Super Bowl...was it super??

I've been reflecting on the commercials shown during this year's Super Bowl: talking to people, re-watching commercials on the internet and reading articles and blogs.

Let's start with the content - the game was a good one.  Two established teams with generations of fans played an exciting game that went to the end to be decided.  A marketer's dream.  Unfortunately, the advertising companies didn't take full advantage of their $2.5 million+ ads.  CBS News reported that 30-second ads were going between $2.5-2.8 million (down from $3 million last year - http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/11/sportsline/main6082591.shtml).

I still can't fathom using old commercials when you are paying that much for a spot, because let's face it to get the big-bang for that outrageous buck you want and need frequency and exposure.  That means you need to give consumers a reason to watch your commercial again (on-line) and/or talk about it.  This is the water cooler effect.  What are people talking about?  What is trending on Twitter?  Which commercials are getting the most views on various video media sites (Can you say YouTube?)?  What is coming up the highest on Google searches?

AT&T was the biggest let down.  Same-old, same-old commercials we have seen lately.  They gave me no reason to go and watch again - to get more frequency for the millions they paid.  People want new.  We want to be entertained both with on-the-field playing and during commercial breaks.  AT&T failed.

Social Media couponing threw their hats in the ring during the Super Bowl for the first time.  Living Social vs. Groupon - competitors in the marketplace and now competitors for Super Bowl talk.  Living Social hit us once at the beginning with an ad that almost had me spew my cider across the room.  Fabulous - I love surprises and I thought it was a good commercial to target their younger audience as well as remind some of us older folks about lumberjacks and Monty Python.

Groupon also advertised during the Super Bowl - multiple times.  There has been considerable talk and flak about their Tibet ad - which at first appears to be about the troubles of Tibet but ends up being about a Groupon for a restaurant.  Mashable does a great job of covering the controversy: Groupon Responds to Super Bowl Ad Controversy.


I agree that Groupon probably knew that there would be some controversy, I don't know if they anticipated how much and that it wouldn't easily be answered by saying - hey we actually donate to those causes.  To make matters worse, if you go to the savethemoney.org link talked about in the Mashable article, it now redirects you to a Groupon page.  I couldn't easily find any information about their corporate philanthropy on that page connected to Tibet.


But enough about controversy - time to roll out my three favorites.  


Bridgestone won my vote for their Carma ad.  The beaver just made me smile and laugh.  My husband and I are still smiling about it just by doing the 'I got you back' hand gesture.  Great animation and a surprising ending.


Of course, VW's "The Force" ad featuring a Darth Vadar in training touched a kid in all of us.  Interesting dynamics with the mom and dad in the longer form of the ad, but you got to love the actor for being able to express so much emotion with his body language and no facial expressions.


Lastly, I really loved the Chrysler "Imported from Detroit" ad for it's documentary like feel and the lack of music at the beginning opening up to the well-known strains of Ememin's 8 Mile. Ememin's appearance caps it off nicely.  Classy - which is not often associated with him.  "This is the motor city.  This is what we do" - ten words can say a lot.


If you missed the ads, you can watch many of them on YouTube's special AdBlitz channel.

Education in 2017

I was asked to be part of a committee that's mission was to envision what college education would look like or need to be in 2017.  I'm still not sure that I have a grasp on what we need to transform into for our students, but I do know transformation is needed.

The way people communicate today is changing - and not everyone is changing with it.  How do we integrate the old and the new?  How do we help our students learn how to think - not just critically (which is always talked about in 'goal' committees) but creatively.  How do we teach students to be innovators and to adapt to an ever changing environment?

I'm changing some things myself.  I restructured one of my classes this semester, and I'm looking forward to seeing if the quality of outputs improves or not by the end of classes.  Also, I've started using Prezi, a presentation software/format that allows you to present non-linearly and illustrate the small and big pictures.  It took hours to create my first presentation with it, but I'm hoping the outcome will be worth the time spent for me to adopt this new technique.  I'm also hoping I get better at it.  I'm already a non-linear thinker, but it even hurts my brain to figure out how to arrange things to illustrate/educate better.

Coming soon at this blog - more of my ramblings on various topics and lots about social media.  I'm teaching a social media marketing class this summer and I'm very excited to get the opportunity.