Super Bowl 2012

Super Bowl XLVI.

It’s right around the corner. 

While many of us at SBC Advertising are looking forward to the big game, all of us are looking forward to the commercials. After all, connecting brands with consumers is what we do 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.

With that in mind, and to get us ready for Sunday’s festivities, we’ve asked some SBCers to tell us which brand's commercial they’re most looking forward to, which advertisements they're not, and what will be the biggest trend this year.

Be sure to check back every day for more insights. You can also post comments or follow our conversation about the game and the ads on Facebook and follow the Twitter hashtag #SBCsbads.

 

Ian Brown, Creative Director

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

The obvious choice would be Apple’s 1984, but putting epic spots that defined a company aside for a moment, I’d probably have to say the 1980 Coca-Cola Mean Joe Greene spot. I was nine and Mean Joe was an icon for all football-loving kids. His enormous popularity, on and off the field, had a huge appeal to the masses. The selfless act of a child sharing his beverage with a hobbled legend was so pure. Not to mention that every child who witnessed the spot hoped to have a Coke in hand the next time they encountered one of their heroes.

Which advertisement are you most looking forward to and why?

I’m interested in seeing how Honda utilizes Mathew Broderick and capitalizes on his Ferris Bueller character. Seems a only a specific audience will even relate to it so I’m guessing it’ll be for the new large, family-friendlier, still-sporty-with-some-moxy-so-you-don’t-have-to-feel-like-you’ve-completely-sold-out CRV. Apparently Todd Phillips is on the project, so there may be a cameo from Zach Galifianakis or possibly a tiger (at least something with teeth). 

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?

Done. Bitchin’ Camero giveaway. Say no more.

 

Keri Drake, PR Management Supervisor 

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

Hands down, my favorite is the Mean Joe Green Coke commercial. I remember watching it during the Super Bowl when I was a kid. I was 9-years-old and thought it was so cool that even though Mean Joe just lost the game, his fans still believed in him. He was a hero but human. 

Which advertisement are you most looking forward to and why?

That’s easy, E*TRADE and Volkswagen. They’re consistently good, entertaining and memorable.

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?

Yes! Kudos to Chevy for developing a promotional program that keeps the brand top of mind for consumers in that crowded Super Bowl space. The fact that Chevy is driving brand engagement over an extended period of time is genius – pure genius.

Shoppers Win

Call it Thanksgifting.

In this year’s run-up to the holiday shopping season, news reports inundated us with stories about the early start to the holiday shopping season. Big-name retailers Best Buy, Macy’s, Kohl’s and Target unlocked their doors at midnight on Thanksgiving only to be bested by Wal-Mart, which opened two hours earlier at 10 p.m.

While all the early openings were justifiably big news, there’s a development we think is even more interesting – acceleration in the use of electronic shopping, from both the PC and the mobile device.


Content is king, but equally as important as how you connect with your audience.


As SBC’s own Matt Wilson correctly predicted to the Columbus Dispatch prior to the event, Cyber Monday sales growth was primed to explode. This is exactly what happened, as ComScore reported that Cyber Monday sales rose 22 percent from about $1 billion in 2010 to $1.25 billion this year.

Then, there’s mobile-device shopping. As of July 2011, a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that as much as a third of all American adults owned smartphones. Juxtapose this data with the numbers of people who ventured out for deals on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and you wind up with what Wilson also told the Dispatch: “Literally armies of shoppers and they have ‘intel.’”

What does it all mean? Retailers are finding every way possible to engage with the consumer wherever it’s most convenient for the shopper, whether it’s through brick and mortar, online or mobile devices. It also means that consumers have greater access to deals, enabling them to make purchases from their phones even while they stand in line at the store. Expect this to only increase as both the smartphone adoption rate and the public’s comfort level with online shopping increases. In the end, Wilson says, “the shopper wins.”

Back-to-School Economic Strategies Employed By Savvy Parents

We're not out of the woods yet! The recession may be over, but the working parents we spoke with at SBC Advertising said that they are still employing money-saving strategies to recover during the back-to-school season this year.  Some mothers told us they plan to continue using strategies formed in the last few years. So what has the recession changed?

Re-using or recycling school supplies from the previous year was one important cost-cutting measure mentioned by the parents we spoke to.  A mother of five said that she used to throw away everything at the end of the school year and shop for all new supplies before the next school year. Now, she saves anything salvageable and keeps it through the summer for her children to use come fall. 

Another mother said that she now postpones haircuts until right before school instead of having intermittent summer haircuts. This allows her children to look good for school pictures without spending money on multiple haircuts during the summer.

Clothes are another expense left until the last minute according to our working parents.  Kids grow quickly, so some parents said they now wait until August to buy new clothes for school. "What fits in June isn't necessarily going to fit in August," said a mother of one. Clothing can become expensive as kids begin to demand name brands, so one mother suggested taking children to a used clothing store and giving them more money to spend there because "they get more there than we'll end up spending somewhere else."

What measures have you used or do you plan to use this coming back-to-school season to save money? Did the recession change your habits?

Image: greenphile/freedigitalphotos.net

Back-to-School is second to holidays in spending, according to working parents. And kick off begins right after July 4th

We talked about that funny Staples ad in our last post. The ad made an analogy on behalf of parents that back-to-school was akin to Christmas as Andy Williams croons "It's the most wonderful time of the year." Interestingly, there are a few other things the back-to-school shopping season has in common with the holiday season: Increased spending and changes in typical shopping patterns.

Our working parents told us that back-to-school is the second most expensive shopping trip of the year next to the holidays. Between new backpacks, clothes, lunchboxes, shoes and replenishing basics like underwear and socks, parents said they have an exhaustive array of items on their shopping list. However, parents aren't just buying for their kids. Our working parents told us that due to slashed teacher budgets, they put items like hand sanitizer, tissue and dry erase markers on the shopping list too.

And the kick off to the back-to-school season begins just as the celebration of our country ends.

Why so early? Parents told us that retailers start advertising their back-to-school sales "All of a sudden Target and Staples and all those start making [back-to-school] the top of their flyer" said one working mom. Parents also said that they do more browsing in the beginning of the season, and will only purchase when the deal is too good to pass up.

Back to school changes normal shopping behavior
Our parents said they peruse store fliers and circulars just as they do during the holidays, but weekly shopping behaviors are expanded while heavier price comparisons begin. They'll visit stores outside of their normal routine, too. "It's when I start comparing and that's when I might actually make the trip to Meijer or Big Lots or somewhere that I don't normally frequent" said a mother of two. This year, we think that lower gas prices will increase the likelihood of parents shopping outside of their normal footprint too.

Fill 'er up, and let the shopping begin!

photo credit: Flickr/emilyonasunday