Super Bowl

 

WPP’s Kantar Media begs the question, “Was that Super Bowl Ad really worth $3.5 million?” Online video appeared to play a big part in the mix as according to a study from Kantar’s Video division, which claims that within the first three days, the top 10 ads created $862,000 on average in earned video impressions, a 12.7 percent return on the cost of a Super Bowl ad spot. In addition, this year’s big game ads have created over $11 million in earned media and saw a 267% increase in viewership over last year’s Super Bowl. As expected, the Honda/Broderick combination scored big and earned over $2 million along with Seinfeld/Leno’s Acura spot. Read more here.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

As our Super Bowl post-game coverage winds down, we give you this write-up from Don Seaman, TVB’s manager of marketing communications, which is the non-profit trade association of America’s commercial broadcast TV industry. Here, the exec discusses his interesting, rather busy Super Bowl viewing experience.

I’m a Giants fan.  I also work in the media industry.  But it pains me to admit that up until Saturday, mine was  among the 30 percent of homes that still don’t have HDTV.  With the Giants in the Super Bowl, it became a moral imperative to experience the game in the best way possible, at least from my own living room.  After all, I had a responsibility to the TVB to make this some cutting edge viewing research.

The thing is, in 2012 watching the game on your living room HDTV isn’t the only “best” way to watch the game anymore.  And no, I didn’t spring for the full 3D TV experience.  It’s bigger than that.  Today, you can virtually have an “all-access” pass to the Super Bowl while still being hundreds of miles from the stadium.

Read more

Well, this probably won’t diffuse any anger felt by those who are accusing W+K, Clint Eastwood and Chrysler for sending out a pro-Obama message in their Super Bowl ad (which is now live again, by the way). But here’s a little clip that’s being dubbed as an “alternate version” of the official big game spot, the latter of which Eastwood has recently defended, claiming there’s no spin to be had in his “Halftime.” But as you’ll see, we can’t say the same for this quick mash-up, which makes its message loud and clear by the end. Did you think the original had an Obama bias or was it “apolitical” as Eastwood claims? Or should we just discontinue the conversation altogether and let the ad be?

On Sunday, Anomaly debuted the above Super Bowl spot for Budweiser, “Eternal Optimism.” In 60 seconds, Budweiser parallels its own history with that of the country of its birth, starting from the end of Prohibition and concluding in the era of pop-up hip-hop concerts aka “present day.” Yes, it’s a bit silly to imagine that Budweiser was the drink of choice for patrons of Studio 54, but it’s always fun to see how advertisers choose to depict (or rewrite) U.S. history. It’s also interesting to note that, as one tipster suggests, Anomaly’s representation of the last century closely resembles TBWA/Chiat/Day’s 2009 Obama inauguration spot for Pepsi.

Before we turn to you, dear readers, for finger pointing/waving, let’s discuss the similarities and differences of these two spots.

Similarities: Flapper girls, the end of WWII, greasers, Studio 54, break dancing, and grunge body-passing.
Differences: Hippies vs. Moon landing, Berlin Wall vs. the “Miracle on Ice,” and Budweiser’s use of the dance party.

Given this evidence, is this case an ad ripoff? Is this a case of coincidence? Or, is this, as they say, “just what happens?”

Hey, if a five-year-old can offer her initial impressions on some of our most notable brandmarks, why can’t an eight-year-old play astute Super Bowl critic? Well, it looks like the folks at Salt Lake City-based Crowell Advertising decided to run with that premise as you can see in the clip above, which features a young lad named Arturo who gives us his take on various spots from the big game. The consensus? Many of the ads were “stupid” and then some. It’s not quite as cute as the brandmarks effort, but we appreciate this kid’s honesty and feedback. We just hope we don’t see 50 more of these types of child-starring projects roll out in the coming weeks/months before they eventually lose all their charm.

At first glance, there’s not a lot to hate about an ad depicting John Stamos getting headbutted in the face. But, aside from rapper M.I.A. taking a moment to give America the finger during the halftime show, Dannon Oikos’ debut Super Bowl spot was the most controversial part of the Super Bowl XLVI broadcast, and it has nothing to do with making light of domestic violence.

Instead of Dannon calling on longtime AOR Y&R for the ad (Y&R only played a “consultative role”), “The Tease,” was actually crowdsourced into development. Fun trivia: At 21 years old, the ad’s director, Remy Neymarc, could be the youngest Super Bowl ad director in history. However, as one tipster suggests, Dannon’s frugal crowdsourcing methods may be costing the brand more money in the long-run.

First, consider the track playing in the background. Some on social media are saying that the song sounds an awful lot like the John Butler Trio’s “Zebra.” A look at the JBT’s Twitter page shows that the band is in agreement, and probably isn’t too happy about the “coincidence.” Compare below.

