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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.
In 1999, when Victoria's Secret broadcast its fashion show online in conjunction
with a Super Bowl commercial, Website tie-ins were groundbreaking news. Seven
years later, URL mentions in commercials are the norm and marketers are becoming
more adept at integrating the Internet into marketing campaigns.
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.
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