With all that being said, is it really worth all those dollars? With the proliferation of social media, ads are now aired in full online before they hit the big screen on game day. If the majority of the audience has already seen the commercials, do brands and companies need to spend the millions of dollars in airing it during the big game?

Moreover, with online media, campaigns and advertisements experience a much longer shelf life. In the past, once the commercials aired, that was it – no revisiting or replaying, no sharing. Now, with the popularity of social media and the ever-growing online video platform YouTube, advertisements live on for days, months, and even years. As such, the success of an ad relies not only on the viewership on game-day, but on the virality of the ad – How many times was it viewed? How many times was it mentioned on Twitter? How many shares did it receive?

In recent years, some of the most successful ad campaigns relied on social media. Nike’s “Write The Future” ad aired during the 2010 FIFA World Cup and relied on a heavy social media/viral push in the months leading up to the championship game. In a twist of convention, Nike isn’t an official sponsor of FIFA World Cup – Adidas is. According to statistics from Wieden+Kennedy (the agency that produced the campaign), Nike generated 40 million + online views of their 3-minute spot, 1.9 billion impressions on Facebook, and their Facebook Fan Page experienced an increase of 336 per cent in Likes. Above all that, Nike captured 30 per cent of the brand buzz – double that of Adidas.

From Dave Thier of Forbes: “A stat like $3.5 million for 30 seconds of airtime may see a serious hit in the future as advertisers realize that the internet can yield just as big an audience as football without having to go through NBC.”

Below, we take a look at some of the 2012 Super Bowl advertisements that have been generating buzz in the past few weeks and offer our own critique of their potential success and virality:

Honda CR-V: Matthew Broderick “Matthew’s Day Off”

Car manufacturers will appear to be taking over our television sets this weekend as commercial after commercial will be turbocharged and performance-inspired. Honda is releasing their newest model of the CR-V and hoping to take us back to our days of bowl cuts and Club Monaco sweaters. Using the clever appeal of the ever popular ‘80s movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the commercial stars Matthew Broderick as he takes a day off from his acting responsibilities. The commercial revisits memorable scenes from the movie and even ties in a Chinese New Year angle.

For a social tie-in, Honda has a Leap List Facebook app on their Page encouraging users to create a bucket list of activities they want to complete during the leap year. Nothing to note on Twitter besides their official hashtag: #dayoff.

• Our take: Is it memorable? No, there’s nothing humourous or riské and nothing to drive us to pass it on to our friends. Moreover, the entire ad spot has been aired online. Viral success? The ad has been on YouTube for four days and it already has nearly 434,000 views. Chances of me taking a bathroom break when this spot airs on game day? 100 per cent.

Volkswagen: “The Bark Side”

Volkswagen is given top marks in my books for not revealing the entire ad prior to the big game – you’re paying millions of dollars for a 60-second spot, take advantage of it. By producing a commercial for their commercial, VW cleverly leaves us wanting more by peaking our curiousity for what’s to come. The fan favourite The Force from last year’s Super Bowl was a huge hit that attracted nearly 50 million views online and this year VW builds on that with their The Bark Side commercial for a commercial. The dogs bark through Darth Vader’s theme, a.k.a. The Imperial Death March, and that’s it.

• Our take: Unlike the other car commercials we touch on in this post, there isn’t even a hint of a car or a mention of horsepower in this commercial and, ultimately, that’s what the Super Bowl viewer wants: to be entertained. VW gets top marks because they don’t reveal the actual advertisement online, leaving us curious and wanting to view more. Proof of their success: the teaser already has over 10 million hits on YouTube. Above all that, who doesn’t love cute dogs?

Hyundai

As if we weren’t getting enough of car advertisements, Hyundai decides to hit us with five advertisements on game day. Five. The theme of the advertisements is performance and follows a very patriotic American theme. From a man performing chest compressions on his unconscious boss and the stars and stripes forever, to a racing cheetah and the Rocky theme song, the commercials, according to Inside Line (and we couldn’t agree more), are “all over the map creatively.” Of the five commercials, the only one that has Super Bowl potential is the “All For One” ad that scored the coveted pre-kick time slot. With the Rocky theme song and over 200 “actual” Hyundai team members, the ad provides a decent mix of random humour and pop culture appeal.

• Our take: Hyundai should have saved the tens of millions of dollars spent on the five ads. There is little to no social media back-up except for a handful of Facebook video posts and tweets. Their only possible saving grace is the “All For One” spot.

Coca-Cola: the polar bears

The Coca-Cola polar bears are throwing a game day party and they want us to join! Viewing from the comforts of their “snowfa”, the bears will be streamed live on the Coke Polar Bowl microsite and Coca-Cola is encouraging fans to RSVP to the party.

