Super Bowl Post Game Report 3.0

For the final installment of our post-Super Bowl advertising commentary, we’ve asked SBC Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer Neil Widerschein as well as Public Relations Management Supervisor Krista Hazen to weigh in on the big game’s successes and failures.

As time passes, the wacky or well-produced ads aren’t always the winners. Success is about consumers engaging with brands, something Neil, Krista, and all of us at SBC know a thing or two about.

Neil Widerschein, Executive Vice President, Chief Creative OfficerMost effective: Who won your vote for best ad of the night? What made it so effective?
I really liked the Acura NSX spot, although we had all obviously seen the long version before the game. The entire message was rooted in the idea of getting on a list to get a really cool sports car, which makes it inherently interesting to that segment of the market (Jerry Seinfeld types come to mind), so the celebrity tie-in with Seinfeld and Leno isn’t gratuitous. Plus, I never knew there was a super-secret celebrity zip line in New York (but always suspected), so I learned something. Always a positive.

Final Score :: Social Media Recap

So who were the real winners among Super Bowl advertisers? The immediacy and measurability of social media have redefined the metrics. This chart shows the results of the USA Today Super Bowl AdMeter voting, along with analysis published by AdAge of the volume of online chatter created by each spot. Kudos to the brands that did well on both lists.

Super Bowl Post-Game Report 2.0

The Super Bowl commercials are still at the top of our minds at SBC Advertising. For our post-game ad report, we asked SBCers to comment on which ads were touchdowns and which were groan-worthy fumbles.

A funny or well-made commercial isn’t always effective in engaging consumers. In this edition, members of our interactive team take on the ads – from a strategic point of view.

Read their retail-driven insights and be sure to check back for more updates in our continuing Super Bowl series.

David Smith, Senior Interactive Strategist

Most effective: Who won your vote for best ad of the night? What made it so effective?

Chevy Silverado’s “2012”. To me, this was the clear-cut winner for a number of reasons:

1.       The creative was strong – big budgets and some witty pop culture references (can you say “Twinkies?”) kept the spot entertaining

2.       The brand’s attitude came through – Chevy believes in its product enough to come out and challenge Ford in an extremely visible way. I like that.

3.       The digital integration was excellent – from in-app integration to promoted tweets displaying simultaneously to the spot airing, the multi-screen planning was very smart here. The only thing that surprised me was pointing to chevy.com instead of a Twitter hashtag.

Super Bowl 2012 Post-Game Report

It’s time to review the tapes, so to speak. For our post-game ad report, we asked SBCers to comment on which commercials were touchdowns and which were groan-worthy fumbles.

Read their retail-driven insights and be sure to check back for more updates in our continuing Super Bowl series.

Matt Wilson, Executive Vice President/General Manager

Most effective: Who won your vote for best ad of the night? What made it so effective?
I liked Clint Eastwood in the “second half” spot – thought it set the correct tone to continue their Imported from Detroit campaign. Though, Chrysler is a company being turned around by an Italian from Fiat.

Least effective: Which ad(s) do you think will be left forgotten? What was the biggest missed opportunity? 

GoDaddy’s ads are no longer “tit” a lating. Danika Patrick is sensuous, but I don’t feel like I want to see her naked as the spot suggests. It’s cool that they are promoting the cloud though. 

First Super Bowl app: Did Chevy set a new standard for Super Bowl advertising with the first game time app? Did you download?
No. Plus, for the flying car gig I was expecting George Jetson.

 

Becky Ziegler, Vice President/Account Director

Most effective: Who won your vote for best ad of the night? What made it so effective?

Several of the new product launch ads worked really well – Bud Light Premium – thought those ads were really well done. The new Acura spots with Seinfeld. I really believe that this is the most effective use of Super Bowl advertising in general – to launch newsworthy new products. I also very much enjoyed the Budweiser “Eternal Optimism” spot that showed Budweiser through the years – thought it was well done with a great soundtrack. 

Least effective: Which ad(s) do you think will be left forgotten? What was the biggest missed opportunity? 

I thought the Chevy truck “2012” end of the world spot was predictable and the talent/writing was weak. I also thought that the TaxACT spot, “Feel the Free,” with the boy in the pool was boring.

Which brand had the best use of social media integration? Why did it work? 

I liked the Bud Light “Rescue Dog” spot’s Facebook integration – they only have 19,000 fans on FB, but I think that’s still a worthy cause. The Coke Polar Bears were also very deeply integrated with social media – and the creative changes throughout the game were really cool.

