THE “BEST” SUPER BOWL LVII ADVERTISING
“Is anybody there? Does anybody care?”
The Musical 1776 – Music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards and a book by Peter Stone.
Super Bowl LVII generated tons of coverage and publicity for both the game and the advertising. Now more than four weeks from game day, there’s little talk about either. Like a lightning bolt brightening the night sky, interest in each is over in a flash, dissolving into utter darkness.
So, unless you are a professional marketer or consider yourself to be one, you may not be interested in hearing further about the advertising that partook in the adstravaganza. My purpose is not to harangue but to provoke thinking and nurture intelligent dialogue about what is and what makes effective advertising.
Two weeks ago, I offered my humble opinion regarding the effectiveness of the advertainment http://bdn-intl.com/was-super-bowl-lvii-advertising-exemplary. Last week, I posted my nominee for Hall of Shame advertising on my LinkedIn page. This brings me up to the “best” ads.
I define “best” as inspiring me to purchase. It’s an ad that is exemplary. It must offer a relevant and meaningfully differentiated message to stimulate me to buy it. It needs to make me care. Did any of the ads appearing during the Super Bowl make you care? Care enough to purchase?
Three ads stood out to me as candidates for being among the best. Are they perfect? No. However, they impressed me favorably for important reasons. Here’s the way I see it:
Intuit TurboTax: The benefit is clear. TurboTax experts can lift the burden of doing your taxes so you can do whatever you like with your time. Doing anything is better than doing your tax returns. It’s been my practice to turn my taxes over to experts and give me time to do what I do. It’s advice from the late Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, who counseled to pay others to do what they do best for you, so you can focus on your career, which will earn you more in the long term run—which it has for me.
The advertising contains a Campaign Idea. The Naked Idea shows people doing what they enjoy (rather than using that time to do their taxes). The core dramatization is engaging in a unique non-tax preparation activity. The Key Copy Words are “Come to TurboTax and don’t do your taxes … so you can do anything else.”
It’s not a one-off ad, as many commercials aired during the Super Bowl. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Turbotax+Super+Bowl+LVII+commerical+Youtube&docid=608030549251597385&mid=CA809A265C22AB212506CA809A265C22AB212506&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Google Pixel 7: Okay, I’m not going out to buy a Google Pixel 7 phone. I won’t give up my Apple iPhone and the Apple ecosystem. However, they made me desire the Magic Eraser feature, which enables one to fix little, big, and huge mistakes in the photos one takes with the phone camera. Apple, when will you introduce this feature? I want it. I desire it.
They, too, have a Campaign Idea. In this case, the Naked Idea demonstrates the ability to fix mistakes that interfere with the quality of what one wants to capture in the photo and keep in memories. (Sort of revisionist history, like erasing ex-partners.) The core dramatization demonstrates how the mistake is quickly corrected. The Key Copy Words are: “Fixed on Google. Google Pixel 7.”
Here’s the ad: https://www.bing.com/videos/search?&q=Turbotax+Super+Bowl+LVII+commerical+Youtube&docid=608030549251597385&mid=022016F6E6F8A506F38D022016F6E6F8A506F38D&view=detail&FORM=VDRVSR&ajaxhist=0. Judge for yourself.
Jesus. He Gets Us: Full disclosure here. I’m a lapsed Catholic. You can take the boy out of the church, but you can’t take the spiritual message of Jesus out of the boy. My wife refers to me the same way his fellow astronauts referred to the late astronaut and senator John Glenn, as a “boy scout.” I never was a boy scout, and this is not about me, excepting that the call to seek spiritual nourishment is ever present in me and heightened during these highly divisive and troubling times.
The ads invite people, particularly those who have drifted away, into a relationship with Jesus, who, like us, experienced all the dimensions of the human condition—the best and worst. The message is that He doesn’t judge. He gets us. He nourishes us with love and forgiveness. He’s here to help us do the same. (Please note, I’m not evangelizing.)
Not everyone responds favorably to the message. Some believe it is right-wing political propaganda. I’m not a right-winger. However, I seek the comfort of faith, something bigger than me. By the way, no message is for everyone.
The Naked Idea is to reveal things Jesus understands that trouble us and for which we have no ready solutions, such as hate, divisiveness, loneliness, and depression. The Core Dramatization is those moments that strike at our pain. The Key Copy Words are: “He gets us. All of us. Jesus.” Additionally, each commercial echoes the theme of the individual spot. In the spot Love Your Enemies, the KCW includes “Jesus loved the people we hate.”
Your take on the “best” Super Bowl LVII ads may differ from mine. Please keep in mind the criteria I’m using to gauge their effectiveness— the ability to profitable compel incremental sales and market share growth. Not clicks, likeability ratings, or entertainment value.
I base my assessment upon the ads containing a relevant and meaningfully differentiated message and a Campaign Idea. Are these campaigns perfect? Hardly. However, they do make sense and move me.
What’s your take on the “best” Super Bowl LVII advertising? What criteria are you using?
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
Also, please follow me on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/richarddczerniawski/, where I share my perspectives from 50 years of successful worldwide brand marketing experience.
Peace and best wishes,
No Comments