In case you were not aware the Super Bowl happened last night, and it was quite a thriller! Or maybe not... It was a blow out by the end of the first half. As the game grew more and more boring most people began paying more attention to the the commercials during stoppages in the game. However, the commercial that created the most social media buzz came directly after the game. Esurance grabbed the first commercial slot after the Super Bowl and apparently saved a lot of money in doing so. The average commercial during the game costed $4 million. In Esurance's commercial the actor is sitting with a pile of cash and says that they saved $1.5 million by taking the commercial spot right after the game was over, as opposed to having one during the game. He says that Esurance will be giving away the $1.5 million to a lucky winner. All you have to do is use the tweet using the hashtag #EsuranceSave30 by 1:00 AM on February 4th and you will be entered to win the $1.5 million they saved. According to Adweek there has already been more than 3 million tweets using the hashtag and I am sure many more are to come before the deadline tonight. This commercial clearly stole the attention of most every one watching and I am sure annoyed many of the advertising directors of the other commercials who paid top dollar during the game. When you offer $1.5 million up for grabs you are likely going to steal the show. I myself see it as a cheap ploy that may boost current social activity for Esurance, but in the end will not create loyal customers for their service. If their goal was to boost immediate conversation and buzz they sure did accomplish that. I would be curious to see whether or not it helps them out in total sales in the long run. My guess would be no...
Heres a link to the commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCPzdDVCN8Y
I agree. If Esurance doesn't take advantage of the buzz they are generating and leverage it to gain more customers, their marketing strategy will likely fail. It'll be interesting to watch companies like them and J.C. Penney try and use the new followers they gained over Twitter during the Super Bowl to generate more sales.
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