Coca-Cola is appealing to the nostalgia of the brand and bringing out the bears that we have all come to know, love, and associate with the brand. During the game, Coca-Cola will roll out two ads: a 30-second spot in the first quarter introducing the bears and a 60-second second quarter ad that will be a game-time call depending on how the game unfolds on the real-life field.

Moreover, Coca-Cola smartly extends the campaign across digital and mobile with the Coke Polar Bowl microsite. On game day, a live-stream will show the bears on their snowfa, allowing fans to chat with them live during the game. Additionally, rich-media banners will show the bears reacting to the game and the commercials as they play out. Twitter and Facebook will see Coca-Cola writing notes to fans and sending out clips extracted from the live stream. For a social good touch, Coke has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and is donating $1 to every event RSVP on Facebook.

• Our take: The ads themselves aren’t memorable. While they are cute and have a nostalgic appeal, there’s nothing there to encourage anyone to share it or watch it more than once. Additionally, the ad doesn’t appeal to the target audience – online interactions seem more appealing to younger children than to 18-34 year old men noshing on hot wings and beer. Coca-Cola’s success will lie in their strong social media tie-in with the microsite and the live-stream.

H&M: David Beckham underwear line

In the ad’s YouTube description, H&M claims that he is “sporting various pieces from the new collection.” I don’t know about you, but I really only see one piece.

• Our take: Sex appeal. Done.

Charity Swear Box
Do you curse a lot? Do you curse a lot on Twitter? Just like if you had a swear jar at home, Charity Swear box will donate a dollar for each swear word your tweet. This creative social media tool for good was created by James Dow and Jay Gelardi, and is a easy, low involvement way to raise funds for charity. Creating something fun, that users already do, results in an easy to use, exciting campaign for good, for the world. If you know someone or seen someone who swears all the time, show them the Charity Swear box and tell them to put their bad words to good use. Watch the lovely explanatory video here, and sign up now as our friends at Fuck Cancer are the featured charity!

Snoball
Today’s savvy digital audience prefers information tailored to them, based on their preferences. News articles, friends reommendations, local events etc., combine for a more personalized experience online. Snoball sees this and is a way for users to donate to charity in an way that’s easy, social and fun. Based on a users preferred activities, and tied to everyday interests, the user is in control of their giving. Create an event, invite your friends to join, when your friends join, the snowball grows through customizable micro-donations or one-time gifts. The concepts behind snowball, and its personalized features, make fundraising results happen easily. The tool is useful because it is automated, fun and group based around events, all to create a “snoball” effect. Still not sure? Watch their video.

TousDonateurs
A recent comScore report notes television ads work substantially less effectively on Millennials than on older generations. However, the presence of key creative elements in advertising were shown to relate strong to successful advertising. TousDonateurs is French site where the advertisers donate to charity if users watch their ads. Users go to the site and select a charity that means something to them. They then watch several 30-second long ads, answer a quick question (to confirm the ad was watched), and the advertiser donates a euro on behalf of the viewer. We already watch 4 billion online videos each day — why not watch with purpose.

WeTopia
WeTopia is an online social game where players can contribute to real world problems. The Facebook game is all about players having fun while raising money for children’s charities. The game is free to play, and users create villages and help the community. When a player purchases a virtual good, that action results in a donation to a real world cause. With so many people playing social games, WeTopia is a way for players to contribute to a cause in a social way. WeTopia has many partners including Save the Children, Children’s Health Fund and others. Brand partners include Clorox, Mattel and Dippin’ Dots. It’s also great to note that in the past Zynga has donated millions of dollars to causes via Zynga.org group.

For even more creative social for good projects,  check out the 50/50 make or break initiative. The inititave is based around a challenge: to launch 50 projects in 50 days then raise 1million pounds for famine relief in East Africa. Looking for inspiring projects or want to get involved? Click here: 50/50 make or break initiative

1) Fooducate
This iPhone app encourages users to eat better by scanning products to reveal their heath scores. Fooducate uses an algorithm to established grades (A to F), developed by nutritional and dietary professionals. It takes into account the nutrition facts panel, the ingredients listed, and the product category. You’ll be able to discern products with too much sugar, sodium, trans fats, food colourings and more. This app solves the confusion of health claims and marketing hype by scanning a product in the grocery store or by searching for a product in the app. Just pick up a product from the shelf, scan it, and let Fooducate do the rest. And it’s free!

2) Urbanathlon

Invoke built this one: The Urbanathlon health and fitness app is a free iPhone application geared towards athletes competing in the Men’s Health Urbananthlon and Festival, a huge race/obstacle course/festival/ultimate fitness challenge. However those who are not competing in the the race will find the workouts challenging and beneficial. Many of the workouts suggested do not require special equipment or weights.

