SuperBowl Commercial Recap
For those of us who aren’t into football, the superbowl is all about the ads #brandbowl #adbowl #sbads.
Millions of dollars are spent (this year it was 2.6 million for a single spot) by large and small brands, with creative execution highly scrutinized by superbowl fans.
This year, myself and Monika Roberts had the pleasure of posting our superbowl ad recaps and opinions in videos of the Museum of Advertising.
Monika has a creative background, and I have a marketing background, so our opinions on the ads were very different. Here are my topline thoughts on the superbowl ads:
- Questionable Brand Value. Most of the ads that the creatives and ad agencies liked were hysterical (I the snickers spot) but I question if/how they achieved any marketing efforts. The snickers ad was largely declared the winner (and it was hysterical), BUT are you going to buy snickers because they tackled old people? The best executions are those that can combine both the creative and the marketing objectives in a clear way.
- Not Enough Branding. Some of the ads had very little branding in them (ie. product shots or brand mentions). The Flower Spot barely mentioned the brand name (I would bet most people thought it was for 1-800 flowers). The Hotel spot with Chevy Chase also barely mentioned the brand name. Even the squirrel car commercial didn’t have much branding – we had to look up what car the ad was for. I liked the Doritos commercials a lot because they showcased the product as the hero – the brand was part of the humor.
- Boring Stuff – Yawn. Most of the advertisers were just plain boring. The spot from GoDaddy was exciting and scandalous the first time. Now it is just boring.
- No Calls to Action – There were only a few ads that provided clear calls to action. While this may not have been a marketing objective for some brands, those that included calls to action will likely get better results. I thought that the Dockers Free Pants promotion was great, and the Denny’s Breakfast spots hit the nail on the head with humor and relevance. Even GoDaddy encouraged viewers to go to their site to see the rest of their spot.
- Where was mobile? I bet that over 75% of superbowl viewers had a cell phone within arms reach. A mobile call to action could have been very successful for the superbowl. Using the Godaddy approach (take action to learn more) brands could have had you text to win or to get the answer to a question or mystery. Other than KGB (which is a mobile service) there were no mobile calls to action – big miss.
What do you think? Who were the winners and losers and who actually achieved marketing success from their 2.6 million dollar spend?
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Social Media – Should your Intern do It?
This is a question that comes up over and over again. I’ve even been asked to train interns at a University because their employers wanted them to “do social media marketing”. Why was I training these youngsters who are supposed to know everything about social media and the internet? Because they know how to use it socially, but not professionally.
It would be like asking the kid who watches the most TV at your office to “do tv advertising”.
The reality is that while younger people understand how social media works, they lack an understanding of how to use it strategically as a part of an integrated marketing strategy. They know how to add friends and post photos, and sure they have probably even fanned a few brands. But that doesn’t mean that they know how to represent your brand and drive business value online.
Marketers need to stop being intimidated by the technology.
Learning the technology isn’t hard. It isn’t hard to create a facebook account, or even a page. It isn’t hard to start a blog. It isn’t hard to set up a twitter account. The technology is the easiest part. These sites are designed so that an average (or probably well below average) intelligence individual can use them.
The hard part is the strategy. Who is the target market? What are they interested in? What can I talk to them about? What will engage them and help me break through the noise and clutter? How can I bring my brand equity and positioning to life? What sites is my target on? What opportunities are there for brands and marketers on these sites? Who in my organization should handle social media?
These are just some of the strategic questions that need to be answered.
Can an intern answer these? Maybe. Do they have training and coaching from an internal person who understands these things? Is this similar to the way you handle other media? Do you have an intern “figure out tv” or “tell us what to do with print”?
Social media is tricky. It is new. The rules change. The downside can be big.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t tackle it correctly and strategically.
Don’t treat social media like the ugly duckling and pawn it off on the most junior person in your organization. One of the biggest reasons that companies fail to see results from their social media efforts is that they don’t give it adequate attention. ROI and results are there – and companies who do it right are benefiting from this.
I gave this answer at a presentation before, and someone in the audience asked if I was just trying to build my business by making it sound hard.
The reality is that I’m not asking you to think of social media or your digital strategy any differently than how you think of your other media. Treat it the same way. Be strategic. Have a plan. Execute consistently and with excellence. Then you’ll see ROI.
Facebook Marketing – Getting the Most out of Facebook – The Circuit Cincinnati
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of presenting to the Circuit – an IT Networking Group based in Cincinnati.
I presented on Facebook Marketing – how to get more out of Facebook.
Most of the people in the room were on Facebook, but few were using it as a marketing tool. Facebook can be difficult for marketers – figuring out the right ways to interact with potential audiences can be tough. Facebook was created to facilitate social connections – not as a marketing platform.
Facebook is the #1 global social network and has over 300 million active users – 50% of whom logon to the site every day. The Facebook audience is both active and committed to the network.
Prior to engaging in marketing your brand or company on Facebook:
- Don’t be a dirty spammer. Be relevant. Use channels appropriately. Don’t annoy people.
- Real world networking principles apply. Don’t immediately sell people. Don’t get in their face. Like in the real world you will have no friends.
