Super Bowl LIII is turning out to be a historic one. Tom Brady and Coach Bill Belichick set records for most Super Bowl appearances and wins and oldest quarterback and coach, respectively. The Patriots have now been to the Super Bowl more than any other NFL team.
And it was also the lowest scoring game in NFL history…which contributed to this also being called one of the most boring games in recent history.
But despite all of these (and more) records set, it likely won’t be a memorable year for the Big Game or for the much-anticipated Super Bowl commercials. The anti-climactic game was coupled with: protests about Colin Kaepernick and by New Orleans fans over a missed call in the playoff game; lukewarm reviews of the half-time show; and, honestly, very few standouts among the Super Bowl of ad agencies. This showed up in the viewership numbers, too. According to Nielsen ratings, only 98.2 million viewers tuned in to watch, which is down from 103.5 million in 2018.
However, as your resident branding and marketing nerd, I was still geeked to watch all of the ads and bring you my picks for the ones that I’ll remember at least beyond the game.
I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. Besides the smorgasbord of game time goodies that we all get to eat as though for just a day we can believe are calorie-free, the commercials are my favorite part about Super Bowl! I love the emotional roller coaster that they can take us on, going from laughing out loud to a tearjerker within a span of 30 seconds. This year felt more like the kiddie rides that my seven year-old rejects because she only wants the ones that will in her words “make her guts fall out.”
Many of the brands that I’ve come to expect will deliver on the ride played it safe this year. You would think that after spending a record $5.25 million per 30-second spot, that we would see more brands trying to make an impact in our memories and boost their return on investment. But most seemed to be more focused on avoiding controversy than making a splash.
There were some ads that I think are worth mentioning, especially if you are one of the 33% of American TV watchers who missed the game and decided that America’s Funniest Home Videos or The Real Housewives would be more exciting.
So here is my review of the 2019 Super Bowl ads with a few themes that emerged:
Empowering Women
Ok, so I didn’t really know what the Bumble app was until after seeing this commercial. But after seeing their message of girl power with Serena Williams where she defiantly states, “Here’s what they won’t tell you about power…we already have it,” I had to look them up. I mean, as a mama of a young girl, come on!
A quick search on the App Store and…Ah, the dating app! Wait, it’s also for finding friends and networking? This may require further investigation. See what they did? Raised their brand awareness by tapping into their differentiator of being a change maker in the world of online relationships by way of highlighting another unapologetic change maker – Serena Williams.
This commercial was a long one clocking in at 2 minutes, but it had me riveted the whole time! I was thoroughly entertained as I watched the NFL celebrate their 100th year with “The 100 Year Game.” Who wouldn’t love a bunch of giant guys in tuxes erupting into a spontaneous game of full-on tackle football in the middle of an awards dinner?! And the icing on the literal cake, was an appearance by Utah Girls Tackle Football League running back and football activist, Sam Gordon, who proves that running like a girl can have you competing head to head with the big boys.
Emotion-Driven / Social Stance
When everybody plays, we all win. That’s what Microsoft shows us as they highlight stories of kids with disabilities who just want to be able to play like the other kids. Play video games that is. This is how you incorporate artful storytelling into your messaging and present yourself as the guide who leads the hero into achieving their desires. You introduce the hero (the kids) and set up their problem. You give a peak into their emotional state before you entered the picture. You show their journey and the things they’ve tried thus far to address their problem.
Then just as your audience feels empathy for the hero, Boom! You show them what life is like with the solution you offer that brings them to their happy place! And angels descend, the crowd goes wild, and you are Yoda! Not Hans Solo (hero) but the one who showed him how to harness the Force to slay the villain and become the winner…aka the guide. For more on how this method of storytelling for your brand works, check out Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
Google reminds us ever so subtly that they are indeed a global company that serves people everywhere in any situation when we need information. By weaving together stories of people in different countries who are just trying to do the most basic of human actions — communicate — they show that they can help you connect with others who may be different from us. Then they hit us with how we really aren’t all that different.
Most of us just want to be kind to each other, feel like we belong, and create affiliations with others. Google also touched on the social topic of being a part of the global community, which could be seen as a political statement. However, this commercial is really about their purpose…“to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
Here’s a two-for! Google actually had two ads that tugged at our heartstrings, made a social statement, and that emphasized their purpose. In this one, they spotlight our veterans and the issue of helping them to re-enter the workforce after deployment. Again, they use storytelling to connect with their audience, but this one is aimed at a specific target audience — our veterans. Just by showing a code that only those who have served or are family members of those in our military would recognize, they immediately let you know who this message is for without having to say it.
