Beyoncé and advertisements, the two best parts of the 2013 Super Bowl. (Source: http://www.super-bowl2013.net/)
Yesterday, about 108 million people dedicated their Sunday afternoon to watching the Super Bowl. I jumped on the bandwagon solely to watch Beyoncé perform at the halftime show and to enjoy the best commercials aired on TV all year. However, about 10 minutes after I settled into the couch with about 20 avocados worth of guacamole I remembered I no longer lived in Seattle anymore and the best part of the Super Bowl wasn’t broadcasted in Canada.
While the 49ers were loosing to the Ravens (haha), I was thinking about all the ads I was missing out on, and how the Super Bowl is a tremendous marketing platform for a wide variety of companies. Once I got home I made sure to catch up on all the commercials I had missed, and did some research on how marketers can guarantee their advertisements will be successful.
Stephanie Vozza stated in an article following the Super Bowl that in order to be profitable, advertisements must: have a call to action, be different, highlight a unique selling proposition, take advantage of every opportunity, and use timely messaging. Personally, I totally agree with her. In particular, I think commercials are the most effective when they stand out and are memorable. This is because a memorable ad will place the brand into the retrieval set during the consumer decision process. An advertisement with a strong enough presence has the potential to eliminate other alternatives a consumer might be considering. Additionally, highlighting a unique selling point is absolutely critical for a commercial. It showcases to the consumer exactly what value and benefits the product offers and why they should need/want it. Even if not aired in the Super Bowl, all marketers should acknowledge these elements when designing an ad.
That said, here are some of my favorite ads:
Budweiser’s “Brotherhood”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o2prAccclXs
Volkswagen “Get In, Get Happy”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H0xPWAtaa8
How do you think Superbowl advertisements have evolved as more and more people are tuning in just for the ads? What about the increased use of social media, any thoughts on the impact it has?