How Brands Are Using Instagram and Snapchat for Their Super Bowl Campaigns

Brands pay upwards of $5 million to run 30-second Super Bowl TV ads today, but many advertisers already activated digital versions of their campaigns. While Facebook and Twitter are go-to platforms for brands to reach millions of viewers and tap into the real-time action, more brands are turning their attention to Instagram and Snapchat to reach millennials this year. Here’s a quick look at how Super Bowl advertisers and a few nonofficial advertisers are using Snapchat and Instagram for the Big Game: Wendy’s For its first Super Bowl ad, the fast-food chain and agency VML are riffing on frozen beef and its claim that it only uses fresh ingredients. The brand is among a handful of marketers testing Instagram’s month-old ad product that drops full-screen promos between users’ stories. Yellow Tail Yellow Tail is the first wine brand in 40 years to advertise in the Super Bowl and is running a regional spot to work around Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive alcohol category rights. Over the past few days, the brand has had a lot of fun trolling the beer giant on Instagram. After attempting to deliver 4,000 bottles of wine to Anheuser-Busch’s headquarters in St. Louis, a series of Instagram posts shows how the stunt went down. Find out what happened when Yellow Tail Guy tries to give 4,000 bottles of wine to employees at America's largest brewer. #yellowtailguy #letsyellowtail #sb51 A video posted by [ yellow tail ] wine (@yellowtailwineusa) on Feb 4, 2017 at 12:44pm PST There’s also a sweepstakes component in which consumers can use the hashtag #yellowtailguy with their ideas for how the brand should use the 4,000 bottles of wine. Bud Light Perennial Super Bowl advertiser Anheuser-Busch turned its ‘90s stop-motion Bud Bowl campaign into a mini mobile game on Snapchat. The brand is running age-gated ads in Discover editions, including ESPN, Bleacher Report and Vox, that link to a game in which users can select their team (i.e., either Budweiser or Bud Light) and swipe their fingers across the screen to play a miniature game of football. In addition to running ads, Anheuser-Busch also created a QR codelike Snapcode that links to the experience. Gatorade For the second year, Gatorade created a Snapchat version of its Gatorade dunk with a sponsored lens that dumps a cooler filled with the sports drink over users’ photos and videos. This year, the color of the liquid changes from orange to blue to red. Well done @Snapchat and @Gatorade #SuperBowl #yup #orangeisbest pic.twitter.com/0LSG0zN3Ah — Matt Case (@mattcase) February 6, 2017 Another PepsiCo marketer, Pepsi, is also running a sponsored lens today. Sprint As part of Droga5’s first creative work with Sprint, the brand is using Instagram to push out bits of its comic campaign. A 30-second version of the spot will air in the second quarter of the game. KFC KFC and Wieden + Kennedy’s Super Bowl spot pits celebrity colonels Billy Zane and Rob Riggle against each other, but there’s also a Snapchat component to the campaign. The brand launched geofilters at 4,000 restaurants this week that overlay a branded graphic on top of snaps. KFC has also been teasing its spot on Instagram. Lowe's Lowe's is not a Super Bowl advertiser, but the home-improvement marketer often uses its social channels for DIY tips. Late last week, the brand posted a series of snaps to its account showing how to set up a TV, Google Home and fan to watch the game at home. Houston Super Bowl The Houston Super Bowl committee hired social media company Delmondo and creator Mike Metzler to take over the brand’s Snapchat channel and push out real-time content. Avocados From Mexico The brand ran a 30-second version of its Super Bowl campaign during the game but also released an extended 90-second version last week. Avocados From Mexico is promoting the spot by taking over Tastemade’s Discover section with ads that prompt users to swipe up to see the spot. Mercedes-Benz While Mercedes-Benz is keeping its ads under wraps under the fourth quarter, the brand is using Instagram Stories to tease the spot, including a picture of actor Jon Hamm, who often does voiceovers for it. Campbell’s Soup The consumer-packaged goods brand is running a digital-only campaign within the NowThis Discover channel on Snapchat with three 10-second promos that show viewers how to make mini bread chili bowls using Slow Kettle soup. The brand worked with MEC Wavemaker to create the campaign. Visa Although Visa is not an official Super Bowl advertiser, it’s working with social influencers Brodie Smith, Liza Koshy and Trey Kennedy to post real-time content from Houston where Visa is exhibiting a NFC-enabled payment ring. The influencers are posting to both Instagram and Snapchat. When people waste your time with dumb/obvious questions.. I'm just down here with @visa_us trying to find a new outfit man #TeamVisa #sb51 A video posted by Trey Kennedy (@treynkennedy) on Feb 4, 2017 at 11:18am PST