Yes, we all get the benefit of learning about their initiative for veteran job search, but that’s the beauty of focusing your message to your ideal customer. You can be hyper-intentional about what will resonate with them and create compelling copy that speaks directly to their pain points. Others will likely come along for the ride simply because you created a compelling story that they can also relate to.
Finally, they attached a hashtag (#ForWhateversNext) that can drive engagement and encourage others to share their stories, which can in turn be used to create even more meaningful messages and further hone their product and copy. Don’t we love a two-for?! You’re welcome.
If you had a near death experience, how amazing would it be to get to meet the people who saved your life? That’s exactly what Coach Anthony Lynn of the Los Angeles Chargers had a chance to do in this ad from Verizon. We think we know what Verizon does. They do cable and cellular service. Remember, “Can you hear me now?” But this commercial reminds us that they deliver “innovative communications and technology solutions that improve the way our customers live, work and play.” In this case they show another way that they provide America’s most reliable network by making sure first responders get those life or death calls.
The focus was on the story of Coach Lynn and the people who saved him, not Verizon. We don’t even know who made the ad until the last five seconds. Sometimes we have to educate our customers on what we do and why we’re here. But most importantly, we have to make it all about how that matters to them. We see how having a reliable network can save lives…possibly our own or someone we love’s someday.
Throwbacks
Throwbacks aren’t just for Thursdays. Who can forget the Backstreet Boys’ hit “I Want It That Way?” Where are my ’90’s peeps?! Doritos brought it back with a twist…a remix with Chance the Rapper. They tap into our needs for nostalgia and fun to bring a bit of pure entertainment as they introduce their new Doritos® Flamin’ Hot® Nacho. Like the remix, it’s the Doritos we know and love with a new take.
There was a lot of buzz about SJP (Sarah Jessica Parker, that is) making a comeback in her iconic role of Carrie Bradshaw from “Sex in the City.” What?!!! Oh, the fashion! Yes, a Cosmo, please! What happens to Mr. Big? Is Miranda still living in Brooklyn? But alas, my hopes of a reboot were dashed. Stella got me. Carrie did reappear, but only as a cameo in this Stella Artois ad sans the Cosmo. And then there’s Jeff Bridges, famously known as The Dude from “The Big Lebowski.” The Dude had a signature drink, too — a White Russian. He too has decided to switch it up. They both go for the Stella instead.
These are both beloved characters that immediately take us back to specific times in our lives when we watched them on the screen. Just like Doritos, they bring the nostalgia with a little playfulness. They know that their audience may not always see them as their first choice. Here, they are, in essence, giving us permission to veer from our usual and try something different.
Bring the Pain
A root canal. The sex talk. A vegan dinner party. Can you say beetloaf? They all conjure up feelings of dread for most people. Just like car shopping. Actor Jason Bateman takes us on an elevator ride like you’ve never been on before. His dry humor is the perfect addition to this commercial that presents Hyundai Shopper Assurance as the antidote to the painful car shopping experience. They do what smart marketers must do — agitate our customers’ pain points. Customers often don’t think about how frustrating a problem is that you can solve until you point it out to them and magnify it in a way that uncovers how uncomfortable it is.
Budweiser has historically produced some of the most memorable Super Bowl commercials each year. 2019 was no different, and we actually have two to highlight. In this first ad, they differentiate themselves from their two biggest competitors Miller Lite and Coors Light by making it known that Budweiser doesn’t use corn syrup like the other guys. We are taken on an entertaining trek a la Game of Thrones as they go about delivering the corn syrup to its rightful owner after it arrived at their medieval brewery by mistake. By calling out its avoidance of corn syrup unlike the other brands, Bud Light aims their message directly at more health-conscious beer drinkers (if that even is a thing) who would be concerned about this much-debated sweetener.
Now, this approach is a little risky. You always have to be careful when going negative against your competitors. Sometimes this can backfire. I think it’s better to focus more on yourself and your differentiators than to mention other companies at all. It just calls attention to them when you’re really trying to get your customers to be thinking of you.
