With the Superbowl approaching, marketers have been clamoring to make an impact on the largest captive audience they’re going to get all year. In addition to television and Internet campaigns, advertisers are integrating several mobile-centric strategies to reach consumers, and for good reason. Soasta’s Super Bowl Second Screen study revealed that 41 percent of mobile owners will use mobile applications during Sunday’s big game, and savvy brands have taken note.

Some companies, like H&M, are experimenting with new technology to reach consumers. In H&M’s case, the technology will allow customers to purchase H&M products straight from the ad itself. Those with a Samsung Smart TV will be able to shop from the brand’s ad via an app that syncs with their television. While certainly an innovative strategy to engage consumers, testing new technology on such a large scale is a risky proposition. H&M’s campaign specifically, contains significant barriers for its customers and (perhaps more importantly) potential customers to engage with the brand’s content. For starters, it’s necessary that Super Bowl viewers have a Samsung Smart TV manufactured in 2012 or 2013- a requisite that already significantly reduces the ad’s reach.  It’s already difficult to convince a customer to pay attention to your ad, download an app, and use said app to engage desirably with the brand: adding an extra barrier doesn’t bode well for H&M’s success. Novelty can be a useful tool, but in H&M’s case, it’s likely to cause their campaign to falter.

What’s more likely to have success is tailoring a second-screen ad campaign so that customers get value that they can’t find elsewhere. McDonald’s, in partnership with SessionM, has launched a rewards-based ad campaign that encourages users into their store. It works like this: When consumers obtain points for an in-app achievement, an ad pops up promoting McDonald’s Mighty Wings. The ad encourages users to answer a Super Bowl related question for an additional 40 points, and if a McDonald’s store locator is clicked through, the user receives another 10 points. For a brand like McDonald’s, for which it’s imperative to generate in-store traffic, the campaign incentivizes customers to keep chain locations in mind.

Of course, there’s no harm in running a safe social media campaign. According to Soasta, the majority of app users will be engaged in social media usage, and while it may be cliché, a clever, topical tweet can make your brand a social media darling. Be careful not to get too wrapped up in vanity metrics, like favorites, and re-tweets: it doesn’t necessarily convert into increased brand success, but blowing up on Twitter probably won’t hurt.

 

Sources:

http://bit.ly/1exu7mH