The first quarter of the Super Bowl isn't even over yet, and already Esurance appears to be miles ahead of competitors when it comes to social chatter.
The insurance brand ran a 30-second pre-game ad created by Leo Burnett. The commercial promotes a contest to win up to $1 million in exchange for tweeting #Esurancesweepstakes.
According to data from tech company Spredfast, the brand's Twitter mentions spiked at 6:35 p.m. when the commercial aired, generating 9,000 tweets per minute. The hashtag also trended nationally on Twitter for roughly 15 minutes.
Esurance ranked No. 2 on Spredfast's first quarter Super Bowl data for Twitter with 100,000 tweets, behind only Dorito's 150,000 tweets. To compare, Mountain Dew was third in Spredfast's stats and pulled in roughly 38,000 tweets.
Building social buzz around the Super Bowl without buying an in-game spot has become a bit of a go-to move for Esurance. The brand ran a similar campaign in 2014 after the Super Bowl, giving out $1.5 million.
Check out some of the reaction tweets below:
#EsuranceSweepstakes
— ❤Showpony Farm❤ (@ShowponyCowgirl) February 8, 2016
Watching my DMs for a message from #EsuranceSweepstakes . Retweet to win! pic.twitter.com/mBS9ifOZgQ
Everybody waiting on @esurance right now like #EsuranceSweepstakespic.twitter.com/8yV1xzs4lr
— Guy (@ThatsWhatever) February 8, 2016
If I won the #EsuranceSweepstakes I would rescue Scott Baio from space jail.