How did a Super
Bowl advertiser know if she spent $4 million of her media budget wisely
yesterday? And what about that production budget?
The answer
doesn’t depend on popular opinion surveys, like the USA Today Ad Meter declaring
Budweiser’s Clydesdales the
winner. In the end, clients want results, and while some seek
popularity, all advertisers look for sales, share and brand equity.
We can’t share
any internal documents stating those goals and whether the ads achieved
them. But the universal laws of strong communication still apply.
Based on those, we can pick some winners.
Universal
Laws of Advertising Still Apply on Super Bowl Sunday
Every
commercial has to be memorable, persuasive and well-executed. Most
Super Bowl commercials are memorable, even if it’s a memorable failure, and
even if it resorts to stupid attention-getting tricks like featuring babies,
animals and/or celebrities. And most are well-executed. Or at least
well-funded.
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No, really. Where's the copy strategy for this? |
It’s the
persuasive part that many Super Bowl commercials miss. In many cases
that’s due to a lack of clear objective. In most it’s because the brand,
product and story aren’t all present or linked together.
I’m not
prescribing a claim or product feature, although those are far and few between
during any Super Bowl. It’s more simple: Did you remember the
advertiser? Did you remember what they told you?
Super Bowl
Advertising Also Has to be Epic
There’s one
more rule that applies to big events like the Super Bowl: Advertising has
to be epic. That could mean making a special emotional connection,
launching a (truly) revolutionary product,
or even a celebrity.
Think of the Super Bowl as a premiere. It would be silly to run an ad
everyone has already seen. (Oh. Wait….)
The problem is,
epic falls flat if there’s no story being told – not just the story on
the screen, but the advertiser’s story.
Super Bowl
XLVII Advertising: What Worked
Based only on
the above thoughts, here were three that worked well.
“Morning Run” (Milk). Milk’s marketing works best when
it focuses on the “healthy body” claim. In this case they turned the “Got
Milk?” storyline into the promise of “Protein to start your day.”
Dwayne Johnson’s role reinforces the product benefit. And it was epic.
“Farmer” (Dodge Ram). I admit that the Paul Harvey
speech drew me in. Which was necessary because I’m not in the market for
a pickup truck. Doubly necessary because of Dodge Ram
advertising’s sophomoric track record. Yes, it amounts to a product usage
suggestion (“great for farming!”) but they effectively used the brand to herald
a cause.
“Miracle Stain” (Tide). I had to go back and watch it
again this morning because I apparently missed the “Go Ravens” line while feeding
tortilla chips to the children. Kudos to Procter & Gamble for
resisting the urge to feature a claim and/or a demo until the very end.
What didn’t
work so well?
None of these
spots had all four ingredients (memorable, persuasive, well-executed and epic).
“Effect” (Sodastream). My in-game tweet on
#AdHuddle: “SodaStream verdict: The pre-game controversy did way more for
them than the in-game #Advertising.” They could have made a much more clear
connection to saving the environment, or even saving money, than this botched
attempt at a side-by-side comparison.
“Party” (Pepsi Next). At first glance this is classic
Pepsi: a situation comedy where young people raise Cain and get away with
it. But wait, it’s not classic Pepsi, it’s a line extension, and they
don’t get away with it. The entire situation is contrived to fit around a
product usage occasion where the dad recites the brief: “This is real
cola taste.”
What about
you?
I’ve only
chosen a few commercials here, so please put your own reviews in the comments
section below. Which commercials did you think were memorable,
persuasive, well-executed and epic?