If you watched the Super Bowl in 2013, you’ll remember Oreo’s brilliant real-time success using social media during the infamous “blackout.” When lights went out, the brand was available and prepared to share an image across their social media channels featuring the copy: “You can Still Dunk in the Dark.” Since this real-time gold occurred, many brands are no doubt standing armed and ready to jump into the conversation on February 1 during Super Bowl XLIX to capture similar virality and engagement as Oreo did two years ago. As fresh produce marketers, the Super Bowl presents an enormous opportunity to engage in real-time social conversation, and there are several reasons you may want to consider joining the conversation on Sunday:

• The ads are about food: The food and beverage industry owned the largest percentage (35.6%) of Super Bowl air time in 2013. This means that, without a doubt, people will be taking to Twitter to discuss ads that deal directly with, you guessed it, FOOD. Even if it’s not about your products, you still have the opportunity to join in and engage about food with consumers that may not have potentially known you otherwise. For example, if I’m a tomato grower, I may want to engage with consumers to share tips about homemade salsa that tastes GREAT on top of a Doritos chip.
• Eating IS the Sport: The Super Bowl is one of the biggest eating days of the year! In fact, Americans will eat 1,083,333 football fields worth of hot wings on Sunday. And while you may not care much about hot wings, it’s likely that people will be eating YOUR product with those hot wings. For example, Americans will also consume 80 million avocados with those hot wings. Avocados from Mexico is taking full advantage of this with their plans to advertise in this year’s Super Bowl, and you can bet that their Twitter handle will be engaged and involved in real-time. It’s a great opportunity to make that connection as people eat.
• It will humanize your brand. Creating meaningful relationships with people on social media requires a true human element that you will never achieve if all your content is pre-scheduled and sent out without a human behind the screen to respond to chatter. As millions of Americans take to Twitter all at once to share ideas and opinions during the Super Bowl, this will be the marketer’s place-to-be if they want to engage in some authentic conversations and create trust for their brand. Be present, be available and be human – not every tweet has to be about what you grow or sell. It’s okay to have an everyday conversation to warm consumers up to your brand. They just may recognize you the next time they are at the grocery store as a result!
• There will be a new FRESH player on the stage: To say we’re excited about one of our industry’s very own airing an ad during this year’s game is an understatement. While Wonderful Brands has had some hits in years past, the ad from Avocados from Mexico is a sign that the tables really are turning for our industry relative to our ability to reach the consumer. And although most of us won’t be budgeting the $4 – $5 million required for a 30-second spot anytime soon, this is still a shining example of where we CAN go.

Even though large scale Super Bowl marketing campaigns do best if they take place in advance of and leading up to the event, you can still be an active part of the event by joining the conversation during the game on Twitter. A few tips for your real-time tweets:

• Cheer for the event itself, not a particular team (unless you have some kind of sponsorship ties with a team). Staying neutral and connecting with fans from both teams will keep your brand a friendly conversationalist on Twitter instead of a rowdy fan!
• Be prepared to be quick-witted to respond to anything big that happens. Like Oreo did in 2013, if something major occurs with a corresponding hashtag, a witty, creative response wins points with consumers.
• Don’t promote yourself. Think of this like a cocktail party to meet new friends. You don’t want to go in there and talk only about yourself. Instead, share thoughts and inspiration without trying to push a consumer to give you anything in return.
• Use the on-screen hashtags to join in. In 2014, hashtags were included in 57% of the super bowl ads. In 2015, expect that number to increase. We wouldn’t be surprised to see it reach 90% or higher! Use these hashtags to meet consumers in real-time as their comments unfold.

Consider these Super Bowl facts from 2013 and imagine how much will change even from then to Sunday. And remember, don’t assume anything about your audience – ask them first and see what they have to say! Sunday is a great time to ask questions and learn. Good luck!

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