Super Bowl LVIII is one for the history books.
The Chiefs claimed their third win during what is now the longest Super Bowl game in recorded history, clocking in at 74 minutes and 57 seconds. But history was being made even off the field.
In the days ramping up to the big game and on the night itself, Quid’s Predict Radar continuously identified which brands, companies, and people were trending in the online Super Bowl Commercial narrative.
Our Methodology:
Our Predict Radar takes the fast-moving Super Bowl Commercial buzz and uses AI to unbiasedly surface the people, brands, and companies that are rising above the noise. Our proprietary trend detection methodology determines whether each surfaced name is trending or not. Look to the center of the radar to find the trends. The names on the periphery of the radar are just fads or background noise. Generative AI provides quick context for why any trending player is attracting attention.
Of course, we weren’t the only ones tracking which ads had the most traction. We compared the top ten on our radar with USA Today’s Ad Meter, which ranks the top ads based on survey responses, to understand how the social narrative compared to voter choices.
USA Today's Ad Meter |
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1. State Farm |
1. Dunkin Donuts |
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2. Dunkin Donuts |
2. T-Mobile |
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3. Kia |
3. Verizon |
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4. Uber Eats |
4. Foundation to Combat AntiSemitism |
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5. NFL |
5. FanDuel |
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6. Dove |
6. Cetaphil |
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7. BMW |
7. Starry |
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8. Budweiser |
8. Volkswagen |
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9. Verizon |
9. Temu |
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10. Doritos |
10. Squarespace |
When a :30 second spot during the Super Bowl costs a cool $7 million, brands need to make sure they’re hitting the mark. This year a few commercials stood out amongst the social media noise.
Dunkin' Donuts, which famously coined the phrase, “New England Runs on Dunkin',” called in the Boston Trio, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady, alongside Jennifer Lopez— capitalizing on the reunion of the couple—earning it second place on the Ad Meter and a central spot on our radar with 16,874 posts.
Verizon
Coming in at number nine on USA Today’s Ad Meter, Verizon set out to win and enlisted Queen Bey to help them do so. In the ad, Beyonce and comedian Tony Hale attempt to break Verizon’s Internet through a series of stunts. They didn’t break Verizon, but with a surprise drop of two singles and an album announcement, driving 43,744 posts, the collaboration sure got our tongues wagging, or uh, our fingers typing.
Temu
Although Temu was not included in the USA Today’s Ad Meter, our radar’s AI surfaced the online marketplace as a top trending ad of the Super Bowl. While it was trending, it wasn’t necessarily trending for positive reasons.
Online chatter around the e-commerce retailer criticized the money spent on marketing during the big game and included accusations of underpaying workers.
The Super Bowl will continue to be a major opportunity for brands to stand out, connect with consumers, and insert themselves as culturally relevant. Given the investment, it is important to put your best foot forward.
Many brands that elected to lean on the power of celebrity came out on top—a move that has proven to be an effective strategy. However, when exploring our radar, there were cases where the celebrity was trending on behalf of the brand, as opposed to the brand itself. So how can brands ensure they’re not overshadowed by the magnitude of fame? Moreover, certain brands were trending, just not necessarily for positive reasons. So how can brands know whether their campaign was actually successful?
Holistic customer context is key.
As discovered in our most recent report, “The Untapped Power of Consumer Insights”, only 19% of marketers are using customer intelligence tools to track new and emerging trends, while nearly 40% are relying on traditional and time-consuming methods like, focus groups, customer research reports, and agency partners to gather consumer data. Although valuable, these methods are based on limited survey pools that do not allow for a holistic customer context.
By combining data gathered from a traditional medium like USA Today’s Ad Meter, which is based on a survey pool of 160,000 people, with the massive data pool of social media, like Quid’s Predict Radar, marketers have a more comprehensive picture. They position themselves not only to spot trends faster but to also gain deeper context into those trends.
Remember, Temu didn’t appear on USA Today’s list, but this doesn’t mean their ad didn’t have an impact. More importantly, even if they had made the list, we would still be missing valuable context as to why they were trending. This context can be found in the social narrative.
Customer context provides deeper insight into why trends matter so you can take action that’s relevant, aligns with your brand, and delivers results. And who knows, you could be the next winner of the Super Bowl Ad Game.
Want to see which trends go the distance? See the radar view for yourself and get daily updates through the end of the week on the people and brands that still have everyone’s attention.