- Give your audience something of value. People do you the honor of following you. Repay them by giving them value. It doesn’t have to be financial value either.
- Know your target. Know who your target audience is. If you fan page is comprised of your family and friends it probably isn’t very effective. Come up with creative ways to engage with your target.
- Focus on business value, not activity. It is easy to get caught up with tracking your activity – # of posts, # of fans friends and followers, etc. The real question is what is the actual business value?
We then covered 4 key ways that brands can leverage Facebook as a part of their marketing strategy.
1. Create a Fan Page. This is the most popular way brands and companies are using Facebook.
- When you create a fan page build a content plan (what you will post when)
- Use photos and videos to engage – post yourself and encourage fans to post
- Provide valuable information
- Be a resource for questions
- Run a contest
- Integrate Facebook as a syndication and engagement platform for offline campaigns
- Use insights and analytics to track effectiveness and value
2. Create a Group – Create a group about something related to your product that people are interested in and passionate about. Also, participate in relevant groups to get your brand out there.
3. Create an Event – Facebook events can be a great way to engage with your audience. If you are having an event, creating a Facebook event increases your exposure and lets attendees see who else is going.
4. Facebook Ads – Facebook ads work best when they are targeted. Target your ads as specifically as possible and you can get great results.
Any other thoughts or comments?
PubCon Las Vegas Presentation – Online Brand Management Issues
I had the pleasure of attending PubCon Las Vegas a few weeks ago. Pubcon is a conference put on by webmasterworld covering internet marketing, affiliate marketing, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media, and pretty much anything to do with building a business online.
My presentation was on Online Brand Management. I focused on why online brand management is important and how to respond to negativity in the social space (since this is an area that I usually get the most questions about).
See the presentation below. Please share any thoughts/ideas or comments that you have – I’d love to hear them!
7 Mistakes Companies Make on FaceBook and how to Avoid Them
Facebook is big and getting bigger with over 300 million active users of which over 50% are active every day.
While Facebook is clearly an engaging platform for users to connect with friends, marketers have struggled with how to use the massive audience on Facebook to build their businesses.
Here are the top mistakes that companies are making on Facebook.
1. Not Starting with a Strategy
Where most people go wrong with Facebook is not starting strategically. Like many social media tools (and any kind of marketing for that matter), a solid strategy at the outset is key to success. Who are you trying to target, what is your message, how will you reach them and what is in it for them?
To Overcome This: Take time before starting the page to understand exactly who you are targeting and what your message is.
2. Focusing on the Number of Fans/Friends/Followers
Despite its lack of real relevance, many people focus on the number of fans or group members that they have. Get over it. I have met with a number of clients who have said “we need to get on Facebook because our competitor has X number of fans and we hardly have any”. The number of fans doesn’t matter – it is how you engage them.
How to avoid this: Don’t let your manager use numbers as a key metric. It isn’t difficult to get fans or followers, but it isn’t relevant. Explain that a balanced approach helps measure what really matters based on your strategy.
3. Lack of Creativity
It isn’t just about creating the asset – the page, the event, the ad campaign. It is about the creative execution. To engage on Facebook you need to have a strong creative execution. What is the content for the page? How does it ad value? What is exciting or interesting for your fans/friends/followers?
A successful Facebook strategy requires a great creative execution – run contests, communicate with members, share photos and videos, do something interesting.
A great example of this is the Petcentric fan page – they have photo contests with voting that keeps fans coming back for more.
How to avoid it: Do creative brainstorming. Spend some time and energy coming up with an exciting creative plan for your Facebook assets. Build a content plan. Create promotions.
4. No Fan Engagement
Lack of creativity leads into the next point – no fan engagement. Many companies create a fan page, invite their friends or buy ads and then forget about the page. An effective Facebook strategy actively engages fans.
To Avoid This: Build a content plan that is relevant and engaging to your audience. What will you post when? How will you engage and encourage your fans to post? What is in it for them. Build an engagement plan, not just a page.
5. Not Monitoring Discussions
Nothing looks worse than fan pages where the company is not active and responding to their fans. Monitor your fan page for activity and respond to relevant questions or comments.
I was once on a fanpage where fans were questioning the company policy. The company didn’t respond and looked weak.
How to Avoid This: Monitor your facebook page regularly and have someone who is empowered to respond on behalf of your organization.
6. Not Owning Your Fan Page
A number of companies have issues where their fan page is created and administered by an actual fan, and not the company. The issue is that fans assume that fan pages are run by the company, and expect the company to play an active role.
While having a real fan own your page may not immediately present issues, you can’t predict when, why or how issues will arise.
How to Avoid This: Contact the fan who created the fan page and try to get the page back. You can always work through Facebook, but that may upset the original owner (who is your biggest fan afterall).
7. Not looking at Analytics
Facebook fan pages now have insights and analytics. You can see how engaging your page is. This is a great tool to understand what is effective and to continuously refine and improve your Facebook fan page.
Analytics will help you understand what is working and what isn’t.
How to Avoid this: Look at analytics and make changes based on them.
