Reviewing the 2011 Super Bowl Ads

Each year, I study the Super Bowl ads to determine winners/losers. 

It's a great opportunity, given that the world's leading brands and brand-gurus work on these ads all year long.  By reviewing them for performance, we can glean valuable insights into how we market - or what we do when we are on a big stage in the market. 

When it comes to ads, I have two basic rules:  They should be a service, not an interruption.  To quote Sergio Zyman (former CMO of Coke), "Ads should be a service that adds value when you purchase, own or consume the product."  The second rule is that a good way to measure ad effectiveness is by unaided recall.  In other words, is the ad and it's messaging likely to be remembered later?  

So, absent any notes or a review of other analysis of the Super Bowl ads, here are my observations: 

The CareerBuilder commercial (Parking Lot) is a home run.  It is funny, includes their ad-franchise (monkeys) and puts us in a physical place (stuck in a hard place, needing a way out).  That's the perfect pitch to lure more 'passive job seekers' to post a resume on their platform.  

Epic fantasy driven ads from Kia and Coke fail, because they require way to much concentration on details.  Even though there's great effects and eye-popping visuals, it's really hard to follow - and in the end, you just don't know what the point of the commercial is.   Remember: people are watching these ads at a party - Keep It Simple! 

The funniest ad isn't always effective.  In my view the Bridgestone ad (Did You Reply To All?) was hilarious and highly relatable.  The problem lies in the call to action at the end: Buy our tires.  The humor doesn't remotely connect with the product.  Sure, the Geico ads don't always do it either, but usually they find some way to bring the entertainment back to the value proposition (So easy, a cave man could do it...) 

Stars aren't always a sure-fire way to increase sales.  Best Buy bet the farm on Bieber and the Osbornes, but it was done in a jittery-manic sort of way that distracted from the point of the ad (we'll stay on top of technology for you.) 

The Super Bowl provides certain companies a way to generate an exogenic shock, launching themselves from obscurity to trail and usage.  Chatter.com, The Daily (for tablets) and Groupon all did just that - leveraging a few million into instant awareness.  Time will tell if they captured enough trial to justify the expense, in the case of The Daily, I think they did. 

My other observation is that it's ironic that so many ads generated humor via people getting hit in the head with objects, doors and cans - during a game where there's an intense focus on REDUCING head injuries!  The disconnect will likely not be lost on viewers. 

 

 

Comments

[Rose Ector]

That is one unique ad. It truly deserves to be part of Super Bowl's pool of video ads. That company may not be well-known as of today, but tomorrow is definitely another story, especially considering that it was aired during the Super Bowl, when thousands of fans were allowed to watch the ads live.

[hollywood bistro]

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[Data Kurtarma]

Thanks for sharing

[muhasebe programı]

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[muhasebe programı]

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[Veri Kurtarma]

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[Barry Moltz]

Hi Tim-
Here is my view!
http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/7-key-lessons-super-bowl-ads-can-teach-small-business-owners-barry-moltz

[Ben]

Along the lines of your ads providing a service, one ad that no one mentions is the Pizza Hut ad that aired just before kick-off. It was an offer for pizza dippers which were a little different than just a round pizza. Whether you were at a party where the pizza might be running low, or home with your family, that commercial had us all thinking we could have this snack by half-time.

On another note I'm wondering if I'll ever be able to eat a Dorito again without getting grossed out by one of their commercials. That was a dis-service.

[Michael Neiss]

I actually thought there were a number of good ones this year. And some clunkers. Pardon this hometown boy's bias, but have to go with Eminem and Chrysler. Beautifully filmed. Brave at 2 minutes. The downside? Chrysler's CEO in the news the days before complaining about the interest rates the US is charging on the loans that saved their butts and then they spend 6 million on an ad? Effective? Maybe. The subtext is why buy a 300C at 40K when you can get the car Eminem likes at half the price. Do love the tagline, imported from Detroit.