10 Ways to Market Like a Super Bowl Ad Agency

Finally, this year’s Super Bowl game was more exciting than the commercials. Although 60% of Americans state they would rather take a bathroom break during the game than watch the ads, hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year. Fortunately, the ads now live on the Internet well past their 30 seconds of fame.
This year, large corporations spent upwards of $3.5M for 30 seconds of  commercial time. This translates into roughly a cost of 3 cents to reach every viewer! In fact, in the last 10 years, Anheuser Busch has spent the most–$239M–for Super Bowl ads. Unfortunately, except for their "Weego" commerical, it seems that their ad agency’s creative department took this year off.
Small business owners don’t have millions to spend on Super Bowl commercials. Nonetheless, it's fun (and sometimes useful) to look at successful themes and tactics that Superbowl marketing campaigns used this year. Here are 10 ways you can mimic the top spenders:

1. Invoke nostalgia. Many commercials leaned heavy into the familiar trusted themes from the past. While it did seem strange that a Korean car company, Hyundai used the theme from the movie Rocky in its kick off ad, it was very effective (my son was whistling the tune well into the first quarter).  Honda showed Matthew Broderick skipping work for a "feel good" return to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Career Builder  played the theme from “The Odd Couple” in their ad. Retailer HH Gregg used the Beatles' iconic song “Help”.
   
2. Show a social conscience. First watch the Groupon Super Bowl ad from 2011 and don’t do that. Bud Light scored big by using the “Weego” rescue dog for a cute ad with a reminder at the end to help this cause.
   
3. Talk about your customers’ dreams. Many commercials tapped into what their customers dreamed about. Toyota Camry showed viewers the way they would reinvent things (Rain making us thinner or a DMV that actually gives good customer service.)  American Family Insurance predictably talked about "going to get your dream".
   
4. Tap into the American spirit of rebuilding. Bud Light told viewers that “Good things come to those who wait…good thing that those people don’t work here.” Best Buy featured people that are amazing innovators. Clint Eastwood narrated a Chrysler commercial reminding the audience that the worst of the recession is over. He reminded viewers that “it's halftime in America.” Eastwood continues that “this country can’t be knocked out with one punch and when we come back, they will hear the roar of our engines again...” Look for a politician to use this at one of their rallies.
   
5. Use current events. Maybe the Mayans were right about the end of the world in 2012.  Chrysler used this theme for their Silverado to the tune of Barry Manilow’s “Looks Like We Made It”. They included the iconic Twinkie that is rumored to last forever. In an election year, Pepsi’s "King’s Court Commercial" promised “Pepsi for All!” This may also ring true with the "Occupy" movement.
   
6. Don’t use the same theme forever. Go Daddy’s sexy ads  stopped being intriguing this year and the Coca- Cola commercials with the polar bears were mostly uninspiring.
   
7. Partner up (or better yet, relate your product to beer!) This year, GE partnered with Budweiser for an unusual mix. When people think about GE they typically don’t think about beer. It may not be a match, but the audience did take notice.
   
8. Use surprise slapstick. Stonyfield’s Oikos yogurt featured John Stamos getting head butted by an actress. It may not have worked if he headbutted her.
   
9. Continue online. Use social media tags in conjunction with advertising. Companies such as Audi (#SoLongVampires) and Bud Light (#MakeItPlatinum) were trending on Twitter. A few minutes after the Fiat Abarth commercial ad aired, I received an email from the company as reinforcement to watch the ad again and enter a new contest. Chevy featured its new car, the Sonic with its www.letsdothis.com campaign.
   
10.  Use Vampires. When all else fails, feature vampires in advertising like Audi. This is a safe bet since every hit movie or television show last year seemed to include them.
    

What were your favorite Super Bowl commercials? What can small business owners learn from big corporate ad agencies about marketing?
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