Wild creativity, big bang, lots of money, made them cry…

and two weeks later no one remembers who you are or what you had to say?

In the not so recent past, having a Super Bowl ad appeared to be the holy grail in marketing…..but was it really? You may remember some of the big brands, Pepsi, Budweiser, Doritos, but do you remember what they had to say? Do you notice if you support those brands more now than you did before? Do you notice if you buy their products more now than before you saw their Super Bowl ad? What was the brand strategy behind placing that kind of bet?

The point is

Advertising is part of the marketing mix and its role is to help your brand become relevant in the minds of your audience. Philosophy for placement during the Super Bowl goes like this – more eyeballs are watching, so in theory you capture more audience in a short time frame and therefore get more bang for your buck. But in reality, it’s one day, it’s one time frame. Even if the ad you create gains all the spotlight of that day and the public is in love for those 3 hours, the fact is, your brand needs an entire campaign, over time to be effective. It needs more channels and more opportunities to connect with your audience.

Too narrow is

Many of my clients are operating in much the same way. They may not all be running Super Bowl advertisements, but they’ve only invested in one creative idea or one channel, one sponsorship or one big event. While I tell my clients that focus is good, too narrow a focus and you are running the risk of not reaching your audience and certainly not reaching them for long enough. More channels equals more opportunities to reach. Longer, more sustained campaigns equals more chances to connect with your audience.

Brand strategy is

Successful brands build campaigns and platforms that can be articulated all year long. They do their research and pick the time line of their choosing, not that of the NFL. They execute where they can be heard, not where they are competing against some of the biggest brands in the world. They pick the platforms where their audiences already are, not where some of their target audience might be for 3 hours on a single day.

Does your brand strategy resemble that of Super Bowl advertising, lost in a myriad of competitors and hoopla or is it tied to your business plan utilizing relevant channels and directly speaking to your optimal client base?

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