2) miHealth
Your health is in your hands with this app designed for the iPhone and iPad. Mihealth is a Canadian app that allows users to pull up their health records at any time. The digital copies of their health records can be updated and maintained using the app. The information can be accessed at anytime, such as in case of an emergency or to show a health care professional. The other great feature is the messaging. Users can communicate with their doctors directly using the app, providing worry free communication between patients and clinics.

3) iMuscle

The iMuscle app is available on iPhone and iPad and has 3D body part displays, which is cool although a little creepy. The app allows users to identify and target individual muscles sections for maximum results. The app provides more than 450 unique exercises and stretches. The app also measures heart rates, calories burned and more. It’s a little on the expensive side, at $4.99. However it was named the best iPad Medical app in 2011 by Apple so if you are a visual person, and have specific needs, this app is for you.

4) Nike+
If you hate treadmills and love running all over town, download the Nike+ iPhone app for $1.99. The Nike+ app tracks the distance, and pace of your runs and motivates you to go even further. It’s social in that it allows users to post the runs on Twitter and Facebook. You can get motivated with the voice feedback feature, voiced by Nike’s top athletes, and use personalized PowerSongs to help you go just one more mile. If you love treamills, don’t worry, the app will track your distance too. Keep a record of your best runs and and see what it takes for you to break them.

Honorable mentions:

The Eatery: Love taking photos of your food? This app promises to make your eating habits easy to track and thus to change. The app uses photos in your camera roll and determines whether it is fit or fat food. Or you can add friends and they can comment on what you’re eating. The app also uses that data and creates nice visualizations.

Lose it!
If you are looking for an extensive way to track what you eat and when you eat it, then be sure to get this free iPhone app. Track calories, pounds, weight lost and share with friends. The app encourages users to set goals and establish a daily calorie budget. According to the Lose it! website, the app has helped users lose at total of 7,445, 581 lbs.

At Invoke, we’re excited to see another year wrapping up. For us, this marks the end of the year as our office is closed for the holidays at 5 p.m. Friday (Dec. 23). We re-open Jan. 3 and will immediately be jumping into all sorts of amazing and challenging client projects and internal products. Clients with active projects can make arrangements with their account managers for assistance during the winter break.

It has been a busy year for us. We launched the Eat St. mobile app and the Food.ee web app. We had a great time with VH1’s Single Ladies memelabs contest, and were gratified to work with IAVA, the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Fuck Cancer. We built apps for Men’s Health and the Urbanathalon and the Onion, a Facebook contest for Peter Lehmann Wines (just one of our many great Facebook app clients) and developed social and digital strategies for 7-Eleven and Los Angeles Newspaper Group. There was a website for AG Hair and a contest for State FarmFriday Night Feats. This is just a snippet of the great clients and projects we’ve been involved with in 2011. It’s been busy.

We’ve also been growing like mad, outgrowing our office space, moving into another and nearly outgrowing that one as well.

Our New York office  expanded and we also acquired Vancouver based digital company Thirdi.

What happens next? Keep checking out the Invoke blog, Twitter feed and subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest developments.

Best wishes from all of us at Invoke! Have a safe and happy holidays.

See everyone Jan. 3, 2012. Until then, check out the best memes from 2011.

“Invoke has grown substantially this year,” said David Tedman, the co-CEO of Invoke. “Acquiring Thirdi reinforces our growth strategy both in US markets as well as here in Vancouver.”

Invoke has rapidly been adding staff in the past 12 months to handle a growing client list, which includes brands like VH1, 7-Eleven Canada, Los Angeles Newspaper Group, AG Hair, F-Cancer and Men’s Health. Invoke’s services — including social media and digital strategy, web and mobile app development, Facebook development and website design and development — position it to smoothly take over Thirdi’s services which include social apps and online tools. Invoke is now handling all of Thirdi’s existing accounts and providing ongoing support for clients and their apps. Web, mobile development and social media support will be done out of Invoke’s Vancouver office.

“Our team is thrilled to bring our award winning strategy and products to a host of exciting new clients,” Tedman said.

“This is a great move for everyone involved, and I’m excited it’s Invoke taking over,” said Matt Friesen, Thirdi’s founder. “There’s no doubt our clients will love their new agency. I spent the past five years growing Thirdi to what it is today and I’m proud to pass the ball to Invoke.”

Invoke’s in house products include HootSuite, memelabs, Eat St. and Food.ee.

During the next 90 days, Invoke will be transitioning Thirdi’s social media channels and redirecting business inquiries to Invoke.

Thirdi clients with questions about their accounts can contact Invoke at 604-398-6030 or by emailing info@invokemedia.com.

Please direct press inquiries to Allison Vail at allison.vail@invokemedia.com.