Shortly after the Super Bowl power outage, Oreo tweeted this ad with the caption “Power out? No problem.” Since then, it’s been retweeted more than 14,000 times and received more than 20,000 Likes on Facebook. What does this mean? Well, aside from the obvious, it means the most powerful piece of marketing during the advertising industry’s most expensive day may have been absolutely free. Early in the evening Oreo aired a spot during the game that cost them millions of dollars to air, not to mention the check they wrote to Weiden & Kennedy to produce the spot. But that’s not what everyone is talking about today. Instead, blogs and new outlets across the web are talking about what has essentially become the “Tweet heard around the world” which was devised by Oreo’s AOR (Agency Of Record) 360i. So, how did they do it? Simple. They didn’t clock-out at 5pm on Friday like most others do/did. During the game 360i had what could be considered a Social Media War Room set up at their office when the blackout happened. While fans watching the game changed the channel and took to Twitter, Oreo didn’t panic. They quickly noticed the opportunity and pounced. Within minutes, the Tweet was designed, written and approved.

The point is this. Whether your brand is involved in a traditional sports, motorsports or Chess, it is imperative that you are engaged and paying attention to what is going on around that event or sport. Things don’t always go as planned. It’s inevitable. When everything changes, when you have to go off script, that’s where the fun begins. That is the time for your brand to shine; to be mind-blowing. Be brave and not hide too much behind the status quo. Marketing and advertising is changing right in front of our eyes and we welcome it with open arms. We encourage you to do the same.