TurboTax Takes First Place Spot in Merkle’s Seventh Annual Digital Bowl Report

Report Highlights Advertisers’ Digital Marketing Efforts During Super Bowl LIV

COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, released its seventh annual Digital Bowl Report, evaluating Super Bowl advertisers’ 2020 digital marketing efforts. This year, TurboTax and Avocados From Mexico took first and second place, respectively.

Merkle’s annual Digital Bowl Report analyzes how well Super Bowl advertisers supported their advertising campaigns across digital channels including social media, paid search, SEO, and digital media. This year’s winner, TurboTax, took home the Digital Bowl for a second time, with their last top spot taking place in our 2016 Digital Bowl Report. TurboTax unleashed a multi-channel campaign that finished with the top score in two channels and narrowly missed the top score in social. TurboTax achieved this dominance by executing the fundamentals in its organic search; the brand utilized a dedicated landing page featuring its commercial and YouTube videos. TurboTax also featured strong coverage in digital, paid social and video, and outshined other performers with its TikTok hashtag challenge, which garnered over 100 million views.

“The Super Bowl is one of the most crucial moments of the year for advertisers, and with viewer consumption habits evolving, the game presents an opportunity for brands to reach and engage with audiences in new ways,” said Matt Mierzejewski, svp, search capability lead at Merkle. “Those advertisers that maximize their digital marketing efforts through multiple channels will ultimately see the greatest return on investment.”

For the 2020 report, brands were judged on the content and pre-game groundwork they created for their campaigns, how they engaged with users throughout the campaign, and how they organized their conversations. Some scored higher if they were agile and creative in their real-time marketing and if their efforts led to in-game earned media lifts. In SEO, brands were graded on campaign landing page optimization, meeting reasonable standards for site speed and security, discoverability, and YouTube optimization. The paid search team reviewed relevant keyword targeting, ad copy, and landing page experiences, along with visibility across device types. Digital media advertising was evaluated based on whether brands were leveraging teaser video content prior to the game and real-time ad buys during the game. Digital media scores were also based on the presence of appropriate display and social media retargeting pixels on web pages, as well as investment in paid social ad units.

To discuss these findings, Merkle is hosting a webinar on Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 2 PM EST. The webinar will highlight key insights into each digital channel, providing attendees with examples of how brands best leveraged their digital marketing during the 2020 Super Bowl.

About Merkle

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 9,400+ employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 50+ additional offices throughout the US, EMEA, and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network.