Super Bowl XLVI ostensibly is the championship game to determine the year’s best team in the National Football League (NFL).
Though the tough battle is indeed fought on the gridiron, another high-profile event takes place between plays -the battle of the ads. Given the enormity of its viewership (in the United States alone, more than 111 million are expected to tune in this year), it is easy to see why multi-national companies spend an astounding amount of money on Super Bowl advertising.
Hoping to increase brand awareness, launch new product lines and ultimately increase sales revenue, companies are not only vying to widen their customer base and increase their brand exposure but to be considered among the best ads in advertising’s biggest stage.
This year a 30-second spot is going for $3.5 million USD. It’s quite a gamble, but the payoff could be enormous. It is telling that companies continue to take the risk, knowing that if the ad is well-executed the positive ramifications could have a ripple effect for their product, their brand and even their spokesperson.
During the 2011 Super Bowl, there were a handful of standouts which achieved the trifecta of exposure, likability and buzz. Among them was the endearing and funny “Star Wars” ad for the Volkswagen Passat. In the ad, a young boy dressed in a Darth Vader costume unsuccessfully attempts to use the force on a doll, a washing machine and his dog. Suddenly as he approaches the car, the force works. Or so he thinks. His father was using a remote to turn on the Passat. The boy is visibly shocked.
This ad worked so well for VW that they will be sticking to a familiar theme this year. In a true measure of success, Passat sales nearly doubled for the year.
A grittier but no less effective ad was the cinematic Chrysler ad “Imported from Detroit”. Set to home-town boy Eminen’s anthem “Lose Yourself”. The ad shows footage of the hip-hop star driving Chrysler’s 200 down the streets of Detroit. The ad ends with Eminem singing with a choir behind him effectively uttering the phrase “This is Motor City, and this is what we do.” So successful was the ad, that even its slogan “Imported from Detroit” took root. With Detroit residents proudly uttering the phrase, as well as sending Chrysler merchandise emblazoned with the phrase through the roof.
There are times when ads fall flat, as Groupon’s tongue-in-cheek ads did last year. Disguised as public service announcements, the ads featured celebrities seemingly talking about important social issues, but instead were talking about Groupon deals. The ads created the wrong kind of buzz and Groupon ended up pulling them.
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com
Michelle Mayer is blogger at Mijo! Brands in Mexico.
Click here to read more interesting blogs.
