Two Mistakes

Two of the most popular ads which ran during last week’s Super Bowl did an excellent job targeting their market.  The Paul Harvey-voiced ad dedicated to farmers caught the attention of every farm family that was watching.  Being two minutes long, the commercial took plenty of time to make the impression that the advertiser wanted.  By the middle of the commercial, I’m certain the target market was riveted.  Paul Harvey’s voice was very distinctive and commanded attention.  Since his program often aired on stations with farm programming, farmers instantly recognized it.  His description of a farmer was right on. 

Overall the commercial was excellent.  The producers only made one mistake.  I will disclose it with a question.  What company aired the commercial?  If you remember, good for that company.  To discover the company, you would have had to watch the commercial closely all the way to the end.  The company’s name was only shown for a few seconds at the very end of a two-minute commercial.  That was a big mistake.  The company would have been further ahead if it had displayed its logo and name in a lower corner throughout the commercial.

RAM trucks, the company, went through great pains and paid a great deal to air an effective commercial.  Why only have its name on screen for a few seconds?  Why not associate its name with the commercial for two minutes?  The company would have achieved much more from the commercial if it had done so. 

The second popular commercial which targeted its market well was the Clydesdale Budweiser commercial.  Reminiscent of the “War Horse” movie and “Christian the Lion” video, this commercial reached for the heart.  It grabbed mine.  Everyone with whom I have spoken agrees.  It has stuck in my mind, and, because of the Clydesdale, I associate it with Bud.  I’m certain that an important goal of the commercial was to maintain Bud customers.  As a consumer of Bud, I can attest that it reached that goal with me.

I was disappointed to find out that Budweiser made a mistake with this commercial.  In conjunction with the commercial, Budweiser ran a contest for naming the colt shown at the opening, which was born January 16.  The company announced the contest in its first ever tweet on January 26.  It received over 60,000 responses via tweets and phone calls.  Management was excited about this response. 

Think about how many responses Budweiser missed.  Think about the opportunity Bud missed.  If Budweiser had also offered that contest at the end of the commercial, how many more votes would it have received?  A lot.  Those additional votes would have represented more than additional numbers.  They would have been cast by consumers who became more involved in the Budweiser brand through their interactivity of voting.

Management could have taken this one step further and announced the name of the foal at the end of the Super Bowl.  This action would have involved consumers even further and given the commercial more mileage. 

Budweiser’s mistake was not maximizing the contest, threading it through all its marketing, and announcing the name at a strategic time.  Contests get attention.  They generate buzz.  Maximize their impact by promoting them through every communication and announcing their results at a peak time.

This week's marketing trivia challenge is Which was your favorite Super Bowl commercial and why?  E-mail me your answer.    

I am excited to share with you that my new book, Mistakes I Made Buying Advertising, will be released in three weeks.  Watch for more details.         

Spotlight on Super Bowl Ads

Long before the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens were halfway through the 2012 regular football season, companies had committed to ads in next week’s Super Bowl.  Before that, the companies’ management had decided their ads’ content.  Even before that, they had laid out their marketing plans for 2013.  After completing their plans, they selected the Super Bowl as a program in which to run an ad to accomplish a particular objective. 

Management of these companies laid out their marketing plan and message for 2013.  Looking at their objectives, they chose the Super Bowl as an event to reach their target market.  They hired firms to create the ads and to buy the commercial time in the Super Bowl. 

The ads’ messages are part of the companies’ strategy for this year.  They know why they are running the ads and have objectives which they want to reach in doing so.  These include:

• Kick off of a new product,
• Maintain market share of an existing product,
• Revive interest in a product.

They did not buy the commercial time and then decide which ad to run.  Running an ad in the Super Bowl reaches too many people, makes too big an impression, and costs too much for the purchase to be a knee-jerk reaction.  Management realizes that these ads will not only run this year but also be featured again every year at Super Bowl time during newscasts and in special programs.  That intensity prompts management to put its best effort into these ads. 

This is a template for how all advertising ought to be handled.  The marketing plan is first; the objectives, target market, and message are within the plan; deciding what advertising to buy follows; and buying the advertising is last.  Unfortunately, most business owners and managers do just the reverse.  They buy the ads and then at the last minute try to figure out what to say.  They don’t address their message before buying the ad.  They don’t target their market.  They don’t set marketing objectives or objectives for that ad.  They don’t have a marketing plan.   

As you watch the spotlight on Super Bowl ads in the upcoming days, remember that these ads didn’t happen overnight.  Behind these ads is a great deal of thought, preparation, and objectives. 

All business owners and managers could learn this lesson.   

This week's marketing trivia challenge is What was a challenge for you in preparing your 2013 marketing plan? E-mail me your answer.