I don’t know if you noticed, but there was a huge television event last night. Enormous. Watched by some 163 million people in the US alone, last night was a major television event by any standard. Oh, not the football game. Sheesh. This isn’t Fox Sports. Nope, I’m talking about the commercials. More specifically, I’m talking about the theme on Twitter, alternately known as #BrandBowl, #AdBowl or #SBAds.
As I and a few thousand of my nearest and dearest friends watched the commercials, we also rated them on Twitter. Based on what I saw, what I heard from people in the room with me (several adults and teens) and what was tweeted, here’s what we learned from the winners and losers at last night’s #BrandBowl.
Several advertisers stood out, garnering all manner of comments both in my family room and on Twitter. Some of those advertisers were winners:
Chrysler. Its “Imported from Detroit” spot featuring Emininem was my personal favorite—and received positive responses from all over the Twitterverse (though there were some snarky comments after his “I don’t do ads” line in an earlier spot for Brisk Iced Ted)
Volkswagen. All of its ads did well, though the young boy as Darth Vader and the new Beetle spot were particularly strong.
Chevy Camaro. Their “Miss Evelyn” advertisement was a winner.
Bridgestone Tires. Yep. A tire brand actually did really well.
Coca-Cola. No surprise here, I guess. You’d expect Coke to know a thing or two about advertising.
GoDaddy got mixed reviews for its ad choices (full disclosure: I am a GoDaddy affiliate). Its Joan Rivers spot received generally positive comments, while its later spot was, um… well, sexist, sophomoric and offensive.
Speaking of offensive, the night’s big loser, without question, was Groupon. The company came off, at best, as insensitive and at worst exploitative for apparently making light of the situation in Tibet, deforestation and endangered whales (only one of these aired during the game—the other two were immediately before and afterwards). Ostensibly to raise awareness of—and money for—those issues, the company claims the ads were meant to poke fun at itself. If that’s the case, it seems like no one got the joke.
Still, what can we learn from this collection of high-priced advertising talent? I took 3 lessons to heart:
Connect with an emotional story. There’s no question that the Chrysler and Volkswagen ads, along with those from Audi and Motorola succeeded because they told an emotionally resonant story. Whether “our storied past” (Chrysler), “father and son” (Volkswagen), “boy meets girl” (Motorola), or “beaver meets driver” (Bridgestone), the emotional connections between the characters fueled the strongest audience responses (several teen-aged friends of my daughter actually “Aww-ed” at the end of the Motorola commercial). And all were among the most positively referenced last night.
Tech—for its own sake— is boring. Audi claimed the first use of a Twitter hashtag in one if its commercials last night. No one I watched with seemed to catch it—or to care. Maybe a little too “inside baseball” for the SuperBowl? Meanwhile, a hidden cheat code for the popular “Angry Birds” game during an advertisement for the animated film Rio got people all a-Twitter. It was clear that the movie connected because it aligned with the audiences for the game and got them talking about the film.
Humor can be great. But be very, very careful. Dorito’s probably had the LOL moment of the night referencing its finger-licking, and pants-licking, good chips. Volkswagen’s Darth Vader spot was one of the most talked about ads before the Super Bowl aired. Even otherwise maligned GoDaddy seemed to win when it revealed its “new” GoDaddy girl. But as HomeAway and, yes, Groupon learned, not everyone finds the same things funny you do. And a poorly told “joke” can seriously backfire.
Of course, we like to look at these ads and proclaim the winners and losers. But in reality, the real winners are going to be those brands that see a lift in business, not just web chatter, from their spots. For instance, Wieden and Kennedy, the agency responsible for the Chrysler spot helped increase sales for Old Spice body wash by some 50% following last year’s viral marketing smash “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”
Growing sales should be the whole point of advertising—whether on Super Bowl Sunday or in your local Sunday paper. And, for me, that’s the best lesson of all.
