Brief:

• TurboTax, the tax filing software made by Intuit, supported its Super Bowl commercial with the best digital marketing efforts, according to a ranking by Merkle. The marketing agency said TurboTax's digital marketing campaign included organic search and a dedicated landing page with its commercial and YouTube videos, per an announcement.
• To support its "All People Are Tax People" spot, TurboTax also hosted a branded hashtag challenge on social video app TikTok that generated more than 100 million views. The challenge urged people to show their #W2Step dance moves like the ones depicted in a remix video of the Super Bowl spot, per a TikTok blog post. TurboTax also had strong coverage in digital, paid social and video advertising, per Merkle.
• TurboTax also was ranked No. 1 for its digital marketing four years ago by Merkle, which judged brands based on the content and pre-game groundwork for their campaigns, how they engaged with users throughout their efforts and how they organized conversations, among other criteria. Avocados From Mexico had the second-best digital support for its Super Bowl ad, the agency said. 

Insight:

Overall, Super Bowl advertisers mostly failed to integrate digital in an impactful way. However, Merkle's report highlights the few marketers who used digital well and reaped benefits as a result, with TikTok being a particular focus of Super Bowl digital efforts this year. 

Prior to the big game, TurboTax had released its "All People Are People Extended Remix Video" that showed people of all ages and ethnicities doing the same dance move of wiggling their legs, inviting imitation on TikTok. The brand ran a takeover ad on TikTok that asked users to caption their videos with the #W2Step hashtag, a reference to the W-2 tax reporting forms that businesses are required to send to employees by Jan. 31 each year. In generating 100 million views for the #W2Step branded hashtag challenge, TurboTax extended the reach of its Super Bowl campaign while engaging millions of young people with its brand.

TurboTax scored well in Merkle's ranking of Super Bowl commercials by supporting its effort on digital marketing channels that are essential to software companies seeking to drive software-as-a-service subscriptions and digital downloads. Faced with growing online competition, the company several years ago focused its efforts on cloud-based services instead of selling packaged software that had driven growth during the dawn of the personal computing era, the New York Times reported. Having a robust digital presence is crucial for Intuit to maximize the effect of its marketing in offline channels such as linear TV.

TurboTax was among the brands to extend their Super Bowl campaigns to TikTok, which has been downloaded 1.65 billion times worldwide, including 46 million times in the U.S., per data compiled by Sensor Tower. Snack-food maker Sabra released a #Howihummus challenge while influencers such as Charli D'Amelio, Zach King, Brittany Broski and Ric Flair appeared in its commercial. Hyundai, Mtn Dew and Doritos also included TikTok in their Super Bowl promotions. Meanwhile, the NFL's #TouchdownCelebration challenge during Super Bowl Week generated 552.1 million views, and its #SuperBowlLIV challenge over the weekend spurred 1 billion views. 

Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has hosted several branded hashtag challenges in the past year, wasn't a Super Bowl sponsor but ran a counter-programming campaign titled "TikTok Timeout." The effort featured social influencers touting the burrito chain's delivery service every time a timeout was called during the game and reached more than 95 million people.