Second, the spot looks pretty similar to a 2001 Canadian 7-Up spot. We ask you, dear readers, was Dannon guilty of a concept and a song ripoff during the Super Bowl? If so, will this affect later viewings of Full House reruns?

Judging by the fact that millions of people have probably called in sick today (and millions more are probably just showing up to the office), we can’t say we disagree with a new Coke Zero campaign calling to make the day after Super Bowl Sunday a federal holiday dubbed, er, Magnificent Monday. Well, the name could use some tweaking, but we’re on board with this effort from CP+B. On the social media front, the beverage brand is asking the Twitterverse to log on and submit ideas on how to make this holiday happen using the hashtag #magmonday. We have faith that this could become reality in the coming years, folks, so let’s get to it already. Credits after the jump.

Read more

We’re sure we’ll see a few more of these roll in today (and we’re also planning on our own Google+ Hangout discussion of the big game ads in a couple of hours) but here’s some analysis from NYC digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive, which recently brought in a new chief exec from Organic. Anyhow, according to the Zeta Buzz tonal ranking system (which is determined by an algorithm that measures tone and volume of conversations across social media), the top 10 list of commercials from last night read as follows:

1) Honda “Matthew’s Day Off – Ferris Bueller” – 91% positive

2) M&M’s “Mrs. Brown – Sexy and You Know It” – 90% positive
3) Budweiser “Eternal Optimism – Block Party” – 90% positive
4) Acura “Transactions – Seinfeld” — 89% positive

5) Skechers “Dog Race” — 89% positive
6) Fiat “First Time – Italian” — 88% positive
7) 2nd Story Software (TaxACT) “Feel the Free” — 87% positive
Budweiser “Return of the King – Prohibition” — 87% positive
9) Volkswagen “The Dog Strikes Back” — 87% positive
10) (3-WAY TIE) Coca Cola “Catch”, Chrysler “Clint Eastwood” and E-Trade “Fatherhood” — 86% positive

While we agree with many of these in terms of their positive rankings, we’re surprised to see other spots we got a kick out of trend towards the bottom of the list including Chevy’s “Happy Grad,” which was pretty amusing compared to other efforts throughout the evening.

Speaking of ad buzz reports, Collective Intellect has unveiled its Super Bowl ad tracker while USA Today has revealed its own top five in the Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter. The final USA Today results won’t be posted until tomorrow night, but here’s their list as chosen by a viewing panel:

• Doritos – Man’s Best Friend – 8.82
• Volkswagen – Dog Strikes Back – 8.73
• Skechers – Go Run – 8.57
• Doritos – Sling Baby – 8.48
• M&Ms – Ms. Brown – 8.47

The E*Ttrade baby has been a divisive figure in advertising. As marketers, it can be easy to hate the cocky, talking infant. But, many in the financial industry can’t seem to get enough of the little guy (close relatives of mine included). It must be working for E*Trade and Grey NY, because five years after the baby’s first appearance, he’s still being used at the company spokesperson in all-important Super Bowl ads. It seems much longer than five years, doesn’t it?

Anyway, one of two Super Bowl spots for E*Trade from Grey NY finds the baby giving his father advice about planning for the future. It’s part of a push from E*Trade to highlight the company’s other, non-trading products and services. As the baby reps his favorite brand’s new offering of financial consultants, he’s interrupted to see a toddler acquaintance “speed-dating” newborns. It’s kind of an unsettling image, no?

In a statement, E*Trade Financial Corporation CMO Nick Utton previews the baby’s new direction away from pixelated webcams. “We’re focused on building on our momentum by ensuring the campaign remains memorable and iconic, and also says something new about E*Trade’s offerings,” he says. “This year’s approach features the Baby interacting with people facing important real-life events that trigger a need to consider investing.”

E*Trade’s second Super Bowl spot, “Best Man,” follows after the jump.

Read more

Our Super Bowl series continues as we top the week off with a piece from John Maxham, who has spent the past two years as partner, ECD at Seattle’s own Cole & Weber United.

As we get ready to watch the Super Bowl and, of course, dissect the ads that go along with it, I’d like to call attention to a subtle form of marketing that is (almost) as old as the big game itself. Because when we gather together on Sunday, beers in hands, remotes at the ready, we will be sitting down to watch Super Bowl XLVI, not Super Bowl 46.

The use of Roman numerals in Super Bowl titles has become a widely accepted, if not often discussed part of the season finale. It dates back to Super Bowl 5, excuse me, Super Bowl V, when the championship game was a relatively new concoction.

Read more