• by Scott Turner , February 1, 2017

With a price tag of $5.5 million for a 30-second spot in the upcoming Super Bowl, agencies and brands try to do everything possible to amplify the brand messages before, during and after those precious 30 ticks. But not all of them have access to the tools that would maximize their reach on social media platforms.

For example, if they missed how brands relate to one another through the interaction of their respective social audiences, they might have learned that some brands are not even a good fit for the Super Bowl.

If your brand’s category is on the bottom 5 chart below, social engagement between your brand’s category and the Super Bowl is well below the benchmark that would indicate the Big Game’s audiences would be receptive to your ad:  

 

Bottom 5 Categories            TrueAffinity

Electronic Learning Products    3.36

Mouth Care                            3.53

Home Furnishing                     3.54

Lottery                                  3.57

Human Resources                   3.64

 

The score is produced by an algorithm that can identify the affinities of the Big Game's potential fan base at a granular level by ingesting active engagements on public social pages across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (such as recent commenting, posting photos, retweeting, hashtagging or replying) across 60,000 brands and 400 million people worldwide.

So, we can safely assume any product or service from these categories will have very little chance of resonating across the social media spectrum. But which brand categories have the best shot of success (as measured by their potential for messages to be amplified though social networks)?

 

Top 5 Categories                   TrueAffinity

TV Providers                           8.24

VoIP Providers                        8.07

Athletic Gear                         8.02

Game Consoles                      8.00

Fast-Food Restaurants            7.96

 

Content is often best left to the great minds at your creative agency, but social affinity can also be used to validate creative decisions. For example, Intel is featuring an ad with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Aside from Brady himself actually being in the Super Bowl, social affinity shows that he was a great choice, clocking with a very high 7.17 affinity score. But get this, Intel could also have chosen Marlon Wayans (7.88), Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (7.76) or even Matt Damon (7.61). None of these folks will be on the field Sunday -- but based on their even higher affinity scores, any one of these would give the ad an even better chance at resonating with Intel's extended social audiences.

A lot of "success" metrics for Super Bowl ads will be tossed around in the post-game analysis. Pay close attention to active social media interactions (beyond just "likes" or “follows”), and you will see which agencies and brands leveraged their social amplification the best.