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There are very few businesses these days that don’t engage with Google. Whether you use them for advertising, applications or analytics, it’s likely you rely upon Google somewhere along the way for your sales and marketing. I have frequently suggested ways you can learn tasks like SEO directly from Google. But, based on the lower-than-expected sales of its Nexus One phone, Chris Matyszczyk on Cnet just asked, really, what does Google know about advertising?:
“If it doesn’t want to sell too many Nexus Ones, why is Google following me around the Web all the time? Might I offer a small thought? Is it possible that Google isn’t very good at advertising?
I know you’ll tell me I must have been at the dessert wine. This, after all, is the company that makes 97 percent of its vast, infernal profits from advertising.
Please, please, put down the baseball bat and take a seat. Have some dessert wine yourself. Google makes its money not from advertising that creates demand but from advertising that directs demand. It does it brilliantly. It has used its brain power to extraordinary effect. But it’s a very rational brain power.
Creating demand for many products, though, isn’t rational. It never was. And, until we finally reach the robot phase of our development, it never will be.” (Emphasis mine)
I take no sides in this fight, largely because I believe there are no sides. Chris may be right. It’s entirely possible that Google is really bad at developing cool advertising – hence the anemic sales for the Nexus One. But it’s equally possible that Google developed a product that no one wants or, more likely, is using a network no one wants. Or both.
I have no doubt Apple’s creative advertising for it’s iPods (white-earbud adorned silhouettes against candy-colored backgrounds) and iPhones (“there’s an app for that”) played a role in the success of its products. But I suspect the product played an even bigger role. Ironically, I just referenced Harry Beckwith’s story about the importance of fixing the product before fixing the advertising the other day. It’s a lesson Apple seems to have learned and that Google may still be dealing with.
All this still begs the most important question: assuming your product isn’t the problem, how do you know if your advertising is any good? Well, never fear, Big Thinker, I feel like we’ve got an answer to that one and it’s built around these 4 items:
Objectives – All marketing is built around having the right objectives. If you don’t know what exactly you’re trying to accomplish, how can you do the right things to get there? Hint: make sure you align your objectives with your customers’ interests. It’s tough to reach the former without the latter.
Measures – Once you know what you’re trying to do, you’ve got to think through how you’re going to measure your success. Measures can range from very simple (i.e., counting coupons) to highly sophisticated (e.g., regression analysis of sales over marketing spend). Don’t get too hung up on the details. Just make sure you’re following best practices for your metrics and you’ll be in good shape.
Message – Now that you know what you want to do and how you’re going to measure your success, you have to tell your customer what it is you want them to do. Again, don’t overthink it. Focus on the basics.
Medium – Finally, choose channels that your customers use. Paid search is one, sure. Email, snail mail, display and print all work, too. Just look at how to segment each so you can be sure you know which one works best for your customers.
As you move forward with these activities, it also makes sense to look at which sales channels work best for you. But start by looking at your marketing advertising. You may find you’re better at it than you think. And, just maybe, you’ll be better at it than Google.
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Today Chevrolet ended the “mystery” and announced its electric car – the Volt – is expected to reach 230 miles per gallon. Which is huge, by any standard. I guess. I’m not much of a car guy, but I do pay for gasoline and that sounds like a big deal. So big a deal, in fact, that Chevy has been running a viral campaign for the last several weeks (here in New York, anyway), trying to build some buzz around this announcement.
To some degree, the campaign succeeded. I noticed the ads almost every day in my building elevator and discussed them – albeit briefly – with colleagues. And as Ad Age noted, some folks even parodied the spots, as sure a sign as any that you’re getting attention.
So what’s my problem? Well, it seems that this effort is more marketing for the sake of marketing, rather than marketing for the sake of the customer. Sure, some films have built tremendous buzz using these techniques. Other media, too (I’m looking at you, JibJab). But, there was little secret about the product they were trying to sell. And the consumer benefits were clear (i.e., participate in these stories we’re trying to tell for Batman, show how funny you are for JibJab).
230 miles per gallon is really cool. It’s also a feature. Tell me I only have to fill the tank 4 times a year and that’s a benefit. Which one appeals to you more as a consumer?
The point is, there’s nothing wrong with viral marketing, regardless of product. But make me care. Then I’ll want to tell all my friends. Otherwise, you’re not viral. You’re a bug.
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Today Chevrolet ended 
