George Packer, in the New Yorker, wrote that “Twitter is crack for media addicts.” If this is true than, for media addicts, Superbowl advertising + Twitter = a crack rock the size of a continent.

One of my favorite bloggers, Stuart Foster, wrote that advertising today is more “meta” than ever, he writes:

Recycling, remixing and riffing are now seen as legitimate forms of creative expression. An understanding of this phenomenon has lead to a rise in self-aware or “meta” content.

Advertising today goes well beyond interruptive messaging — The ultimate goal is to inspire others with your content to create an organic pop culture phenomenon.

The best advertising works because it taps into cultural reference points that resonate with consumers in order to sell a product. This has been true since the emergence of mass media. The best ads tell good stories, where you identify with a character in a powerful way. Many ads still use this approach and we think:”I do the dishes, play the guitar, make dinner just like the person in that advertisement. Maybe I should try out that product that they are using, they seem a  lot like me!”

But today’s market is extremely saturated with advertising everywhere. We are even losing trust in the recommendations of our peers, based on the infiltration of advertisers and marketers into our social graph.

The normal American is subjected to over 5,000 advertising messages a day. If I was asked to define advertising in today’s world, I’m not sure that I could.

So we’ve gone from ads that resonate with the activity of consumers to ads that aim to ignite a pop culture movement. What does this mean?

Maybe, advertisements themselves have become the cultural reference points that unite us all.

My friends and I watch Youtube videos that are made by advertising agencies and talk about the Nike MVPuppets or the Geico Pothole. We have begun to define our identity not just by what products and brands we like, but by what ads we like.

Which brings me to Superbowl advertising 2010 (thanks for bearing with me up to this point):

Superbowl ads have always been huge, and are especially important for traditional advertisers in today’s world, as consumers will actually be watching the superbowl live, and, even more importantly, many will be watching more for the ads than for the football. So before we get to what all of this means, let’s take a little run through of what’s happened thus far with 2010 superbowl advertising and social media:

With growth in the online space, spurred by social media adoption, advertisers are coming up with some innovative ways of tying both social media and interactive online elements into their campaigns.

A Dockers ad during the superbowl will feature an innovative use of the Shazzam application, where users who use the app during the commercial will be taken to a special branded page where they can download the jingle from the commercial.

Pepsi even decided to skip the superbowl TV spot all together, and create an altruistic social media campaign instead. Firing back, coca-cola ran a Facebook campaign where you could donate to charity by placing a gift on your friends pages.

Traditional campaigns are also trying to jump on the social media buzzwagon, it seems that everyday a new superbowl ad is leaked (on purpose) to build up some pre-game buzz. It’s obviously working because I’m writing about it :)

There has also been significant controversy over CBS’s decision to ban some superbowl commercials, while allowing Tim Tebow’s focus on the Family Ad to air.

Okay, this is all interesting, but now for the innovative stuff:

1) The Mullen + Radian6 Brand-Bowl:

Mullen Advertising, has partnered with Radian6, a social media monitoring solution, to track up to the second reactions to super bowl commercials. This is a great partnership, and will show the power of social media, advertising and measurement all in a cool branded package!

2) The NFL has released an official Twitter hashtag and visualization station for the superbowl: http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/44/fans

3) OchoCinco has enlisted himself and some other current NFL Players to report the superbowl on the OCNN (Ocho Cinco News Network):

So what can all of this innovation tell us about the future of advertising?

1) The real time buzz from social media addicts about advertising may be as important as the advertising itself:

Media addicts and tastemakers  live on Twitter and social media, and what they are saying about your ads, regardless of the product, influences the rest of your market. Sharing, remixing, and commenting on advertising campaigns will become an important aspect of self-experssion and identity formation. Those media addicts on twitter? They are leading the charge.

2) You can appease early adopters and taste makers at the same time as traditional consumers:

The Dockers campaign is a perfect example. Nerds and trendsetters love the Shazam option, my Dad will love the catchy tune and funny commercial.

3) Extend the buzz:

If the best ad campaigns are social phenomenons, you need to make sure they take off and are in front of the public for as long as possible.

So that was a lot of writing, and I apologize, I’ve just been thinking a lot lately.

How is Superbowl advertising in 2010 different than it was just a year ago? Where will we be with Superbowl ads in 2011 or 2012?

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