Fact: The Super Bowl is the most watched event on the planet. While a popular prime time show might pull in 10 million viewers, Super Bowl LI had 113.7 million – making it the fifth largest TV event in history. It’s no wonder that ad buys set a new record this year - $5 million for a 30-second spot.
When you’re shelling out that kind of dough, you want to make sure your brand gets its money’s worth. So how can you avoid turning off viewers or muddling your message? Let’s take a look at this year’s ads to see what lessons we can glean.
What Didn’t Work
1) Trying to Fit Too Much Into 30 Seconds: An abundance of great ideas isn’t a bad thing… unless you’re trying to stuff all of them into a 30-second video. There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious – just make sure your eye isn’t bigger than your media buy. Several spots during this year’s game would have worked better as 60-second or 90-second cuts.
It’s a tough pill to swallow but sometimes you can’t do it all. “Epic” should describe your ad’s visuals, not the length of your storyline.
2) Not Giving Enough Context: Watching some of the spots this year felt like walking into the middle of a conversation. The Super Bowl isn’t the time to crack in-jokes and make callbacks directed at viewers already familiar with your campaign.
With more households “cutting the cord” than ever before, there’s a good number of folks who haven’t seen a TV commercial since last year’s Super Bowl, making the Big Game the perfect opportunity to introduce viewers to a campaign – not drop them into the middle of one. Without the proper context, your brand’s message may get lost.
3) Being Too Clever: Speaking of confusing, meta humor can work well but it’s important to make sure your video doesn’t feel like a teaser for another Inception movie. Cleverness and subtly are always appreciated but you can’t ask your audience to meet you more than halfway. By the time they get the joke you were making, the next commercial may have already started. Remember: we’re talking about the Super Bowl here – a good portion of your audience has been drinking all day.
What Did Work
1) Being Funny: As always, comedy spots scored big this year. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Patriots fan, a Falcons fan, or if you dislike sports altogether. Turns out, everyone loves watching Melissa McCarthy get thrown by a whale (press play below!). The Kia spot scored #1 on USA Today’s Ad Meter and tons of other comedic commercials also ranked highly.
We saw a clever, edgy spot from T-Mobile. A fun, slapstick romp from Tide. And even a trip down nostalgia lane with Spuds MacKenzie from Bud Light. The message was clear this year: there’s a lot to be said for making people laugh.
2) Being Unexpected: Before this year’s game, if you asked viewers whether they found Mr. Clean sexy, most people would have slowly backed away from you and made for the exit. Which is exactly why “Cleaner of Your Dreams” is so memorable.
Surprising viewers is one of the best ways to grab their attention. According to Realeyes, a facial tracking software company, Mr. Clean was the most emotionally engaging video of the night along with Skittles’ “Romance” – another spot with an unexpected twist.
3) Showing Cute Babies: When all else fails, throw some adorable toddlers in there. It definitely worked for the NFL this year. Their "Super Bowl Baby Legends" video scored the 8th spot on the Ad Meter.
And – shameless self-promotion time – it worked for Tongal, too. Take a look at this spot by Tongaler Pretty Nifty for Member’s Mark from last year’s Super Bowl. It scored over 23 million views across digital channels:
Of course none of the takeaways above can compare to having a truly original idea that’s on message for your brand. Just take a look at the most famous Super Bowl commercial of all time. It shares very little in common with the best of Super Bowl LI’s spots but we’re still talking about it over thirty years later.
...Although, casting a cute baby to play the jogger probably wouldn’t have hurt.
