Be an Armchair Ad Expert this Weekend

It’s happening even earlier this year.  20 years ago, there was hype about the Super Bowl ads a few weeks before the big game – maybe a list would even be leaked.

In the past 10 years, the ads have actually been shown to media before the big event so they can comment and set up the audience to be watching for them.

This week (Super Bowl is still more than two weeks away), I saw a trailer for a Super Bowl ad.  A trailer! For an ad!

The ads might be an even bigger deal than the game for many.

There’s been a lot of change in these ads over the years.  Prices for a 30 second ad this year are $6.5million.  And that’s just to place the ad.  Companies are spending millions just to produce them.  For most businesses, one 30 second Super Bowl ad is more than 100X their annual marketing budget.  Given that these ads have become ultra-expensive short films for global brands, what can they possibly have to do with small business marketing?

When I teach marketing to students or coach small businesses, I remind everyone that we are all marketing experts – we have been marketed to since we were children afterall.  With the pervasiveness of media on apps, games, and audio, marketing is with us for almost all of our waking hours.  We are so good at consuming marketing we have become highly skilled in filtering out what we need to see and what we don’t.  For example, there are a lot of logos out there that don’t catch my attention  but when I’m shopping for my 13 year-old, athletic kid, I see the logos of sporting goods and know that I’ve found what I’m looking for.  I don’t notice logos for designer shoes or car hood ornaments because they don’t appeal to me.

So back to the question, why should we care about advertising, sponsorships and other marketing when we’re relaxing and taking in a sporting event?  Whether you’re watching football or golf, tennis, or hockey,  I feel like watching a sport can be a test of our marketing skills.  There are  two big questions to ask when you see an ad, a sponsorship banner, a logo, etc.:

1. Who are they trying to speak to?
2. What are they trying to say about their products or services?

You’ll be surprised about what you start to notice when you become a marketing analyst in the same way you watch a play or pick up on a team’s strategies.

Who are they trying to speak to?

When you see tennis highlights (or like Carla here at Bench Strength who is a tennis fan, have the Australian Open on while you work), you might notice brands known for expensive products or business services.  These companies are trying to connect their products to people who watch or attend those events.  They may be promoting their company to businesses that  have a box or corporate tickets at the event.  Given the cost of those promotions, they may be saying something about their products or services – “they’re expensive because they’re high quality”.

During the Super Bowl, you’ll see some ads that no one can figure out so don’t worry if you don’t catch the point.  Most of them will be very obviously targeted at a specific consumer group and if you don’t “get” the ad – you’re probably not their target.  Are they appealing to manly men? Family men? Families who watch football together? Women? Young men? Middle-aged men? Kids?  Just take some time to think about the people the ad is trying to connect to.  This sharpens your own skills to start noticing target audiences – a pillar for developing your own marketing strategy.

What are they trying to say about their product or service?

The second thing to notice is what they’re trying to say about their products.  Are they a bargain?  Are they much better than the competition?  Do they offer a unique experience that can’t be matched?  Do they appeal to the emotions of the audience?  Are they introducing something new that has never been seen before? Are they showing how something old can appeal to a new audience?

Communicating something specific in a campaign is another pillar to your own marketing strategy.  When you start to notice what other companies (with a $6.5million budget for one ad!) are doing, you can feel more comfortable refining your promotional messages, too.

Be a fan – watch the game.  Spend a little time as a ‘marketing expert’ to see what the big companies are doing and maybe you’ll be inspired to change your own company’s marketing.  You don’t need a billion-dollar budget to be effective and efficient with your marketing.