Yeah, you read that right. Chunky-style milk…unlike Smooth-style milk. Those words just should never be put together! That’s not right. I love how Mint Mobile flips what we think wireless service should cost on its head by comparing how crazy $20/mo. for service sounds against milk that you chew. This tactic is all about challenging the customer’s mindset about their preconceived thoughts around your industry. Think about what your ideal customer expects from someone offering your product or service. What is it about yours that would be unexpected? Highlight that.
Amazon pokes fun at itself in this ad that features several Alexa products that didn’t quite work out as planned. For those that are worrying (or predicting) that Amazon is taking over the world, this commercial doesn’t do anything to ease your fears. Most of us have now seen Harrison Ford reprimand his dog for ordering dog food, sausage, and gravy with the ill-fated Alexa dog collar’s assistance. But this extended version shows a few other fails that, thankfully, we won’t see on the market.
This one has been one of the most viewed ads online this year, because Amazon uses humor to self-deprecate. This especially works when you are seen as at the top of your industry. People like to see that you’re not perfect and that you can laugh at yourself. But humor should not be reserved for industry leaders. If it fits with your brand personality and would appeal to your target audience, make ‘em laugh! Laughter brings human connection and disarms us unlike anything else.
Just for Fun
How many times have we gone to a restaurant, asked for a Coke product and heard “Is Pepsi okay?” Steve Carrell schools a young server on why he can offer Pepsi with pride and how we can order it with confidence. And how could we not love a Lil’ John and Cardi B moment?! Clearly, Pepsi has listened to their customers (and especially those who normally choose its competitor) to actually embrace and flip their lukewarm opinion of the soda rather than pretend those opinions don’t exist. It’s important that we take the pulse of our target market and leverage their feedback, whether good or bad.
Not all negative comments should get your attention (ex. internet trolls and those that were never your target audience in the first place). And I’m not saying that you should change your product or service based on every criticism of it. In fact, unless it’s a glaring defect or will significantly impact the usefulness of your offering (and can be implemented profitably), I suggest staying the course long enough to see if what you already have is viable. That means that you’ll never make progress if you keep changing what you have before you get a chance to see if it works.
This mash-up was totally unexpected between Bud Light and Game Of Thrones, especially since it involved killing off the Bud Knight whom we’ve seen in many of the more memorable Budweiser ads over the past few years. It is yet to be seen if his sacrifice will pay off in increased sales, but what Budweiser did was kinda genius. They partnered with a highly popular, complementary brand, HBO’s Game of Thrones. Who else can’t wait for April 14th?! I love a good collaboration. Both brands increased their visibility and got people talking about them. And it doesn’t hurt to have someone to share your costs to produce, especially when the price tag is $5.25 million.
What parent hasn’t had to break up a kid fight from the driver’s seat? M&Ms totally captured that experience in this ad where Christina Applegate does the “mom growing horns” imitation while driving home from the grocery store. The kids (M&Ms) are losing their minds as kids do in back seat. We connect with this ad because so many of us can relate. Even if you don’t have kids, you’ve been the kid staring wide-eyed at your mom who seems to be having an out of body experience after she’s had enough of your shenanigans.
When you understand your target audience, you can then create moments in your messaging that they can identify with. This helps your brand to stand out and carve out a place in their memory bank so that they think of you when they recall those experiences from their own lives.
CONCLUSION
While this year’s Super Bowl commercials didn’t have the full-on OMG factor that we’ve had in other years, there were a few standouts. What made them rise above the rest? They appealed to our most fundamental human desires.
- Purpose – By revealing why your company exists beyond the bottom line or attaching your brand to a social cause that makes sense for what you stand for, your ideal customers see you as part of their own journey towards a life of meaning and feel inspired.
- Connection – Using storytelling and common experiences creates a sense of belonging or affiliation and makes us feel like a brand gets us.
- Humor – Laughter is the best medicine and in a time when we as a country can have so much division, funny is unifying.
- Nostalgia – There’s something about bringing back the familiar that reminds us of the good times and automatically causes us to associate positive feelings to a brand.
Though you may not have millions of dollars to spend on a Super Bowl ad, these are some simple elements that anyone can incorporate into their messaging to build their brand recognition and to reach your target audience. Start by trying one of them out on your next customer email, social media post, promotion, piece of marketing collateral, or even your website homepage. And if you’d like some help in implementing these elements into your own brand, let’s schedule a chat today.
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