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Brand Building and Communications, Marketing and Sales

Super Bowl Ads: Worth The Cost?

January 15, 2013 No Comments

Ad Age, Adweek and other business publications are pulsating with articles about Super Bowl ads. From the cost, to the worth, to the waste, everyone has an opinion. So, why not me?

Companies with deep pockets will ante up an average of $4 million for a 30 second spot. For some, the super bowl buys will be their entire advertising budget for the year.

In our own beloved booze business, we will see ads for Budweiser and Bud Light and I hope they’ll do better than in the past. (See Feb 8, 2011 posting) In addition, there will be ads for new products such as Budweiser Black Crown and Beck’s Sapphire. There may be as many as 3 30-second ads and 3 60-second ads. You do the math.

Aside from great seats at the game and Cheshire cat smiles from the ad agencies, are theses expenditures worth it?

According to a report from Kantar Media, far more viewers “remain riveted” to the tube, even during ads, than generally. (Really? I must be the exception.) Further, last years’ audience reach was reported to have been a record 111 million viewers.

Clearly, as a mass reach vehicle, there is nothing better than the Super Bowl. But is that all there is to advertising and brand building?

I came across a terrific article on the opinion page of Ad Age by Jonathan Salem Baskin, President of Baskin Associates. I don’t know him but his views on the Super Bowl are very similar to my own. But, he says it better.

Star Power Booze

January 9, 2013 No Comments

Celebrity

Celebrity endorsed or owned liquor products, with a few notable exceptions, nearly always fail. So why do these products keep coming out?

This subject was first covered in an August 21, 2010 posting but the line up of recent new efforts makes it worth re-exploring.

Let’s start with those that seem to have made it.

Top of the list is P Diddy and Ciroc. The brand started life without him but, with him, it has gone through the roof. He has a following and, with an interest in the brand, his marketing has paid off. Next up is Sobieski, with a Bruce Willis connection. He licensed his image for which he received shares in the parent company. Is it Willis or the attractive price point that has made the brand strong?

Then there is Bethenny Frankle and Skinny Girl. And, let’s not forget Dan Akroyd and Crystal Head.

Southern Comfort Ad – Revisited

December 19, 2012 No Comments

“Whatever’s Comfortable” is the name of the campaign by Brown Forman’s Southern Comfort brand. I blogged about it on August 4th of this year and the comments, nearly all of which are positive, keep coming.

So, I decided to revisit the ad via a conversation with Mark Bacon the Global Brand Director for Southern Comfort.

Like this blog, the feedback they have gotten from consumers has been overwhelmingly positive and is resulting in “significant increases in consumer takeaway.” I think that’s because their target consumer leans toward advertising that is real and doesn’t need the typical models they can’t relate to. According to Mark, “this ad is about it’s cool to be who you are.”

The power of the work from Wieden + Kennedy comes though not only in terms of the message but also the high production value of the ad. The strut, the dog, the shoes, and especially, the song — Hit or Miss by Odetta — with the lyrics, “I gotta be me.” I wish they had been one of my agencies.