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.


Which brand had the best use of social media integration? Why did it work?
I believe it was Chevy by a long shot. Their App was incredibly well done and engaging with trivia prizes, Twitter feed in the App, and a major contest component with the Camaro giveaway. If you had the App, there was a tweet from Chevy that assured people that there were women left after the apocalypse, with a link to a short YouTube video. It showed the guys standing at the end of the spot and a woman drives by in a (I believe) yellow Camaro. They just did so many things well it will be a go-forward case study for everyone. It made a hashtag strategy feel kinda lame.

Least effective: Which ad(s) do you think will be left forgotten? What was the biggest missed opportunity?
Century 21 and their odd mash-up of celebs. For their debut, it seems like they felt enormous pressure to do something awesome, which invariably leads to trying too hard, which led to something really confusing and flat.

GE. Turbines? Beer? Say what?

Pepsi King’s Court. Ok yeah, Pepsi = youth. Got it. But what happened to the charm of Pepsi past? This was more like … “die creepy old guy, die!”
Biggest surprise: Which advertiser did unexpectedly well?
Skechers. The teen-meter at my house got a big response. It was simple and fun.

Volkswagen. They were up against themselves and it was really cool how they brought it back to Darth in the end.

 Krista Hazen, Public Relations Management Supervisor
Most effective: Who won your vote for best ad of the night? What made it so effective?
Volkswagen rocked the sequel to last year’s hit with the young Darth Vader.
How well did pre-game hype (for ads) live up to the actual results?
Overall, I think the hype was OK. Unless you live and breathe this industry, for most people watching the ads on Sunday was still worthwhile.

Which brand had the best use of social media integration? Why did it work?
Coca-Cola, the viewing party by the Polar Bears was genius and on Monday the company followed it up with a Twitter campaign that included donating money to the Arctic Circle initiative.

Least effective: Which ad(s) do you think will be left forgotten? What was the biggest missed opportunity?
The Budweiser Platinum commercials – an upscale beer from Bud? Everyone at my party thought the product was weird and the ads were so-so.
Biggest surprise: Which advertiser did unexpectedly well?
M&Ms and Ms. Brown stole the show! Brown is definitely the new Green!