For decades, companies have considered Super Bowl Sunday commericals the holy grail for TV advertising.  So much so, that there is a huge hype about which commercials will be best.  With our fast paced society, technology such as DVR and with the ability to watch your favorite shows online uninterupted, it’s extremely challenging for marketers to reach their target audience through traditional media.

Many companies this year jumped on the social media bandwagon inviting viewers to follow them on Twitter and like them on Facebook in their commercials.  While it’s very important to build brand loyalty on your social page, the odds of someone remembering to go visit your page after several adult beverages and an exciting Super Bowl finish is unlikely.  Most companies spent their cool $3.5 million for a 30 second spot, hoping that it would excite viewers about their company.  And while some perceived branding was created,  some new customers were acquired, and some proud loyal customers were happy to see companies they use in the spotlight, the challenge is that the companies are not capturing any specific data from viewers that may be interested.

Well for starters, you can steal one from the NFL’s playbook.  They nailed it this year with their “Live Like a Millionaire” commercial.  The commercial showed an average guy living an extravagant life.  As the commercial pursues, the voiceover asks the viewers to text NFL to a dedicated SMS code.  What guy doesn’t want a chance to win a million dollars playing fantasy football?

So you are probably wanting to know the results.  Well, according to the New York Times, the NFL set their sites on a 1% return, roughly 1.1 million people.  The NFL was stunned when they received 1.7 million texts.  After you texted NFL, you received a message to sign up for the NFL’s fantasy league that starts next fall.  The real value here is now the NFL can text 1.7 million people 7 months from now reminding them to sign up for the league.  So their return on investment from the 2012 Super Bowl will be substantially higher than everyone else’s and they have collected data to keep using for years to come.

The NFL noted that 91 percent of Americans use mobile phones, far more than those who use Facebook or Twitter. “You’re not seeing as much use of SMS as the consumer behavior might suggest,” Mr. Berman said.  Last Sunday’s ad, he added is a “cool case study.”

All this to be said, the NFL threw a touchdown with SMS and has sparked advertisers worldwide to take a more serious look at integrating text marketing into their current marketing strategy.