Creating Great Commercials: Super Bowl Edition
Whether you’re a diehard football fan or the type of person who had no clue which teams were playing until kickoff, chances are you tuned in to the Super Bowl LIV. Besides, we all know that the best parts of the Super Bowl are the halftime show and highly anticipated commercial advertisements. The Super Bowl provides an exciting, annual event where brands have an opportunity to reach a massive audience and connect their brand or product with celebrities, influencers, causes and social movements.
With the Super Bowl LIV drawing 102 million viewers and the average cost of a 30-second ad spot hitting an estimated record high of $5.6 million, the pressure was on for advertisers to dazzle audiences at this year’s game. First-time advertisers included Sabra, Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts, Little Caesar’s, Walmart, Bud Light Seltzer and Facebook. Additionally, with 2020 being an election year, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Michael Bloomberg both spent a pretty penny to release 60-second advertisements.
While Super Bowl ad spots are a costly investment, the potential to reach a large variety of publics simultaneously means brands have seemingly endless opportunities for creative and powerful ads. The main challenge then becomes how to effectively capture your audience’s attention to entertain and inform in 30 to 60 seconds. Below are a few tips and tricks for creating a strong Super Bowl commercial.
Consider your overall message.
Think critically and determine the message your ad will portray. Do you want your ad to take some sort of political stance or serve as a call to action? The NFL itself aired a commercial as part of its “Inspire Change” initiative that focused on police brutality, racial inequality and social justice issues. With our current political climate and it being an election year, many brands opted to steer clear of anything too bold or politically driven.
However, there can be great value in a call to action that echoes your company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. For example, WeatherTech’s Super Bowl ad encouraged viewers to donate money towards cancer research for pets through their website. The message was clear and straightforward, WeatherTech is committed to improving the lives of people and their beloved pets. Olay’s Super Bowl ad “#MakeSpaceForWomen” advocated for supporting women in STEM fields and promised to donate money towards coding education for young women when people tweet using the #MakeSpaceForWomen. Olay used their ad spot to spark conversation and connect their brand to a worthy cause.
Choose the right tone.
Do you want your ad to be humorous, quirky, serious, or inspirational? Be mindful throughout the ad creation process and consider whether audiences will find your commercial offensive, insensitive or too controversial. Remember the tone of your ad can impact brand image and influence purchase decisions. Who else needed a tissue after Google’s ad? Google brought viewers to tears with its ad, “Loretta”, which told the story of an elderly man using Google to help remember small details about his late wife. Older generations, adults with aging parents and young people alike could all relate to Google’s emotional ad spot that displayed a compassionate, heartwarming tone.
Think strategically when using celebrities and influencers.
Including famous actors, athletes, musicians and influencers is an exciting way to build brand recognition and form memorable ads. However, it’s key to consider factors such as a celebrity’s reputation and how well the individual is logically connected to your product or brand and the ad’s theme. Since people of all ages and backgrounds tune in to watch the Super Bowl, it’s important to select celebrities that cater to several audiences. For example, Doritos western-themed “The Cool Ranch” commercial played the hit song “Old Town Road” and featured Sam Elliot, Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus. This is a great example of including famous entertainers who are relevant to the theme of the ad and have wide appeal among viewers.
Once again, the Super Bowl is an amazing time to pull out all the stops to create hilarious, thought-provoking and mind-blowing ads to positively impact your brand’s awareness, image and sales. Since the Super Bowl can be a competition to determine which ad will be the biggest, best, most-talked about, it’s important to remember the following: choose the appropriate message, tone is everything and if you’re going to incorporate celebrities, make sure they fit your brand and ad theme.
About Samantha:
Samantha Stoddard is an advertising and public relations major with a PR emphasis and a minor in digital studies. She is a server at Westside Social, and this is her first semester being a member of GrandPR. When she’s not busy with school and work, Samantha likes to practice yoga, check out the local coffee shops, cook and spend time with her family and friends.