What Makes Super Bowl Commercials Good?

I love to watch the Super Bowl to see the two best football teams battling for the ultimate prize the NFL has the offer.  Like many viewers, I am also interested to see what the advertisers have up their sleeves for the infamous Super Bowl commercials.  Being the marketing and advertising geek that I am, I love watching the best advertising agencies in the world battling for Super Bowl commercial dominance (pun intended).

This year’s Super Bowl commercials were outstanding. A few, in my view, rose to the top.  For me, the best commercials were the following:

• Doritos – Ultrasound                                                 https://youtu.be/vH2LsFcWOFY Doritos has consistently had excellent Super Bowl ads, but this one is really clever and funny.  The commercial shows parents viewing their unborn baby’s ultrasound. As the dad waves Doritos chips in front of the screen, the baby’s image moves around wildly, following the chips, until the baby accidentally delivers itself in pursuit of Doritos. It’s especially amusing for me, a father of five children.  Although most of the Super Bowl commercials appealed to millennials, this one appealed to an older audience.  For one who has seen several ultrasounds in my lifetime, I could relate to the Dad-to-be.  The first time you see an ultrasound, it’s surreal and exciting like watching television for the first time.  When the baby moves around during an ultrasound, it’s amazing to watch.  Having the Dad-to-be taking that experience to another level with a bag of Doritos is what made this commercial very funny to me.

• Mountain Dew Kickstart – PuppyMonkeyBaby                       https://youtu.be/ql7uY36-LwA This commercial probably received the largest outcry of “that was weird” of all the 2016 Super Bowl commercials. In my opinion, however, the ad was brilliant. The ad agency combined three cute things – a puppy, a monkey and a baby with three things Mountain Dew wants you to associate and remember – dew, juice and caffeine.  In the commercial, a PuppyMonkeyBaby hybrid walks through a secret door with a bucked of iced Mountain Dew and repeats “puppy” “monkey” “baby” over and over while handing the guys cans of Mountain Dew. After the three guys take their sip of Kickstart, they start dancing and following PuppyMonkeyBaby down the apartment hallway. The ad weirdly but hilariously indicates that combining three things into one – such as PuppyMonkeyBaby or Kickstart’s ingredients of “dew, juice, and caffeine”- is what consumers want.

• Heinz – Weiner Stampede                                                    https://youtu.be/aNN9nL2vppM Heinz’s clever ad featured a bunch of dachshunds in hot dog costumes – little “hot dogs” – running across a field to their owners, who were dressed as Heinz ketchup and mustard bottles, to Harry Nilsson’s song “Without You.”  As the  dogs leapt into their owners’ arms and licked their faces, a background narrator quips “It’s hard to resist great taste.” Catchy and adorable, the ad already has 6 and a half million views on YouTube.

• Honda Ridgeline – A New Truck To Love                        https://youtu.be/kTaCT8ZmdJA Honda recently released a new Ridgeline truck featuring the first ever truck bed audio system. To promote it, the company introduced a commercial where a rancher drops off sheep from his Ridgeline truck while playing Queen’s “Somebody to Love” song. As the truck drives away, one of the sheep begins to sing the song acapella with a whole chorus of the other sheep joining in. The ad resonated with me and fellow baby boomers who grew up with Queen’s music, igniting feelings of nostalgia. Old and young, human and sheep, everyone should enjoy a Ridgeline, according to Honda.

• Wix.com – The Power of Wix (Kung Fu Panda 3)            https://youtu.be/7jIA3eFtSOM This commercial accomplished several things at the same time. It tells the story of what needs to be done to drive more traffic to Li Shan’s restaurant “Ping’s Noodles.”  Po, the panda character from Kung Fu Panda, suggests a big commercial where there are reenactments of successful past Super Bowl commercials via Kung Fu Panda characters. Master Shifu who is Po’s teacher of Kung Fu in the movie comments that commercials are great, but you need a great website first, the Power of Wix.  Wix.com is an online website building tool.  This commercial successfully ties together humor poking fun at Super Bowl commercials while promoting Wix.com and Kung Fu Panda 3.

