Wow: Twitter mentioned in 50% of Super Bowl ads, Facebook 8%, & Google+ 0%

Twitter handily beat Facebook and Google+ during the Super Bowl in social media mentions, according to an informal analysis by Marketing Land.

During the Super Bowl, brands are fighting almost as hard as the players to out-perform the competition. They use whatever marketing tricks they can to score points, including mentioning social networks and other sites where fans could connect with the brand during or after the game.

Marking Land’s Matt McGee counted the number of mentions Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ got during the ads that aired during the Super Bowl. He only counted the 59 national commercials that aired after kickoff and before the game clock hit 0:00.

In order of mentions, here’s his breakdown:

• Twitter or hashtags were mentioned in 50 percent of ads
• Facebook was mentioned in 8 percent of ads
• Google+ was mentioned in 0 ads
• Instagram was mentioned in 1 ad
• YouTube was mentioned in 1 ad

For Twitter, he counted a hashtag, a logo, or a URL. Other mentions required a logo or URL.

Now, to be fair, hashtags are most commonly associated with Twitter, but they are sometimes used in Facebook and Google+ posts. So brands are showing a preference to Twitter, but it’s not like those marketing messages can’t leak out elsewhere.

Twitter also racked up some impressive stats during the game itself. These moments sent the most tweets flying:

– Power outage: 231,500 tweets per minute (TPM)
– 108-yard kickoff return for Ravens TD by Jones: 185,000 TPM
– Clock expires; Ravens win: 183,000 TPM
– Jones catches 56 yard pass for Ravens TD (end of 2nd quarter): 168,000 TPM
– Gore TD for 49ers: 131,000 TPM

Facebook’s wrap-up of Super Bowl activity doesn’t mention number of posts but does identify the biggest moments of the game shared on the platform:

1. Ravens win the Super Bowl
2. Beyonce’s halftime performance
3. Blackout in the Superdome
4. Jacoby Jones’ 108-yard kickoff return for a Ravens touchdown (and Justin Tucker’s field goal kick)
5. Joe Flacco’s 56-yard pass to Jacoby Jones for a Ravens touchdown (and Justin Tucker’s field goal kick)
6. Joe Flacco’s 13-yard pass to Anquan Boldin for a Ravens touchdown (and Justin Tucker’s field goal kick)
7. Frank Gore’s six-yard run for a 49ers touchdown (and David Akers’ field goal kick)
8. Destiny’s Child surprise appearance with Beyonce during the halftime show
9. Ray Lewis’ retirement
10. David Akers’ field goal kick from 27-yard line

Looking over these charts, there’s a clear difference in the type of content shared. Twitter prioritizes big and small events happening in real-time, like the power outage and the 108-yard kickoff return. Facebook’s users clearly focus on big, flashy moments, with the Ravens’ win and Beyonce’s performance in the top two slots.

As for which brands made the most impact using social media, Oreo was the clear winner. The brand used the Super Bowl’s blackout as an opportunity to run a clever ad on Twitter and Facebook that was shared an enormous amount of times. Oreo’s executive team pulled the trigger on the spontaneous ad just after the blackout happened, according to Buzzfeed.

As of this morning, Oreo’s clever blackout ad was retweeted more than 14,500 times and re-shared on Facebook 6,740 times.

Take a look at the witty Oreo ad below: