Weekly Resolution 2/8/10 -- I Still Love Advertising

Weekly Resolution for 2/8/10 -- I STILL LOVE ADVERTISING

Ok, I was more than a little disappointed with the television advertising during the Super Bowl. There really wasn't much there, although truthfully we shouldn't be surprised. I think the whole "advertise during the Super Bowl" hype has jumped the shark.

But I still love advertising. Always have.

I was one of those kids who knew that I wanted to go into marketing right from the start. Not even sure how I knew. I would watch the television commercials more than the television shows and I would read the print ads more than the articles in the magazines. I just loved advertising (and marketing) right from the start. I loved the creativity of it all.

I'm not one of those folks that thinks it's dead. Just evolving.

For me, good advertising is not about extravagant entertainment. Creativity, sure, but only when it makes sense. Bud Light and Doritos certainly tried to wow us with execution after execution during the game, but did little to convince me to buy. I did like the line, "keep your hands off my mama and your hands off my Doritos" though.

At the end of the day (or the end of the game), good advertising is about really understanding your consumer and finding something about your brand that can connect with them. So for me, there were only two stand outs.

Snickers. "You're Not Yourself When You're Hungry". Brilliant, and so true. When we are hungry, we don't have the strength, stamina, or energy to get done what we need to get done. Using Betty White in a football game made me pay attention and just might get me to reconsider Snickers.

Dodge Charger. There were a LOT of car commercials but for me only one had any kind of consumer insight built into the messaging. "I Will Hold Your Purse When You Go Shopping, And I Will Drive The Car I Want To Drive". Again, brilliant. Totally hit the target insight of the things that men will do for their women -- provided they get to have the car they want. A little sexist, but still insightful. The VW "Punch Buggy" spot was cross-generational and nostalgic, but for me lacked the consumer insight of the Dodge spot.

The David Letterman promo has been getting a lot of playback, but for me that was a "been there, done that" kind of thing.

Not a banner game for advertising, but honestly I think we should lower our expectations. The multi-million dollar price tags along with the big production budgets is setting a stage that I no longer think is relevant. As a marketer, I just want to do great work that resonates with my consumers and that builds a brand. During the Super Bowl or not. Simply that.

Special call out to Google for the most simple commercial of the night, and dead on with what the brand promises. Spot on.

I really do still love advertising. You can view a lot of the spots at this link: http://mashable.com/2010/02/08/super-bowl-ads-2010/

What's your experience? Jim.