• Snickers – Marilyn                                                                      https://youtu.be/WhfntLl6xx0 Snickers ads over the past couple of years have cleverly superimposed various irritable characters in different situations, including vintage television shows.  The solution to irritability is to eat a Snickers, because you get cranky when you are hungry.  Who can forget Betty White and Abe Vigoda playing football a few Super Bowls ago?  Or Danny Trejo and Steve Buscemi playing Marcia and Jan Brady from the Brady Bunch?  This year’s Snickers Super Bowl commercial was equally as clever.  A cranky Marilyn Monroe played by Willem Dafoe is getting ready to shoot the infamous subway grate scene from “The Seven Year Itch.” After eating a Snickers bar, Defoe magically transforms into Marilyn Monroe, losing the irritability.  The cameo with Eugene Levy operating the fan under the subway grate had an awesome tag line “This scene will never make the cut.”

What do all of these ads have in common?  Excellent writing, cinematography, special effects, editing, and music working perfectly together.  The commercials are memorable because they are clever and funny.  While some might suggest that PuppyMonkeyBaby was too weird and people didn’t like it, I disagree.  That commercial alone has had over 21.7 million views on YouTube and people are still taking about it.  Successful Super Bowl commercials live much longer than their time on the Super Bowl.  People like me watched the Super Bowl, then went to YouTube to watch the commercials we liked again and shared them with family, friends and colleagues.  Making a commercial go viral is the goal and successful commercials continue to garner views months after their television release. Congratulations to the brands and advertising agencies for another successful year of great commercials.

If you want to learn more about me, visit my LinkedIn profile, my Twitter account,  my website and my blog.

Expect the Unexpected – Lessons Learned from Beyoncé’s “Formation” and the Red Lobster Tweet

When Beyoncé performed her new single “Formation” at the Super Bowl in front of over 111.9 million viewers, Red Lobster had no idea that their restaurant chain was mentioned in the song.  Unfortunately, Red Lobster’s marketing team and agency weren’t ready to respond quickly and take advantage of the opportunity.  It took over 8 hours from the time the chain was mentioned in song at the Super Bowl until Red Lobster responded with an acknowledgement. In the fast-paced world of social media, you need to respond quickly.  Unfortunately, Red Lobster did not.

There were 19,000 retweets of the response by Red Lobster, but  Beyoncé’s fan  base wasn’t impressed.  Red Lobster had the opportunity of a lifetime to create a catchy response targeting both Beyoncé’s fans and the Super Bowl crowd at large, but they blew it.  Since its release a week ago, Beyoncé’s “Formation” music video has had over 7 million views on YouTube.  That’s 7 million mentions of Red Lobster’s brand for free. There are some key things to take away from Red Lobster’s weak and insufficient response to a superstar’s endorsement of their restaurant chain.

If I was responsible for the marketing department and managing the outside agency for Red Lobster, here’s what I would have done.

