard 30-second Super Bowl commercial costs $7 million. Instead, the brand chose to run a charitable social media campaign centered around the big game called “Supper Bowl Extravaganza” at a fraction of the cost.
“We're not a brand that spends a lot of money just on the brand,” said Ollie brand director Nicole Sumner. “My job is to think about what's really organic, doesn't cost a lot of money, can be part of the cultural conversation and create buzz for the brand.”
For the Olly campaign, the brand pledged to donate a cup of food to a dog in need for every Supper Bowl post shared on Facebook and Instagram. During the campaign period, which ran from January 31st to February 11th, Ollie saw an 84% year-over-year increase in organic social traffic. Sumner said the company knew its competitors would spend a lot of money on traditional Super Bowl ads and wanted to capitalize on organic search for dog food. One of his competitors, Farmer's Dog, ran a Super Bowl ad for the first time last year.
Participating in events like the Super Bowl or partnering with iconic franchises like Barbie usually comes with a hefty price tag that only big brands can afford. But in recent years, more and more startups are finding clever and witty ways to get involved in the conversation without spending big on flashy campaigns. By making wild posts right outside areas where popular events are held, and by running pink social media campaigns that allude to “Barbie” without uttering a word, brands are still trying to keep up with these big names. You can market your company near the event. A pop culture moment. By doing so, brands can benefit from visibility, SEO traffic, and interest from these events.
Like Ollie, there are multiple ways to approach proximity marketing. Condiment brand Primal Kitchen also ran a campaign during the big game, including installing digital billboards on the Strip in Las Vegas, the same city that hosted the Super Bowl, and handing out free wings at tailgate parties across the city. started. Meanwhile, energy drink company Gorgie co-hosted a Barbie-themed event on Melrose Avenue last summer when the movie was trending.
Richard Hanna, professor of practice in the marketing department at Babson College, said this advertising strategy is similar to guerrilla marketing, a low-cost tactic that typically engages people without formal permission from the main sponsor or franchise. He added that the tactic is growing in popularity as the costs of traditional advertising and official collaborations rise.
“Right now, only big brands can run a lot of advertising at this scale,” Hanna said. “If people aren't looking closely, they won't necessarily notice the difference. As a result [brands] You can ride the wave of trends. ”
Sure, brands can benefit by jumping on the hype train. Primal Kitchen's February Las Vegas campaign focused primarily on promoting buffalo sauce, a staple snack during football games. Primal Kitchen's head of marketing, Anna Goetsch, said the big campaign gave the product “momentum”. The Tailgate Her campaign, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, boosted Primal His Kitchen's Buffalo His Sauce sales by 40% in February compared to the same month last year. The Super Bowl campaign helped build on this momentum. She added that the company gave away all 10,000 wings it had set aside for tailgates.
“This is a big game that every seasoning brand wants to be a part of,” Goetsch said. “We had to make sure we followed all the right marketing and legal guidelines, which was very sensitive at the time, but we were able to do that in a huge way both digitally and in person. .”
Brands are prohibited from using the words “Super Bowl” or “Super Sunday” in advertising. You should also avoid using NFL logos or team logos in your promotional materials. Brands also cannot use the names of football players.
A traditional 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl would have garnered about 123.4 million views. But Primal His Kitchen's Vegas strip sign still managed to garner attention thanks to his estimated 65,000 people who attended the event in person.
When Barbie Core started making a comeback in the wake of the series' live-action movie last summer, energy drink brand Gorgie has a chance to join the conversation, considering the brand's cans were already pink. I thought. Michelle Cordeiro-Grant, Gorgie's founder and CEO, said the main goal is to remain in customers' minds during the Barbie trend.
Last summer, when Taylor Swift's Ella Tour stopped in California, the company handed out free cans of Gorgies and friendship bracelets (a trend among Swift) to fans lining up for the concert.
“In my opinion, the key to marketing is to put the customer first and think about what their mindset is,” Cordeiro-Grant said. “We just want to be mindful of where they are.”
This marketing strategy also generates digital traffic. O'Ree said he built his bidding strategy around keywords related to the event itself and competitors who invested heavily during the Super Bowl. The company said conversions from organic social traffic increased by 9% compared to last year.
After finding success during Super Bowl season, O'Ree is continuing his campaign called “March Wagness,” a nod to March Madness. Much like the basketball event itself, March His Wagnes is a bracket-style contest where people can nominate their dog and vote for their favorite pup for a chance to win Ollie swag and products. Masu.
“We are primarily a very strong digital brand,” Sumner said. “The majority of our budget is spent on performance marketing, which can be rigorously attributed and optimized.”
