Super Bowl Marketing and Advertising - Lessons for Small Business
by Bobette Kyle

Each year, advertisers pay millions for the privilege of running Super Bowl commercials. These outrageous budgets are far beyond the range of the small business. If we take a closer look, however, we'll see that many of these TV ads are a part of larger marketing campaigns. We can all learn and pick up tips that apply to our small businesses by studying some of the techniques in these broader campaigns.

The Internet & Marketing

The general approach of integrating the Internet into marketing campaigns is becoming more prevalent each year as technologies improve, marketers become more accustomed to the medium and consumers have increasingly reliable Internet access.

Campaign-Specific Website Sections or "Micro sites"

Hummer H3: jenniferlovestherobot.com
Several 2006 Super Bowl advertisers have Websites devoted to their product or campaign. One of the most imaginative is Hummer with the new H3 (Trevor). The commercial depicts the unlikely H3 parents - monster and robot - meeting and eventually conceiving a baby H3. "It's a little monster." The ad directs us to the Web, www.hummer/monsters, where we find some typical Web-type stuff - watch the commercial, sign up for a newsletter, etc. It gets different when you "learn more about the star of this commercial" by clicking over to the monster's personal Website jenniferlovestherobot.com, which is Jennifer's (the monster mom) personal, garish Website (as many personal Websites are). Here she gushes over baby "Trevor" (the H3 she bore with the robot) and documents his progress, complete with ultrasound. In the baby book, we learn typical car specs and features while reading through Trevor's likes, dislikes and accomplishments.

It's an innovative and entertaining Website. For our own brands and businesses, we can try to "think outside the box." Present normally mundane features and specs in a more entertaining format while also emphasizing the brand personality.

Diet Pepsi: brownandbubbly.com
With brownandbubbly.com, Diet Pepsi marketers focused on the fact that their customers want more insight into the "story behind the story." Here you can watch the commercials, take a look behind the scenes, watch the rejects and download a desktop image. Most interesting is the chance to "Star in a 'Brown and Bubbly' video." Choose a video, upload your photo and do a bit of formatting. Magically, you are now part of a video clip featuring Diet Pepsi. Get viral with it by inviting email friends to watch your clip.

As small businesses, we may not be technically savvy enough to pull off personalized video clips, but we can learn from the interactive and viral aspects of this micro site. The Diet Pepsi marketing team integrated several techniques into encouraging brownandbubbly.com visitors to interact with the site. These marketers have made multiple exposures to the Diet Pepsi logo and message an enjoyable experience. Think of ways to do the same with your marketing messages and logo.

Continuing Marketing Campaigns

Some advertisers have made Super Bowl advertising activities a yearly event, building brand equity and recognition over time and producing a synergistic effect with the Super Bowl audience. Budweiser has done this with their "animal" campaigns over the years. Disney with their "I'm going to Disney World" campaign. Let's take a closer look at Disney.

Since 1987, Disney has run the campaign, where - in a commercial - prominent sports or celebrity figures proclaim they are going to the theme park. Super Bowl MVPs are often chosen. This year, ads before and during the 2006 Super Bowl show candidates "practicing" their line, presumably trying to be macho but unable to disguise their glee at the thought of visiting the awe-inspiring theme park (results varied according to each athlete's acting ability ;) ). While the basic premise has remained the same over the years, details have changed. This year, for example, Disney chose to expand with more events during the entire Super Bowl weekend.

While a 20-year campaign is more ambitious than most of us can imagine, the idea of repeating successful campaign elements to an audience over time is not. Think of situations where you could have the repeated attention of essentially the same audience (or different audiences with similar demographics). This could be an annual event, a monthly meeting, a periodic publication, etc. What kind of ongoing campaign can you build around that situation? What *other* types of events or activities can you hold to attract even more attention?

Whether your marketing is focused on the Internet, offline marketing or both, apply these concepts with diligent creativity and you'll see a benefit to your business.

About the Author

Bobette Kyle draws upon 15+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, online marketing experience, and a marketing MBA as inspiration for her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network (http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com). She is also author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business." You can search all articles on the network through the marketing directory by going here: http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/directory