by Nattana Johnson, owner, MGC
Who’s missing from this year’s Super Bowl? FedEx, Pepsi and GM. When 51% of people watching the Super Bowl say they watch because of the commercials, you would think that this is THE place to be for advertisers – at a mere 3 million dollars for 30 seconds.
So why are we seeing fewer big-name companies in the “Ad Bowl” mix? Is this a trend that will continue? Is it due to the economy? Is it because of the multitude of options advertisers have now? Are many of them shifting from traditional to new media? Do the big names feel they already have an established brand message? It’s probably a combination of all of these things.
Let’s look at Pepsi, for instance. They shifted their dollars to an online “Refresh” campaign that’s good for their image and good for the economy – asking people to submit their ideas for who should receive a portion of 20 million dollars. How it works.
Is this the new way of advertising? How do we create truly new ideas to reach our target audience – ideas that grab as much attention as this Pepsi campaign? It is obvious that in today’s economy, budgets are tight, but even more obvious is that we are inundated with messages everywhere we look. How do you stand out? Start by thinking of a way to CONNECT with your viewer. Think viral. What will your viewers pass on to their friends? This is a time to be creative, I mean REALLY creative, with your dollars – getting the most bang for your buck. Pepsi can feel good about their campaign that funds new libraries, ships feel-good items to our troops, builds playgrounds and so on. That’s new thinking. Creative thinking. How can you bust out of the box?
