Real-Time Brand Advertising

The growth of social media has made it easier for Brands to appeal to consumers en masse. With the popular growth and increased usage of the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest, YouTube have made this possible. Brands can now instantly judge the reaction of an audience in response to a new ad, new product, news story etc. At events such as The Super Bowl, The Grammys, Fashion Week, The Olympics or the upcoming Academy awards Brands can now utilise this channel and reach millions of consumers, and influence consumers who they may not reach on a regular basis or fall within their target market/segment.

• These events are highly televised and popularised events which reach millions of viewers and odds are a high percentage of these will not only be watching, but also keeping an eye on social media simultaneously.
• If you utilise this mass channel, put up the right content, promote in the right way, create the most loved ad this can make a Brands name spread or “liked” or “shared” like wild fire globally. In essence create a phenomenon.
• These are then highly reported on the next day in newspapers, further social media posts, radio stations and blogs (such as this!)

Sunday’s Super Bowl XLVIII had nearly 50 commercials, watched by up to 110 million viewers worldwide. Budweiser’s advert #bestbuds according to Neil Young writing for The Drum were the true winners of the Super Bowl. Creating more buzz than the game itself. In a mere 24 hours the “Puppy Love” advert has almost reached 40,000,000 views on YouTube . If you watched The Grammy’s or read any of the BEST or WORST dressed lists in magazines or newspapers the following day you will have almost certainly seen a picture of Pharrell’s outfit which was somewhat dominated by an extraordinarily large hat – almost identical to the American fast food chain Arby’s logo. The Arby’s official site instantly utilised this and tweeted “Hey @Pharrell, can we have our hat back? #GRAMMYs,” the Arby’s official site tweeted. Not only was this shared and quoted, but other brand such as Hyundai and Pepsi congratulated Arby’s in their success. Later on in the evening – so did Pharrell taking it all in his stride and responding “Y’all tryna start a roast beef?” The answer to all those brands in 2014 who wish to succeed or utilise social media in the best way possible is to either be funny and rely on a celebrity fashion faux pas or use the love between a small puppy and a pony and pull on the world’s heart strings!