Mike’s Hard Lemonade saw a 145% lift in social media comments during a recent TV commercial campaign, according to a recent case study by AdAge and social-TV analytics company Bluefin Labs.
The case study tracked responses on social media to the TV shows and ads that aired during the shows, revealing that viewers regarded both shows and commercials as “bits of entertainment.” According to AdAge, “From a social-TV perspective, shows and commercials are basically all programming.”
Data was analyzed during a pre-campaign period when Mike’s Hard Lemonade spots were not running (April 18 to May 8) and then during the campaign, when commercial spots for the alcoholic beverage were airing (May 9-22).
How many viewers were exposed to the Mike’s Hard Lemonade ads? The funny, engaging commercials (view them below) had 642 airings in the U.S. on 421 different telecasts. These telecasts triggered 6.8 million social media comments from 1 million unique social media commenters. The study considered these 1 million people who commented on the shows to be the “exposed audience” — those who were most likely to see the Mike’s ads since they were engaged in the show while the ads aired.
How often did that “exposed audience” talk about Mike’s Hard Lemonade on social media, both before and during the campaign? Pre-campaign, there were 578 comments about Mike’s. While the campaign ads were airing, that number rose to 1,123 comments – a 145% lift.
These numbers aren’t huge. But the commercials clearly had a positive impact on social media commenting about the brand. As AdAge notes, “Inspiring someone to comment in social media about a stand-alone 30-second TV spot is a way bigger challenge than getting them to comment about a show at some point during its much longer airtime — around 22 minutes for a sitcom.”
The next question: how can brands advertising on TV encourage viewers to engage more on social media? If Mike’s had included a hashtag, or referenced exclusive content related to the brand’s Facebook page or Foursquare check-ins, would the number of social media comments have been even higher?
