Super Bowl time is here!

Is it a football game or a social event? Brady or Manning? Pats or Giants? Who will win?

Some people say who cares…I’m all about the party and the Super Bowl ads.

Clearly, large global brands have decided that social means business, and the Super Bowl will become the Social Bowl.

This Sunday while you are chatting with your friends about the Facebook IPO over the guacamole bowl, think about how TV and TV advertising are changing rapidly to a social experience.

In the competition for the best Super Bowl ads, and increasing number of progressive and forward thinking global brands are integrating a social element into their ads.

Getting the customer to smile or laugh is memorable, getting the customer to engage in the brand conversation via YouTube, Facebook or Twitter is magic.

Companies like Thismoment.com in SanFrancisco understand the importance of social marketing to large global brands. I talked with John Bara, CMO of Thismoment, and several of Thismoment customers with be launching Superbowl ads with tie in to social media properties. Companies such as Audi, Chevrolet, Kia, Hyundai, Reebok, Ciroc Vodka Universal Studios Transformers film and many other will be launching new social campaigns to engage customers in the social conversation about their brands.

Super Bowl ads defined the web in the 90s and now it will define the social media era.

Launching social campaigns is only the beginning. How a brand monitors, analyzes and manages the social discussion about the brand can prove to be a plus for the brand, or cause a huge black eye. Looking ahead to the future, as TV becomes more and more an internet experience with social components, marketers will continue to deliver creative social media marketing campaigns.