Jim White, Vice President, Media

Most effective: Who won your vote for best ad of the night? What made it so effective?

Bridgestone Tires. The bottom line is to get people to engage with your brand. I thought their commercials were clever and funny but most of all I remember them. I now refuse to buy any tires except Bridgestone’s. 

How well did pre-game hype (for ads) live up to the actual results?

The expectations are set so high that the results get tainted in the public eye. 

Super Bowl 2012 4.0

Today’s the big day.

For the fourth installment of our pre-Super Bowl advertising commentary, we’ve asked SBC Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer Neil Widerschein to weigh in on past ads as well as to see what’s got him excited for today’s game.

After all, connecting brands with consumers is what Neil, and all of us at SBC, does for a living. And, let's face it, the Super Bowl is all about getting consumers to connect with brands, with a little football thrown in for good measure.

Be sure to check in with us during the game for more color commentary and insights on the ads by checking out our Facebook page and following the Twitter hashtag #SBCsbads. And don’t forget that you can join the conversation too.

Neil Widerschein, Executive Vice President, Chief Creative Officer

What has been your favorite commercial of all time? Why did it work?

There have been so many great spots it’s really hard to pick a favorite. But I think mine would probably be the Fedex Caveman spot. It’s the simple, funny story of how Fedex can help you succeed (or epically fail) in the business world, when so much is unfairly beyond your control. The usual formula for a Super Bowl spot seems to be babies, cute animals, and/or celebs. This is definitely not that.

Which advertiser are you most looking forward to and why?

I’m really looking forward to two (mostly because they haven’t released much yet). One is Doritos, but not because of the spots. Their real genius is the strategy. They leverage the power of the Super Bowl months in advance to engage the nation in their brand through crowd-sourced creative and national voting.  And they extend the engagement long after the game. The other is Anheuser-Busch because they bought four-and-a-half minutes and have the experience, money and inclination to blow everybody else away.

What are you tired of seeing in Super Bowl advertisements? Why does/doesn’t it work? Do you expect it to show up again this year?

Movie studio promos. I’m sure they’ve done the metrics and have found the investment works (at least I hope so), but standard movie promos in an environment of such creativity seems odd. It’s especially odd when you consider that studios are selling a creative product without any creativity. I get that they’re just in it for the audience size, but it has to feel kind of awkward to always be at the bottom of the rankings.

This year there are more first-time Super Bowl advertisers than ever. Who were you surprised to see in the lineup?

Century 21. Given the state of the housing market, it’s impressive that a real estate company is stepping up. Sure, it’s branding 101 – invest when things are at their worst – but it takes a really forward-thinking marketing and management group to actually do it. Regardless of how their effort fares in the inevitable ratings, give them credit for smarts.

This year, Chevy is introducing a Super Bowl app for smartphones and tablets. The game time app, available in the Android Market, Apple's App Store and at chevy.com/gametime, will award thousands of prizes to viewers using the app during the game. Will you download?

I like prizes. Of course I’ll download it. And I think it’s a great example of leveraging the power of social networks and multi-screen platforms to dramatically increase the value of the investment. But I think the Mayan “Apocalypse” spot is silly, except for the Twinkies at the end. That was amusing. But is the last thought you want in your truck spot … a soft Twinkie? Hummer did an end-of-the-world spot awhile back that was funnier.

The Chevy Sonic “Anthem” spot has some amazing stunts and is clearly aimed at younger drivers. But again, Chevy struggles with the ending – an older guy delivers the “Chevy Runs Deep” line at the end. Yes, it’s their brand standard, but maybe just let it happen graphically in something aimed so young.

Volkswagen debuted its Darth Vader commercial prior to the 2011 Super Bowl and ended up being one of the most talked about ads of the night. This year, it released a teaser and then the full commercial. What are your thoughts on the strategy? Do you think it will work again?

The Vader spot worked because it was such a surprisingly simple and beautiful story and subtly makes the car part of the family. It’s probably impossible to repeat that because the surprise factor is gone. Their “The Bark Side” teaser is really fun and you can watch it over and over. The actual VW Beetle Spot that will run is, of course, really well done. The charming dog taking control of his weight as a set-up to introduce the new slimmed-down Beetle keeps you in it. But it’s the self-referential appearance of Darth at the end that got me. Didn’t see it coming and I loved it.