Winner: Esurance - #EsuranceSave30
Esurance opted to buy the first commercial slot following Super Bowl XLVIII, and by doing so, saved 30 percent, which added up to a whopping $1.5 million. Instead of just absorbing the savings for themselves, Esurance wanted to pass it on to one lucky viewer. Thus, #EsuranceSave30—a 36-hour Twitter campaign with easy rules and a BIG prize—was born.
The ad, created by agency Leo Burnett, announced the Twitter sweepstakes and explained that Esurance would give the money it saved ($1.5 million to be exact) away to one lucky viewer who had tweeted the hashtag #EsuranceSave30. That’s it. Viewers weren’t directed to a phone number or web site for an insurance quote — the goal was to simply raise brand awareness.
On February 2, 2014 — after the last whistle of the Super Bowl — Esurance aired its exclusive spot, and the hashtags immediately flew and Twitter blew up with fans who were understandably excited about the possibility of winning a boatload of cash in exchange for just 140 characters.
Within 1 minute, more than 200,000 people had Tweeted for a shot at the prize, and by the time the sweepstakes ended (a mere, but frenzied, 36 hours later), Esurance received more than 5.4 million Tweets. The winner was chosen by an independent third-party sweepstakes administrator to ensure that they were fairly selected per the official rules. The lucky winner was revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, February 5.
Honorable Mentions:
• Allstate Insurance Company - Allstate Talks Tech with Infomercials
• Carrington College - #CarringtonCares Challenge
• Cramer-Krasselt - Rain-X Driving Xpert
• Current Lifestyle Marketing - Liquid-Plumr Clog Culprits
• Hilton Worldwide - DoubleTree by Hilton - Where in the World is the DoubleTree Cookie Contest
• KC Projects, LLC - Take your Philanthropy to the Moon: Full Moon Bar-B-Que Sorority Challenge
• SPN Communications - Lee Jeans Marathon
• Symantec Corp. - Boldly Go Contest