I have to admit that even before my marketing career, I fell into the category of Super Bowl watchers that are more interested in the entertaining commercials than in the game itself. While die hard football fans may use the commercials as an opportunity to get something to eat or drink, I take my breaks during the game itself.
Apparently, I’m not alone. ABS CBN News reported, in the name of John Mossawir, research director for Initiative Sports Futures, that ”four in five people say the commercials can sometimes be more entertaining than the game. About one in four say they go online to view commercials they’ve already seen, and about 70 percent say they talk about the ads during the game.”
That being said, the entertainment factor of the exciting ads does not always trickle down to more sales conversions.
A great PRNewswire press release from Feb 5th, by TeamDetroit, called “The Evolution of Superbowl Advertising” comments on the trend towards producing the most outrageous advertisements “isn’t always the brightest strategy.” Creating outrageous commercials may generate a big buzz, but that doesn’t mean that they will generate more sales leads.
Instead, as with all marketing strategies, businesses need to be able to follow up their advertisements with their future marketing and social media, brand image and product offering. Consider the following quote from the press release:
“You can’t run a lot of hard-hitting, information-based persuasion ads all year and then on Super Bowl Sunday try to entertain your audience with fun and emotionally engaging advertising. It’s like opening a restaurant and serving bland, healthy food 364 days a year and one day of the year serving food that tastes great and excites you.” …
Great Super Bowl advertising, says Bentley, is not about moving consumers from un-persuaded to persuaded in 30 seconds.
“It’s about creating a halo of influence around that brand and establishing an ongoing dialogue with consumers that extends to the web and social media and the mobile phone and online gaming.”
Which is why so many Super Bowl commercials are now what Bentley refers to as subservient ads,
“where the purpose is to get you to do something else, typically on the web, where you can be more entertaining and emotionally engaging and you don’t have to necessarily conform to some of the social niceties that you do on TV.”
Perhaps this is why companies like Pepsi decided to use social media this year, instead of a 30 second Super Bowl commercial. The message that marketing needs to reach beyond buzz shows its extreme expression in Super Bowl advertisements, but its relevance applies to marketing year-round. Advertisements cannot capture customers and produce real results in split seconds. Real marketing requires real follow up. When companies do create a big buzz, they should also implement methods of lead tracking. Using analytics reports to track which advertisements generated sales conversions is key to connecting the buzz to the bottom line.
Related posts:
- Which Super Bowl 2009 Ads Worked?
- Super Bowl Ads Move to Pre-Game
- Super Bowl, Social Media
- Super Bowl 44 Ad Review
- What is Your Advertising Really Saying About You?
