The brands are getting ready to the upcoming Super Bowl in their own creative ways. Some of them are launching new adverts like Doritos and Pepsi, while others are kicking off much bolder projects, transforming online activity of their fans into support for offline actions, just like Mercedes-Benz USA. The auto maker, which is going to advertize during the American football’s biggest event for the first time, started a campaign entitled ‘Tweet Race’ on the platform of its social media hubs, engaging its fans across the country.
The campaign was launched back in December, when the brand issued a call for those who would like to participate in the offline part of the initiative and get behind the wheel of the all-new 2012 C-Class Coupe. Then, Mercedes-Benz shortlisted nearly 2,000 candidates “based on a combination of social-media prowess, personality and other intangibles that promise to make the race engaging and entertaining to followers” to only four people. Together with their co-drivers (chosen on their own consideration) they will embark on a journey separately from Chicago, Los Angeles and New York and Tampa on February 2 to arrive at Cowboys Stadium outside Dallas, Texas on February 4. The teams will be supported by Twitter-savvy celebrities, who will work as Team Coaches for their contestants and will also help raise money for charity.
The winning teams have just three weeks to get ready for the race by mobilizing their Twitter followers. The visitors to the Facebook page can learn more about each of the teams, and decide which of them they want to support during the 3-day rally as well as watch the race in real-time. During their journey, they will be collecting points (both Tweet Fuel ones and those generated in a range of social media-related challenges), and the team with the highest score will get the 2012 C-Class Coupe. The supporters of the winner automatically enter a sweepstakes for a chance to receive tickets to either 2011 US Open, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in September 2011 or the 2011 PGA Championship.