Why Beyonce's Word is Worth More than a Super Bowl Ad
We all have that one friend that takes Beyoncé's word as gold. It turns out that it might actually be.
As anticipated, everyone is in debate over the best and worst Super Bowl commercials. Co-workers ask me which ad takes the crown, publications rank their top selections and the conversation dissipates until the next year. Except Super Bowl 50 was the most streamed Super Bowl in event history with 3.96 million unique viewers. Hence, why I wanted to look into how online communities received them. My findings were nothing short of interesting. So, who had the best commercial of Super Bowl weekend? Red Lobster.
On Saturday, the Queen emerged from hiding in normal “Bey” fashion to release the video to her unexpected single, "Formation". In the song she alludes to her sought-after marriage through a few witty references. One of the more memorable lines was Beyoncé's Red Lobster reference. In minutes the video went viral and mentions of the seafood restaurant followed suit.
After 15 hours Red Lobster began trending on Twitter, garnering over 186k tweets. It was a whole day until Red Lobster responded with their thoughts and that still earned over 14,000 likes and 13,800 retweets. Ultimately the trend would see over 300k tweets.
This wasn’t just subject to meme culture, I followed the trend to Google too.
The graph above shows interest over time. There’s such a vast difference between the two topics because the “Beyonce” search volume was so high for valid reason. Still, there is clearly a correlation between the two and it showed in the unison in peaks over the past day. The video has since amassed over 13.3 million views and Red Lobster is riding Formation’s coattails.
I was curious to know how many people were talking about the restaurant across the internet thanks to the Queen’s royal treatment. BuzzSumo estimated that content mentioning the term “Red Lobster” saw over 30,500 shares on social media across about 80 articles.
In a comment to CNBC, Red Lobster says they saw a 33 percent spike on Sunday over last year. Beyonce’s word is worth a pretty penny, so it seems. Except there’s no way that it could measure up online with a Super Bowl ad right?
Questionable.
Let’s find out how Midas Beyonce’s touch really is. Without knowing the actual conversion to sales, many Super Bowl ads fall short to Red Lobsters reach over the past weekend.
Consider the well-received Doritos “Doritos Dogs” commercial. The official Twitter rollout of the ad saw over 2,200 likes and 1,300 retweets, barely a fraction of Red Lobster’s reception.
Ultimately, the YouTube video has attracted over 7,275,183 to date so you’d think publications would be wildly sharing… not so soon.
With much less of a selection to analyze, BuzzSumo charted a little over 5,500 total social shares from 30 articles referencing the Doritos “Doritos Dogs” commercial. Red Lobster related content saw more than double the amount of shares on average. Conclusively I found that the one-line Beyonce endorsement just might carry more weight than many of the highly touted 2016 Super Bowl ads.
Red Lobster has publicly said that they weren’t aware of the mention beforehand. And to their surprise, the unexpected influencer raised awareness of the restaurant at an alarming rate. In comparison to a 30 second, $5 million Super Bowl commercial price tag, I’d take Beyonce’s word for it.
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Dennis has a background in digital marketing and building communities. He likes to walk the intersection of marketing and content.
Also: Check out Trumplibs.com and fill in the mad libs from your favorite Donald Trump quotes.
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8yLove this post, I'm in formation.
Writestyle writes/edits pro copy; achieves 95+% difficult residencies & winning award nominations. How may we help you?
8yUntil the recent Super Bowl, I liked Beyoncé and some of her music. I saw her interviewed; she said she's shy when not on stage. Her performance with the other entertainers was fine. But, since when does a shy person, or anyone, go all out, unprovoked, in support of the Black Panthers? That behavior was absolutely shocking, unnecessary, and disappointing. Why can't all races understand that we're all just people who have different skin colors and coexist, be friends, etc. peacefully instead of causing trouble?
Senior Client Technology Analyst at Genentech
8yWhat is TRUTH? One’s ceiling of understanding or lack there of. When reading on a position or stand taken against another, driven solely on media driven speculative theories or mindless rhetoric, my Spirit feels the nails scratching the chalkboard. Please help me to better understand the culture that chooses to attack with words of disdain in hopes to cut and open wounds that they never felt. My apologies! Your efforts are meant to unite and bring forth positive thought with your impressive vocabulary. If a performance celebrating 50 years of a movement and individuals that spawned a culture which helped to interject awareness to circulative conditions we are still in, admittedly or not, where does that leave you Mr. or Mrs. 5th Amendment? The historicity tells its own story whether you choose to identify with it or not. There is only one absolute truth and that is the Risen Son of Man. “We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. So, as you speak without fault, with hopes to persecute, perhaps you should consider picking up your stone and redirecting it towards a foundation of love that can aid in changing the negative unhealthy state of mind that our culture seems to be undertaking a light speed. There is enough deadly venom being promoted via our media and the tongue is by far the fastest way to start an out of control fire. Please note that my intent or purpose is not to offend. As one ardent for hope and change in regards to our country’s present state both spiritually and physically, there is a travailing deep within my heart helping me to sustain during my attempt to be objective to some of different perspectives presented. As people from all walks of life I am sure that we are all tired of being sick and tired, to some degree. I will continue to stand in the gap in prayer as I ask you to pray for me during this season of conditioned hopelessness. Mr. Dennis Williams II, thank you for the article, much appreciated. Your analysis is absolutely correct; there is so much power in "words" but so much more power in “The Word”. Blessings.
> >> Why does the NFL continue to allow MTV to put on their half time >> shows? > -- Michael Kachaylo Jr hmmm perhaps because they put on a halftime show for a larger audience than just you. This years Super Bowl halftime was a tremendous hit at the party I was at on Super Sunday. So... one person's fiasco is another's hit performance. Perhaps the NFL has learned that you can't please everybody.
Retired US Army Officer
8yWhy does the NFL continue to allow MTV to put on their half time shows? How many incidents such as this, and the "wardrobe malfunction" does it take before they wise up?