|
Each year, the Super Bowl provides marketers opportunity to study and learn from the game's advertisers, players, and coordinators. Super Bowl XXXVI was no exception.
Foremost, of course, was The Game's appropriately patriotic theme. America's mettle and proud heritage were showcased to the
world through this year's red, white, and blue logo; music selection by the performers; and depictions of historic U.S. icons.
The Game further supported U.S. patriotism through
the presence of the armed services, police department, and
fire department at the game as well as interviews with
troops in Afghanistan.
Finally, as if by design, the unlikely Patriots won
the championship.
Lessons from the Advertisers
Lesson 1: Know your target audience.
Both Pepsi and Levi demonstrated this lesson.
Pepsi's commercial re-creating several campaigns
throughout the years showed how the company changed its
advertising and image to reflect the teen target's
interests. The commercial also played to the current teen
market's interest in nostalgia.
You may have noticed that
Levi ran the
same commercial twice during the game - the first time in
English, the second time in Spanish. This reflects an
awareness and appreciation of target audience
demographics.
Lesson 2: Research
Before airing the Super Bowl commercial,
Levi completed
a customer preference survey of visitors to the Website.
The winning spot was aired during The Game.
Lesson 3: Consider launching your campaign around an
event.
E*Trade launched a new campaign by firing the monkey and officially announcing a new image. This new positioning
carries through to the E*Trade Website. You can also watch
the commercial on E*Trades site.
Lesson 4: Teasers can build interest.
Anonymous mLife commercials in the days before the Super Bowl caused many to wonder, "Just what is mLife?" Late in
the game, AT&T revealed mLife as the
concept of a mobile, wireless life. Mlife, presumably, is
prelude to a series of new AT&T products.
Lesson 5: Research trademarks carefully.
As a result of the mLife campaign, MetLife initiated a lawsuit against AT&T, claiming
mLife will dilute the MetLife brand. The lesson? Be aware of
the potential for opposition from those with similar names,
even if your products are unrelated. This pertains to
domain names
as well.
Lesson 6: Sponsorships can help build brands.
Schwab, E*trade, and Miller all helped brand equity by sponsoring portions of The Game this year. Consider this
same tactic on a smaller scale. Numerous events, ezines, Websites, and local causes offer sponsorship opportunities.
Lesson 7: Events are new product opportunities.
Reebok offered limited edition commemorative sneakers. Super
Bowl apparel is abundant. You can apply this same technique by brainstorming new products related to both
online and offline events.
Lesson 8: Be sensitive to changes in sentiment.
This year E*Trade ditched the cute monkey in favor of a more trustworthy company image. Likely, this is due in part to a change in values and expectations from the company's customers.
|
