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

Super Bowl XLII is one for the books. The Kansas City Chiefs emerged as NFL Champions. While two outstanding quarterbacks played the game, analysts are playing arm-chair quarterbacks. They’re taking apart the game, play by play and decision by decision.

Yet pollsters and pundits—who should know better—colleagues, family members, and friends continue to address the $7 million question, “What was the best Super Bowl commercial?” 

Unfortunately, they will equate the “best” with “most talked about” and “likability” ratings. Everyone has an opinion. However, few have the professional acumen to address the question intelligently.

As the late, great advertising icon, David Ogilvy, stated, “It’s not creative unless it sells.” Accordingly, we should be defining “best” not on metrics such as “most talked about,” “likeability,” and even “entertainment value” but, as I continue to point out, 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.

Over the past two weeks, I shared how marketing professionals should assess Super Bowl LVII advertising and, for that matter, any advertising. In brief, the best commercials—the winners in the Super Bowl arena—are those that compel target customers to purchase and use the advertised brand.

The key determinant is whether the advertising creates “desirability” the advertised brand. “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 Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez incite you to drive to Dunkin’ for a cup of Java and glazed donut? 

Did “Jesus—He gets us,” lead you back to Christ? 

Will you be switching to Hellman’s Real Mayonnaise Brand or consuming it more frequently to make your leftovers more enjoyable? 

Will you switch from the 4” burger you purchase at McDonald’s to Whataburger’s 5” burger?

What will you do? Namely, what ad(s), if any, moved you to a new purchase or usage behavior? That or those ads are the best Super Bowl LVII commercials. They evidenced themselves through your new behavior to be effective in bolstering sales. It’s the only criteria that counts in determining the effectiveness of 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.

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Also, consider following me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddczerniawski/, where I share my perspectives from 50 years of successful worldwide brand marketing experience in my blog THINK ABOUT IT each week.

“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 advertising matter more wherever it appears,