Excuse me, the Big Game. If you weren’t aware, there are very tight restrictions imposed by the NFL on use of the SB words.
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/1/31/18202037/super-bowl-53-ads-trademark-the-big-game-2019
But that’s not the point of this post.
You may be one of the many who watch the ads purely for entertainment value. If that’s the case, you’re no doubt in for your share of brilliance, virtue signaling, emotional manipulation, morally questionable/disgusting, Christopher Walken and just plain bad ads (see “puppybabymonkey”). All of which is great. Enjoy.
https://thearmchairmba.com/?s=super
The intended point is that even if an ad is unbelievably hilarious, poignant, memorable or otherwise highly engaging, advertising has diminished value if the brand is not well integrated.
It’s sort of like meeting that attractive person at a bar that you have an amazing instant connection with, but leave without a phone number or any other way to take action. If the brand isn’t connected to the ad, it’s hard for the viewer to do anything about it.
If you’re a marketer, however, SB, er, BG ads are interesting for different reasons – at $3.5M or $4M whatever the price for 30 seconds is these days, you are no doubt wondering how that expense can possibly pay out.
The good folks at Kellogg Graduate School of Business have come up with a formula called ADPLAN that breaks down key components of effective ads. You can see how they rate Sunday’s ads in real time here: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/news-events/super-bowl.aspx
– Attention
– Distinction
– Positioning
– Linkage
– Amplification
– Net Equity
This point we’re talking about is related to one of the 6 points – L – Linkage – – of the advertising to the brand.
Many of the Big Game ads do a great job getting your attention, but don’t close the loop by making the brand an integral element.
As an example, compare two very entertaining ads – – which of them can you connect to a brand?
- “Just OK is not OK” – whether it’s a tattoo artist, surgeon, babysitter or tax preparer, this campaign is highly entertaining, engaging and amusing. It just doesn’t have a strong linkage to the brand or core message (other than ‘we’re better than OK’ – – not necessarily ownable or particularly compelling). I’ve enjoyed this campaign immensely but have never remembered the advertiser. (It’s AT&T, by the way. I checked).
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/IZ6U/at-and-t-wireless-ok-surgeon
- “Jake” You can probably already envision the scene (late at night phone call) and catchphrase “Jake…from State Farm”. In this case, the premise (State Farm is always available) and the brand name are well integrated into the creative.
https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7ISp/state-farm-3-am-savings
That’s it. My intended takeaway is neither original nor news – – but it’s still really important in evaluating ad effectiveness.
So enjoy the game this Sunday. There will be lots of great entertaining spots. And it looks like it could be a good game as well.
However, from a marketing perspective, if you can’t remember the brand whose commercial you just watched, there’s work yet to be done.
The Armchair MBA 