Okay, you’re telling us that brands were running ads that cost nearly $7 million…and they had no idea what their ROI was?

Sure, many of them will probably make the case that because the game was watched by roughly 100 million viewers that the impact was massive. “The brand value is immense” or “the ROI can’t be tracked, but we received so much traffic” are sound bites probably tossed around the office today.

Well, to those brands we would say — “You just fumbled it. You fumbled it BIG time.” Why? It’s simple. Because you don’t have directly attributed site lift. You don’t pinpoint locations for sit forward viewers. And you don’t have full funnel conversion insights to help determine ROI.

So, when it comes to picking the real winner of the Big Game, it was the brands that used Flowcodes in their commercial creative. Oh, and Rihanna won, too. Obviously.

From real time attribution to tracking the ROI of your spend, in this piece we’ll break down what Flowcode solutions can do for your business.

The Big Game parade is starting early for some brands…

An estimated $1 billion collectively was invested into the ads that ran throughout the game, with a total of $15 million in cumulative expenses for campaigns when you add integrated marketing costs, production, and all of the celebrity talent. Are all of those brands throwing parades because of the revenue they generated or impact they made? Unlikely. Rather, today they are looking at cryptic ratings numbers and assessing whether or not there will be a bump in sales to their products. But not every brand is enduring the same fate.

Brands like Avocados from Mexico and Planters Peanuts leveraged Flowcode QR code technology to instantly connect viewers to digital destinations and experiences. By doing so, they not only guaranteed they got direct insight on the engagement of their creative, they also created unique experiences to make the customer journey longer and more engaging.

• Avocados from Mexico created an integrated omni-channel campaign, and an in-ad Flowcode that connected viewers to a page with an AI tool. Everyone was watching the game with a phone in hand, and the brand did an amazing job embedding a QR code easter egg in their ad, and capitalizing on post-engagement after their ad aired.
  

• Planters Peanuts also knocked it out of the park. With a star studded line-up of actors and a Flowcode on screen for most of the ad, Planters was able to enable Flowcode’s geo-location feature to get location information from scanners who opted into tracking. All scanners were sent to their channel to further explore the full video skit on their campaigns. Planters increased the engagement of their campaign, and are now analyzing valuable CRM information of the locations that had the most engagement. Learn more from our team
  

But, just how the Eagles felt during that final field goal — not everyone's a winner.

Since we’re your resident QR code pros, it’s important to note that there were some flops. Unfortunately, they came from brands that were not using Flowcodes…or anything at all.

Companies that said no to QR:

From commercials promoting movie trailers to brands pitching website building solutions, there were a handful of opportunities to add QR codes to commercials during the game. Alas, a lot of companies opted against it. Here’s why they made mistakes:

1. They put faith in viewer engagement. Sorry, but no one is typing in full URLs anymore after a commercial — especially when Rihanna is about to come on. With back to back to back compelling advertisements, it’s a rookie move to trust your creative is holding the attention of the viewer. QR codes = instant and rapid connection. If they had QR codes on their ad, connection would have been effortless for the viewer. One scan of a camera phone and your audience is in.
2. They received no audience learnings. Brands that ran campaigns with Flowcode QR codes can now optimize their media based on millions of real-time insights, and have millions of first party data points to remarket against. Brands that didn't use QR codes have no learning and no insights.

Companies that chose the wrong QR:

This was painful to watch. Not all brands during the big game used Flowcodes. And unfortunately, not all QR codes are as powerful. We scanned every code throughout the game, and some took tens of seconds to load, some redirected to poor landing page experiences, and worst of all…one just crashed.

When you’re spending $7 million on your ad, it pays to use a QR solution that’s invested in your success. Grabbing any QR code online and tossing it on your creative is not a recipe for success.
‍

So, where should brands go from here?

Now that we’ve taken a look at the brands that won and lost last night, it’s time to ensure everyone's a winner moving forward. FlowcodeTV is the answer. With QR codes optimized for the big screen, Flowcode is the go-to for brands that want real-time attribution on their creative.

We’re ready to talk more if you are. And, if you’re an Eagles fan, you can hit our line in a few days. Understandably, you may need a couple of days.