It’s that time of year when marketing professionals and creative directors toss and turn in bed, wake up covered in sweat, and suffer countless headaches – not because of a COVID infection, but because of their one-in-a-million, 30-second chance to leave their mark in the advertising world: the Super Bowl finals.
Said to be the world’s most watched sporting event, the game isn’t any less important to businesses than to football fans. With an audience of up to 114 million in peak years, airing a spot during the final game can help brands in turning millions of viewers into millions of customers.
It’s that ‘now-or-never’ opportunity – one that comes with a heavy price tag. “If you are going to spend $6.5 million dollars for an ad in the Super Bowl, you’d better make sure that ad sells something,” said Robert Barrows, president of a Burlingame, California-based advertising and public relations agency.
To do so, famed Super Bowl advertisers and big spenders like Pepsi and Budweiser lean on top-tier creative agencies and marketing experts, who shared the 4 things they believe will guarantee a spot’s success this year.
- Budget
Money rules the world – of advertising, too. “You want to make a splash… and a lot of times, the client is okay with opening up the checkbook,” said Vinny Tulley from New York-based creative agency DeVito/Verdi. The creative director, who has worked on several Super Bowl commercials throughout his career, said many companies decide to bring in “star power”, forcing them to bump up their budgets even further.
- Comedy
Sometimes, it doesn’t take a celebrity appearance or million-dollar production investment to land a success. “You can’t lose with comedy – but it better be pretty funny,” said Tulley. “Humor and fun tend to resonate extremely well,” Dan Lobring, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications at rEvolution, agreed. The Chicago- and London-based company specializes in sports marketing and has served clients like Land Rover and Capgemini during major sporting events. “In previous years, there has been some push-back on what was perceived as ‘serious’ ads,” he added. “I don’t expect to see COVID-19 to be a major theme in this year’s game”.
- Simplicity
“Many of those Super Bowl ads are so over-produced that they forget to actually sell something,” said agency owner Barrows, who has been in business for over 40 years. Campaign creators are best advised by keeping it simple and remembering Marketing 101, Barrows believes – like including the brand’s name and logo from the first instead of waiting for the final second, “long after the viewer may have already clicked out of it”.
- A “pass” on the flush test
With average consumers’ attention span drastically shortening, viewers are likely to not even make it through a 30-second spot. According to Barrows, there’s something advertisers can do about it: “The flush test is a term I use for a sound mix that you can hear even if you are out of the room going to the bathroom when the ad runs. Even if you are in the kitchen getting a bite to eat, the sound mix should be good enough to hear.”
It seems as if experts agree that ‘back to the basics’ is the way to go. Especially in sports, effective marketing is not about sophisticated techniques, but about adding value to the fan experience, rEvolution’s Lobring said. “The Super Bowl is a rare exception where viewers want to be entertained by the ads just as much as the game.”
Bengals and Rams, Doritos and FedEx – the stage is yours.
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