THE ONE QUESTION YOU SHOULD BE ASKING YOURSELF, THAT NO ONE ELSE WILL, ABOUT SUPER BOWL XLI ADVERTISING

The kick-off for Super Bowl XLI is several hours away. Yet tomorrow morning, when this issue of Marketing Matters is published, the question, “who’s the best team in football?” will be answered. There will be only one team that reigns supreme from the contest.

However, the question, “what do you think is the best Super Bowl commercial?” will be hotly contested throughout the week. 

Oh, sure, pollsters, pundits—who should know better—colleagues, family members, and friends will wax passionately supporting their choice. Note they will equate the “best” with entertainment value. It will come down to the “likeability” of the ad.

However, the late, great advertising icon, David Ogilvy, stated, “It’s not creative unless it sells.” Accordingly, we should be defining “best” not on entertainment value and likeability but on whether the advertising generates incremental sales. 

I want to go one step further and assess the advertising on its ability to generate “sustainable” incremental sales. By “sustainable,” I mean that the advertising has changed minds and hearts, leading to a relationship with the brand that goes beyond the few weeks of hype for the big game and ad.

In a recent issue of DISPATCHES, I shared how marketing professionals should assess Super Bowl LVI advertising and, for that matter, any advertising. It featured the importance of a Campaign Idea. If there’s no Campaign Idea, it’s unlikely that the advertising will be effective. On the other hand, a Campaign Idea’s presence improves its likelihood of driving success.

In last week’s edition of Marketing Matters, my article tackled “likeability” ratings. I stated that advertisers should not focus on “likeability” but, instead, create “desirability” for our brands. 

“Desirability” leads to sales. If the customer’s experience with our brand fulfills its promise, we will realize sustainable sales and growth.

There’s one question that neither the media nor others are asking. It ties into the desirability and, therefore, ad effectiveness in generating “sustained” incremental sales. It’s a question that my good friend, former client, and colleague, Bill Weintraub, former CMO for Coors Brewing and Associate Professor of Advertising at the University of Colorado in Boulder, asks his students.

Namely, “what commercial(s) drove you to switch, adopt, or use more often the advertised brand?” 

Did Budweiser’s “The Clydesdale’s Journey” lead you on a journey to order a Bud instead of your preferred brew? 

Are you going to delay purchasing a car until GM introduces its fleet of all-electric vehicles in 2025? Or will you jump into the driver’s seat of a Nissan Ariya 2023? No to either? Then did Arnold Schwarzenegger and Selma Hayek put you behind the wheel of a BMW?

Will you be switching to Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise Brand to make your leftovers more palatable or consume the brand more often? 

Did Scarlett Johansson and husband Colin Jost prompt you to purchase Alexa? 

What ad(s), if any, moved you to a new purchase or usage behavior? That or those ads are the best Super Bowl LVI commercials. They evidenced themselves through your new behavior to be effective in bolstering sales. It’s the only name of the game that counts in marketing when it comes to advertising.

I want to add one other question: “If one or more of the ads impacted your purchase behavior, what was it about the ad that influenced you?” Was it the strategic promise? How they deliver the message (Campaign Idea or execution)? Or both?

Addressing what influenced you will sharpen your understanding of what creates the best advertising. Apply your learning to make your advertising matter more.

If you found this article helpful, please encourage your team to subscribe to Brand Development Network International blogs DISPATCHES and Marketing Matters. They provide thought-provoking information that can help bolster your team’s performance. All it takes is to register at www.bdn-intl.com.

“NINETY-NINE PERCENT OF ADVERTISING DOESN’T SELL MUCH OF ANYTHING.” David Ogilvy

Is your advertising among the ninety-nine percent? Read Chapter 9, Brand Communications that Suck, in AVOIDING CRITICAL MARKETING ERRORS: How to Go from Dumb to Smart Marketing. It identifies those critical errors and, importantly, points out the way to develop advertising in the Top 1%. Learn more here: http://bdn-intl.com/avoiding-critical-marketing-errors

Peace and best wishes in making your marketing, advertising, and you matter more in 2022,