3 Marketing Lessons We Can Learn From This Year’s Super Bowl Commercials
There’s a fair chance that you were one of the 123.4 million people who watched the Super Bowl on Sunday evening. Whether you watched the big game because you wanted to see Taylor Swift, for an excuse to eat buffalo chicken dip at a friend’s house, or because you actually like football, everyone can agree that this is the one time of year we enjoy watching commercials. Often, they are just as memorable as the game itself! But these commercials can serve more than just mere entertainment in between quarters and during injury breaks, as they can teach us several marketing lessons that can be applied to your own brand.
Lesson 1: Understanding Your Audience Is Key
With the average Super Bowl Commercial costing $7 million for just 30 seconds of air time, advertisers must invest the time into understanding their audience to maximize the effect of this high-budget ad investment. Although these commercials hit millions of screens and viewers from all walks of life, a good Super Bowl commercial will resonate with its diverse audience through humor, use of recognizable celebrities, cultural relevance, etc.
One particularly good example of understanding your audience was Dunkin’. This ad had it all—humor, celebrity endorsement, and perhaps most importantly, the target audience nailed down perfectly. Dunkin’, while known and loved all over the US and beyond, is a particular New England (NE) favorite. Did you know there are 85 Dunkin’ locations in the city of Boston alone? This ad, featuring several notable NE celebrities, shows Ben Affleck attempting to become a pop star, much to the chagrin of his wife, an actual pop star, Jennifer Lopez. Affleck is joined by Matt Damon and Tom Brady to debut the “DunKings” pop group—with overdone Boston accents abounding. Watch the Dunkin’ commercial here.
What made this ad great was that even though millions of people saw it, Dunkin’ capitalized on how just how beloved they are in the Northeast and delivered an ad that speaks directly to that target audience with countless New England references, without excluding other viewers, through their use of well-known and loved celebrities and good, old fashioned cringey humor.
Now, the majority of us will never be in the position where we have to make an ad that will be seen on a national level by millions of people, but many of us regularly send out newsletters, create posts for social media, and write blogs seen by our target audiences. The same principle of getting to know your target audience and crafting messaging that speaks directly to them applies at all marketing stages, regardless of viewership size.
Lesson 2: Messaging Should Always be Authentic to Your Brand’s Ethos
One of the most easily identifiable traits in any ad—Super Bowl commercial or not—is authenticity. It’s easy to tell when brand values are being accurately and authentically represented. Creating marketing initiatives that correctly represent your brand’s ethos can boost your credibility and make your claims all the more impactful.
One of the best examples of a brand crafting its Super Bowl commercial around authentically representing its company values was Dove. Dove’s commitment to body positivity isn’t new. For years, their ads have centered around celebrating women of all ages and backgrounds. Their Super Bowl commercial is no different, using their air time to speak directly about why girls stop playing sports. The ad opens with a FailArmy-style montage of girls in sports from gymnastics to basketball falling, tripping, dropping balls, and just generally being kids in sports still learning, while “It’s a Hard-Knock Life” from the musical, Annie, plays in the background. Then, the mood changes. On-screen text flashes saying “The knocks don’t stop girls playing sports. Low body confidence does” and the next scene shows a young girl struggling with her appearance in the mirror, while the on-screen text displays the staggering statistic that 45% of girls will stop playing sports by age 14. Dove then calls their viewers to action, urging them to join the Body Confident Sport Program. Watch the full Dove commercial here.
What makes this ad impactful is its ability to connect the viewer with their cause. Dove created an ad that authentically represents their ethos, while still being both entertaining and driving the viewer to action—all signs of a perfectly executed Super Bowl Commercial.
When you are working on any public-facing marketing initiative, no matter the reach, remember to remain authentic to your brand’s ethos. Consistently reflecting your values in your marketing will increase your credibility and the chance that your audience will remember your brand in the future!
Lesson 3: Memorable Marketing Helps Brands Stand Out
Super Bowl commercials are known for their ability to perfectly create memorable viewing experiences for the audience. Advertisers expertly write hard-to-forget jingles and create memorable characters (think Flo from Progressive or Jake from State Farm) for their brands to stand out from the competition. An unforgettable example from this year’s Super Bowl commercial lineup was actor, Michael Cera’s performance for CeraVe.
In this ad, Michael Cera humorously claims that he developed CeraVe’s moisturizing cream, because, after all, his last name is Cera! It’s full of signature Michael Cera awkward comedy, that only he could pull off. Finally, it cuts to him pitching his “commercial” to a board room of actual dermatologists, who are not jiving with his ad, with on-screen text that says “Developed With Dermatologists. Not Michael Cera”. Watch the CeraVe ad here!
This ad is being hailed online as the best of this year’s Super Bowl commercials, and one of the best in years, due to Cera’s memorable performance. By creatively committing to a pun that simply wrote itself, CeraVe stood out from the crowd this Super Bowl season.
Not so shockingly, not all brands have an A-list celebrity with the same last name to be the face of their products to help them stand out. But, good news! Standing out doesn’t have to be that hard! While it often looks different from brand to brand, it could look like repeating a key phrase on your website and in hashtags (like CeraVe using “Developed With Dermatologists), consistently using your brand standards across all platforms, or even allowing yourself to be the face of the brand, much like Michael Cera did in this commercial. Get creative and think of the ways that your brand is unique and incorporate those niches into your marketing.
In Summary
From a marketing perspective, Super Bowl ads go beyond just selling products—they offer examples of how to connect with your audience, be authentic to brand values, and how to stand out from the competition. By understanding and implementing the lessons learned from these advertisements, you can elevate your brand’s marketing game and create lasting impacts on your audience. And remember—what works for Dunkin’, Dove, or CeraVe cannot be copied and pasted to work for your brand. It takes time and effort to develop your unique brand + messaging.
This is where we can help! If you want to step up your marketing game, we’re here to help by offering Branding, Website + SEO, Content Marketing, and Photography services for brands of all sizes. When you work with our team at Correnti Marketing, we’ll help you define your ideal client profile, craft messaging to attract them, and establish a consistent, clear presence for your firm online to increase your inbound prospects + referrals. Contact us today to get started!
