Agency: 72andSunny SPOILER: WINNER! Not sure it’s fair to say that an ad for the NFL can be the winner of them all, but it simply is! Celebrating its 100th anniversary more than 40 current and former NFL Players have come together to make this ad truly stand out showing the passion for the game in all its glory- or should I say messy banquet hall.
Did you watch the big game? Well, let’s get down to business. If you wanted to appear on the big screen at this years LIII Super Bowl you had to put $5 million and up on the table. Hereby CBS was pretty much on the same level in comparison to NBC’s pricing last year.
Homerun for CBS
Apart from all the hype of the most anticipated ads in a year don’t forget to keep an eye on how CBS promoted its network including CBS all Access and Showtime.
Companies are increasingly taking their new brands and products to the big stage
Accomplished, well-known brands take a step further seeing the value in promoting new products. There’s no bigger platform to grab millions of potential customer’s attention that ‘easily’. Basically, it’s guaranteed that people will actively pay attention, not mentioning the social impact. However, such companies can’t make a lightly decision about going into the Super Bowl- in the end it’s a $7 – $10 million outlay. It definitely depends on the product and the creative. This year companies like PepsiCo, Kraft-Heinz and Anheuser-Busch were going for this marketing strategy.
- Kraft-Heinz: Frozen Food Brand Devour
- Anheuser-Busch: Budweiser (Copper Lager), Michelob Ultra (Pure Gold), SpikedSeltzer (Bon & Viv)
PepsiCo – Spotlighting it’s 1 year old water brand Bubly feat. Michael Bublé
Agency: Merkley+Partners
Super Bowl Commercial contenders, who will score a TD?!
Automotive: Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Lexus, Jaguar
Airlines & Travel: Turkish-Airlines, Norwegian Cruise
Food & Beverage: Bud Light, PepsiCo, Pringles, Avocados from Mexico, M&Ms, Bon & Viv, Doritos, Devours, Skittles, Planter, Bubly, Pizza Hut, Budweiser, Burger King, Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra, Planters
Consumer Goods: Colgate, