Yesterday evening, if you watched the Superbowl, you undoubtedly witnessed the highly unusual break in the action when half of the lights in the Superdome went black. For 35 minutes, the game stalled while officials worked furiously to get the lights back on and the game started back up.

What do you do when there is a break in the action? Well, Oreo and their creative agency had the idea to spring into action, quickly make up an ad, and get it out on Twitter. The ad only took minutes to make, and as you can see from the image above, it was a viral, smash hit (14,005 retweets is massive).

Why is this important? Why did the ad do so well? It's simple. The ad is clear, easy to understand, and most importantly was CONTEXTUALLY RELEVANT with what was going on at that moment. So once again, it appears that context and not content is king, when it comes to a successful marketing strategy.

As with everything I see and do in my life, my mind immediately started wandering into the realm of real estate and how agents could harness contextual marketing, making it relevant to their marketplace and hopefully making their brand go viral in their community. Here are a couple simple ideas to consider.

1) Local Events With Publications and Advertising Opportunities

Does your marketplace have an annual art and wine festival? Is there a Founder's Day parade? Fourth of July festivities? These are all excellent places to do some neat, contextually relevant image advertising.

Undoubtedly, these events will have some sort of program or other advertising opportunities that you can take advantage of. Most likely your local event has some sort of theme. Work with your marketing team to create a compelling, theme related ad that ties in the event, real estate and your brand.

Even if there isn't necessarily a "theme," the event itself can provide you with enough ammunition for creating a contextually relevant ad.

2) Look at Community News Headlines

Local news hardly ever goes unnoticed by people in a community. It has to do with their area, with people they may know, and usually creates a buzz as a result.

This can be a little tricky, as not every news headline would be appropriate for comment. However, if you find one that works, you can craft a clever image ad that touches, in some way, on the topic (just like Oreo succeeded in doing).

These types of ads and marketing messages will be remembered by people in your marketplace. They are remembered not simply because they are clever, but most importantly because they are relevant to that moment, in your marketplace.

This is the most difficult type of advertising, and I strongly suggest you dive into it carefully. The best practice would be to retain the services of a marketing agency to help you with these campaigns.

Have you been thinking of embarking on some sort of contextual image campaign? Did you have an idea or two you'd like to bounce off someone for input and thoughts? Do you have no idea where to start on this and simply need someone to help get you going? If so,contact me anytime and I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.