This was one of those rare years when the Super Bowl game outshone the Super Bowl ads. While the Pittsburgh Steelers kept viewers interested by threatening a historic comeback, many of the TV spots felt like reruns, ad agency executives told CMO.com.
“The advertising was OK. It was less impactful than in years past,” said Rob Scalea, CEO of the Americas for The Brand Union. “[The ads] can’t always be breakthrough—after a few years that runs its course.”
Which doesn’t mean many of the ads weren’t successful. Most of them did just what the advertiser wanted, even though they didn’t necessarily generate the most buzz. Super Bowl ads used to be stand-alone efforts, which were supposed to wow everyone. Today, they are much more likely to be either the kickoff or capstone of an integrated-marketing effort.
Consider Doritos’ effort. With three ads in the first quarter, the snack food had more prime time spots than any other brand. However, two of those ads came across as generic. In one, a pug breaks down a door to get at a chip, while in another Doritos’ dust is shown bringing plants, pets, and people back to life. Some were unimpressed: “That could have been about any product,” said Chris McKee, president and chief creative officer of The Geppetto Group. “The ad has to be about some unique aspect of the brand, and those [Doritoes ads] didn’t do that.”
Nevertheless, those ads were, in fact, selected by Doritos’ consumers as part of a very involved digital and social media campaign. “Doritos’ goal was to protect market share and strengthen the brand,” said Scott Morgan, president of Brunner, a full-service agency. “As was the case with a lot of ads we saw yesterday, this campaign started well before the Super Bowl. More ads are about this convergence of sales promotion and social media.”
The Ford Focus “Rally America” spot, which urged people to online action, was another example. “These ads make more sense in the context of the larger effort than they probably did on their own,” Brand Union’s Scalea said. And their effectiveness has to be judged in that context as well.
This year’s Super Bowl also proved that when you show something is just important as what you show. Many people thought Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” ad was a tremendous creative effort that got lost in the shuffle. It made a bold statement and didn’t feel overly long, even though it had a two-minute running time. “Placement turns out to be important—not just in the game, but in terms of what ads went before,” Scalea said. “This could have been much more impressive had it run earlier in game.” Brunner’s Morgan agreed, noting this “shows the importance of media planning.”
Because the Super Bowl is such a marquee event, people expect to be shown something they haven’t seen before. So while many people thought that VW’s “Darth Vader” spot was good, “it lost impact because it didn’t break at the Super Bowl,” McKee said.
According to McKee, the ads that worked the best this year were those that, like Chrysler’s, were earnest and direct, even when they were humorous. “Insincere and flippant didn’t work,” he said. Probably the worst offender in this respect was Groupon, whose ad initially sounded like cause marketing for Tibet. Unfortunately, it then went from “Save Tibet” to “Save money on Tibetan food” by using Groupon. “You try to be provocative, but it doesn’t always work,” Scalea said.
All of the executives CMO.com spoke to felt that too many of this year’s ads relied on clichéd, sophomoric humor. Of note:
- Pepsi’s “Revenge of The Nerds” spot, where a bully gets hit in the crotch with a can of soda;
- Chevy’s ad for the Cruze, which played off the very hackneyed premise that old people don’t hear very well.
McKee believes the best marketing this year came from the NFL itself. He was particularly impressed by the spot that paid homage to our collective history by making football the focus of TV shows from “Happy Days” and “The Sopranos” to “The Simpsons.”
A few other standouts:
- A Bud ad that started out with a gun-slinging cowboy looking threatening only to finish with him and everyone else in the bar singing along to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer,” a la the bus scene in the movie “Almost Famous.” This was a nice change from the usual “the guy is an idiot” approach to humor, according to the agency execs we spoke to.
- Audi’s spot in which a rich man is duped back into prison by going for the old-school Mercedes. An unexpected way for the car maker to show it wanted to redefine luxury.
- Kudos to BMW for two spots: One emphasized the American design and assembly of the X3; the other challenged the American perception that a diesel engine is a heavy polluter.
- Coca-Cola and Mercedes, both praised for spots whose quiet sense of fun showed how both companies are sure of themselves and their position in the marketplace.
While it is fun for industry insiders and casual observers to critique the Super Bowl ad show, the actual success of any of these ads won’t be known for at least a couple of months. That success will be judged not by day-after buzz, but by much more tangible metrics such sales increases, shifts in sentiment, and other consumer behavior that has a direct impact on the bottom line.
