By Melinda McLaughlin, CMO of ad workflow solution company Extreme Reach
One team wins the Super Bowl every single year: Team Ad Industry. Can we all pause for one second from the frenzy of every day to appreciate that there is one day of the year when consumers will actually admit they love advertising? In fact, dare I say that half, if not more, of the audience chipping and dipping in front of the good old TV set are shushing the room during commercial breaks and couldn’t care less about the actual game.
Are we really doing enough to leverage this moment as an industry? Think of all we can learn from the bold, fearless marketers that ante up the big bucks, put themselves on display for all to critique and look their CFO in the face to say, I can’t really tell you the precise ROI on this but I’m doing it anyway.
Here are the 3 questions I’m asking this year and sadly, my beloved NY Giants will not distract me from my mission.
What really resonates with people creatively?
Ah, the holy grail of advertising – predicting what will move people, resonate, connect and even stop them in their tracks. Brilliant creative teams marry art and science to find the answer for each campaign and client. And then it happens – the people speak! In fact, I’d argue it’s equally telling when they love an ad as when they actively communicate their distaste. The worst is to hear nothing, as is often the case.
Every advertising professional should take the time to dissect the elements of the celebrated and the hated. Is there a pattern? Do people respond positively to celebrities in ads? Are they drawn to ads that use licensed popular music? Do people tend to outwardly embrace ads that are funny or crazy or weird compared to the standard constructs of brand storytelling? Heeding these lessons may get us closer to developing the unattainable, perfect ad.
Did pre-releasing vs. the big reveal appear to make a difference?
I relish the suspense of seeing ads revealed in the big game because when an ad I’ve already seen online appears on my TV, I know I have :30 to hit the bathroom or grab a drink without losing any social currency. But maybe that’s just the baby boomer in me? I still remember last year’s Taco Bell reveal of the mysterious new product – the Quesalupa – and I couldn’t rest easy until that ad aired after all the build up in the weeks prior. Each year, we’ll get better at best practices in this brave new digital world where we’re not even close to new paradigms that are as solid as the last 60 years.
What’s the social chatter of my non-industry circle revealing?
As a mom and an active citizen, I recognize the downsides of our social platform-obsessed society, but as an industry professional, I am a big fan. Pre-social days in advertising meant reliance on complex research studies that felt old as soon as they were completed. In contrast, social platforms provide a real-time pulse on real people. Exhausting for sure, but so revealing! While we, in the industry, can pat ourselves on the back for great advertising and talk about what we all think is the best of the best, I’ll be trolling the social-sphere like a stalker, getting inside the minds of actual consumers.
What will you be looking out for on the one big day that the world really does celebrate advertising? Whatever you do, shhhhh! The commercials are coming on!
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