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$3.8 MILLION GETS YOU 30 SECONDS
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Ted's back, by popular demand
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Ted Klauber, marketing/advertising/branding guru who made such a hit last year, was introduced by Buddy Burke, who was also here last year. What goes around comes around.
Ted started out by asking who watched the Super Bowl, then quickly realized that the opposite question should have been asked. So he asked it, and out of today's large crowd, three brave individuals admitted to having better things to do.
They probably have better attention spans than those who do watch. Ted asked if anyone remembered last year's best ad. Everyone needed to be reminded that it was Chrysler's "It's Halftime In America", featuring Clint Eastwood.
A few statistics:
Nearly 50% of viewers watch the commercials more than the game.
$3.8 million per 30 second spots.
108 million viewers (down from 111 each of the last two years).
Only seven out of every 1,000 viewers change channels when the commercials come on.
Half of all households tune in.
Third most watched TV program of all time. (first two from two previous Super Bowls)
36% of viewers were simultaneously using a 2nd screen. New phenomenon due to twitter.
Some trends:
Preparing to react instantly to a program gliche with a brand ad. Greatest example: When the power failed in New Orleans, Oreo instantly broadcasted an ad, "You Can Still Dunk InThe Dark". (Typically, Rich Shearer foresaw disaster from this.)
-- Longer spots with more storytelling are becoming in vogue.
-- Consumer participation, including use of ads suggested by consumers (not always successfully). Dorito ads inspired this way.
-- Companies are becoming more directly competitive (i.e., nasty), naming names in scurrilous fashion.
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Rapt attention in sold-out Celia's
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Essentially, the criteria Ted uses to rate the ads are Branding, Relevance, and Creativity. He feels effectiveness/persuasion are preferable to likeability/memorability. His sources are Ace Metrix, USA Today Ad Meter, Time, Nielsen, Ad Age and Ad Week, applying a weighted average from this group.
Then came the part everyone was waiting for - showtime. (No Lamorinda Curse, by the way.)
1. Taco Bell's "Viva Young". Everyone laughed at the antics of these elders with excessive hormones. But it wasn't necessarily appetizing, and didn't make the audience think of Taco Bell. Overall grade: B.
2. Calvin Klein "Concept". Showing incredible male musculature that not all men could quite identify with. Women don't buy the underwear. So bad that its grade wasn't even revealed - it just "sucked".
3. Anheuser Busch "Black Crown". A.B. generally comes up with the best and the worst. This was one of the latter. Tried so hard to be hip it was a painful parody. Overall grade: D+.
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Ted introduces Buddy, the Clydedale, to Buddy you know who
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4. Budweiser's "Brotherhood". Weepy and sentimental journey from a beloved family colt to Clydesdalehood pulling the big Bud Wagon. Saved, in Ted's view, by the Bud brand's priceless association with the Clydesdales. One of A.B.'s best. Bonus: a contest to name the colt, and the winning name among 11,000 tweets was "Buddy". (I'm not making this up.) Overall grade: A.
5. Beck's Sapphire. Another of A.B.'s worst. Also all in black (sapphires are blue). Sapphire beer features Sapphire hops, which have no flavor but lots of aroma. Watered-down beer doesn't make it. Overall grade: D.
6. Doritos. Goat pigs out.Great branding with a million Doritos bags and chips being tossed about, but goats aren't exactly discriminating eaters. (Sound was actual goat munching). Good enough for a B.
7. MioFit, "Change". Despite Tracy Morgan's efforts, this managed to be completely unfunny and also told nothing about what'n'hell the product is. A big D-.
8. Dodge, "God Made A Farmer". Full sized pickups touted by Paul Harvey, who would probably be elected president of the Farmer Nation after this one. "Guts and Glory. "Celebrate being American." The branding itself was actually subtle. Ted gave this one an unequivocal A. It kicked sales up 3%, and farmers are switching from Chevy and Ford.
9. Go Daddy. Ted observed that Go Daddy is all about grossness and controversy. In this one, Walter the Nerd (presumably not named Nelson) felt no controversy as he chewed on the supermodel. Ted said (perhaps looking at the supermodel) that the branding rated an A, but overall it was a D+. Go figure.
10. Tide, "MontanaLand". The surprise to Ted was that this very clever ad was Proctor & Gamble's, which is the most conservative outfit around and very hard to work for. The Joe Montana miracle stain rated an A- overall.
So the prestigious Five Worst:
5. Go Daddy
4. Calvin Klein
3. Anheuser Busch Black Crown
2. Beck's Sapphire (Anheuser Busch)
1. MioFit
Also pretty bad were some Pepsi and Coke efforts which we were spared.
And the Five Best:
1. Budweiser Brotherhood
2. Doritos
3. Taco Bell's "Viva Young"
4. Dodge, "God Made A Farmer"
5. Tide, "MontanaLand"
Also pretty good were Audi's "Prom" and Samsung's "Next Big Thing".
Some random thoughts by Ted: Does it impact a purchase decision? Make you think about a brand differently? Is it game changing? Do we remember it? Is it part of the Super Bowl event?
Great stuff, and there was a clamor to make a reservation of this program for next year.
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