1. It’s unclear as to why it took so long for Red Lobster to respond to social media – a full 8 hours.  My guess is it had something to do with the legal department, C-level approval, and other red tape that organizations need to deal with.  I would have legal and corporate officers pre-approve some guidelines for a fast response.  Frankly, in this incidence a simple “Thanks Beyoncé” would have been a good start. To take it a step further, a tweet like “Thanks @Beyoncé. Come to Red Lobster and use promo code “Beyoncé” and get 20% off your meal. Appreciation Promo ends 2/15. #Formation #Beyhive”   The entire social media world was waiting for Red Lobster’s response.  With the mention in “Formation”, Red Lobster’s sales went up 33%.  Imagine if Red Lobster responded quickly with a promo code, their sales might have gone up double that amount.
2. I would hire an agency to be on call 24-7 to design quick responses in collaboration with the marketing team to any mention of our brand from celebrities.  Reputable agencies do focus groups and monitor social media feedback.  They have subject matter experts at their beck and call.  If the agency didn’t feel they were certain how to respond to the demographic, run your ideas quickly by your subject matter experts.  Your response not only needs to be fast, but it needs to be the right response.  Once you have the appropriate response (which should be issued in minutes not hours), it’s time to feed the social media machine.
3. Red Lobster has over 700 restaurants and 58,000 employees. That’s a pretty large Twitter universe to tap into.  Think of this as a marketing fire drill.  When a celebrity does a surprise endorsement of your product, everyone should know what to do.  The agency and marketing team will quickly discuss and agree on the response and post it on social media.  Employees are then notified via text to retweet the message to all of their followers on Twitter.  58,000 employees plus all their followers…you do the math.  This kind of response would create the kind of momentum needed to bring new customers in and promote your business. Your social media response should be posted on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and all of the other networks that you use to increase your visibility.
4. Red Lobster should have had follow-up tweets that kept this marketing train moving and the momentum for Red Lobster products going. Unfortunately their follow-up tweets were damage control. Their original response was “  ‘Cheddar Bey Biscuits’ has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? #Formation @Beyonce”.  The negative response from Twitter was fast and loud.  Red Lobster tried a damage control tweet “You try to bake Cheddar Bay Biscuits and tweet at the same time! #harderthanitlooks #Formation”, but they got more criticism, so they tried one more time.  “Our bad. We’re really busy for some reason. #ThanksB.”  The social media universe didn’t appreciate the continued attempts for damage control.

When leveraged properly, social media can be a powerful tool to drive traffic to your website and increase sales.  You need to be ready for the unexpected, because when something big happens, like Beyoncé inadvertently supporting your business, you have only one shot to get it right.

If you want to learn more about me, visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit:   JeepersMedia via Foter.com / CC BY

 

Social Media – A Game of Strategy

Monopoly is a game of strategy.  When you play the game, you need to evaluate different options and understand that the choices that you make are critical to your success.  Social media is also a game of strategy.  The social networks that you use can help your company grow through brand awareness, promotions, and customer feedback.

When determining which social media networks work best for your company, there are a number of things to consider.  Before we go there, let’s make social media a bit easier to understand by categorizing the various types of networks. By doing so, we can more easily determine what social media networks work for your company and which ones you don’t really need to invest time in.  It’s time to play the game of social media to keep up with your competitors.

Social Networks

Social networking sites fueled the rise of social media. These networks were designed as a platform for online social interaction and means of sharing similar interests, connecting with artistic groups, and personalizing Internet space. Facebook, Google +, MySpace, and MeetUp are a few examples of these networks. Social networks are an effective channel for business to build credibility, and company and product awareness. Here are some examples of successful business Facebook pages. Zappos uses discussion posts, wall updates and Fan of the Week contests to engage with their customers. Burt’s Bees uses spotlight videos to build product awareness and allows customers to buy products from their Facebook page. Skullcandy leverages music, videos, and blogs to encourage customers to purchase their products.

Professional Social Networks

Unlike the original social networks, professional social networks are focused more on business-related networking and information sharing.  LinkedIn, SlideShare, Xing and Viadeo fit into this category.  You typically wouldn’t share family photos at the zoo on these sites, but would instead reach out to expand business relationships. Businesses create LinkedIn pages to build brand awareness, share corporate information and announcements such as Coca-Cola, Mashable and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.  Like many social networks, the lifespan of professional social networks is sometimes short, so be sure to pick a reputable and established networking site.

Private Social Networks

Although the name sounds like an oxymoron, private social networks – or private enterprise networks – are a useful tool that an increasing number of companies are utilizing.   Private social networks operate like normal social networks but can only be accessed behind the firewall within companies – hence the term “private”.  Yammer, Salesforce Chatter and Ning are examples of these networks. These networks enable companies located in numerous domestic and international locations to share sensitive information and collaborate on projects more effectively.

International Social Networks

Similar to other social networks, international social networks have originated outside of the US.  These sites offer networking platforms in multiple languages and are customizable to the user.  These networks include QZone (China), Netlog (Belgium), Vkontakte (Russia) and Sonico (Japan).

