Super Bowl 2013 Lessons Learned
We tend to think of the Super Bowl advertising as being just for "advertisers" and just for the big brands. While the budgets may indicate that for sure, there are actually some lessons that can be learned for all brands whether big or small. Even if the brand doesn't do a lick of television advertising.
Small business owners in particular are always asking me, "how can I apply this to my small business brand?" Well here's how ... some lessons learned from this year's crop of Super Bowl ads.
Find an insight. I say this all the time: in order to become a brand, you have to create an emotional connection with your customer. The only way to do that is to find an insight that you can pull that attracts your customer to you. The Audi spot and its universal emotion of insecurity certainly showed us the power of an insight.
Put your consumer first. Many brands spend the bulk of their time talking about themselves, and that's such a mistake. Put your customer out front, and talk about them. They will hear you, and come to you. Witness the Ram spot and "God made the farmer."
Show, don't tell. Again, talking about yourself and all of your features doesn't do much for the brand and for your customer. Show them what you are doing and that will draw them in. Oprah's superb read on the Jeep/USO partnership certainly sold me on Jeep, based on their commitment to bringing soldiers home, making us "whole again."
Brands of all size and shapes take note: there's a lot to be inspired by here ... look at what these big brands are doing so that you can up your game too.
Ask yourself ... what's your experience? Jim.
Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU
If you liked following the Super Bowl advertising on social media, join us for #GrammyExp ... we do the same thing for all the major pop culture events! Sunday 2/10 at 6:30pm EST.
Small business owners in particular are always asking me, "how can I apply this to my small business brand?" Well here's how ... some lessons learned from this year's crop of Super Bowl ads.
Find an insight. I say this all the time: in order to become a brand, you have to create an emotional connection with your customer. The only way to do that is to find an insight that you can pull that attracts your customer to you. The Audi spot and its universal emotion of insecurity certainly showed us the power of an insight.
Put your consumer first. Many brands spend the bulk of their time talking about themselves, and that's such a mistake. Put your customer out front, and talk about them. They will hear you, and come to you. Witness the Ram spot and "God made the farmer."
Show, don't tell. Again, talking about yourself and all of your features doesn't do much for the brand and for your customer. Show them what you are doing and that will draw them in. Oprah's superb read on the Jeep/USO partnership certainly sold me on Jeep, based on their commitment to bringing soldiers home, making us "whole again."
Think fast. We saw several brands react quickly to the Super Bowl blackout with social media posts that engaged with their audience. That takes bravery (aka Audi), but it also takes a commitment to do it right. This should be easier for small business. Be ready to link your brand to what is happening in the world around you, and your customers will bring you into your world. We've heard a lot about Oreo and Tide here, but even Calvin Klein encouraged us to watch more footage of its model while we were waiting for the lights to come back on!
Brands of all size and shapes take note: there's a lot to be inspired by here ... look at what these big brands are doing so that you can up your game too.
Ask yourself ... what's your experience? Jim.
Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Professor, NYU
If you liked following the Super Bowl advertising on social media, join us for #GrammyExp ... we do the same thing for all the major pop culture events! Sunday 2/10 at 6:30pm EST.