Social Media Monitoring, Management and Tracking

Social media monitoring is a method of tracking what is being said on social media about an individual, product or company.  These networks or software have become very popular to help companies dispel rumors, bad press and incorrect information.  Some of these networks are Tracx, BuzzBundle, HootSuite, Postling and Lithium.

Content Discovery and Curation

Content delivery and curation networks offer interesting and entertaining content for the purpose of sharing information and providing news content outside of traditional news networks. Sites include BuzzFeed, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Digg and HubPages.  Often users will forward these stories to their networks via other social networking sites, facilitating the quick dissemination of information through multiple Internet platforms. Use these networks to reach younger demographics (millennials) by creating funny and entertaining content that can go viral, which can become an effective branding tool for your company.

Blogging

Blogging sites allow their users to write and post articles and share information relevant to specific topics.  Some networks like LinkedIn have incorporated blogging within their site to allow users to share opinions, new trends, and current affairs in the business and professional world.  There are several blogging sites on the internet, but the most well-known are WordPress, Posthaven, and Blogger.  Even though I post articles on LinkedIn, I also use my blog on WordPress to share my information on different platforms including Facebook, Google + and Twitter.  These articles can contain links to your products driving traffic and sales to your website.

Microblogging

The only difference between blogging and microblogging is the limitation of content.  Microblogging involves sending short messages, announcements and links instead of paragraph-long posts. Twitter, Tumblr, Posterous and Disqus are best known for these applications.  Three companies that use Twitter very effectively are McDonalds, Delta Airlines and Nike.  McDonalds promotes new items on the menu and have giveaways when followers tweet about what they love about McDonalds.  Delta Airlines introduces their latest offers and special packages.  Nike doesn’t use Twitter for sales.  They send out tweets that motivate and inspire their followers, which strengthen the Nike brand.

Photo Sharing

It is said that “A picture is worth a thousand words.”   Photo sharing networks allow individuals or companies post photos including images of products, family, personal interests, hobbies, and so forth.  Instragram, Pinterest and Flickr connect communities of various interests and allow them to post images.  SnapChat is a similar platform for photo sharing and also allows you to post short videos. Photo sharing networks are an important tool for improving branding and marketing images of your company. By connecting with influencers and innovators, sharing their posts, using hashtags, tag names, comments and links in your posts, you can expand your brand visibility quickly.

Video Sharing

YouTube has put video sharing networks on the social media map.  Since its inception, YouTube has transformed into a global repository of videos that are searched like Google.  Other video sharing sites that have grown in popularity include Vimeo, DailyMotion and Vine.  Businesses use this network to show corporate, product and how-to videos.  According to Wired.com, YouTube is one of Google’s biggest successes outside of search and YouTube now reaches more 18 to 49-year-olds than any single US cable network.

Which Social Media Network Should You Use For Your Company?

Determining which social media network to use for your company is important for your marketing and branding strategy. Choosing only one network is not sufficient for your company to get noticed.  I believe that every company should be, at the very least, on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest or Instagram and HootSuite.  These networks or their competitors will provide you with networking and blogging opportunities (LinkedIn); microblogging (Twitter) to announce new products and company updates; social networking (Facebook), which expands your audience to a wider variety of  potential new customers; video sharing (YouTube) to post product and corporate videos, including community service; photo sharing (Pinterest) to expand your brand by providing images targeted to the appropriate communities that buy your products and services; and social management and tracking (HootSuite) to monitor what your customers, prospects and competitors are saying about you on social media.  Even if your business is more service-oriented, you can still take advantage of these networks.

Conclusion

Like Monopoly, social media is a strategy game. You need to decide what social media networks are right for your business.  Research options, see what your competitors are using and make sure that you have dedicated resources (internal or external) to respond to the market conversations that are happening on social media about your company and industry.  This is a strategy game that your company cannot afford to lose.

If you want to learn more about me, visit my LinkedIn profile, my website and my blog.

Photo credit:  Emilie Ogez via Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND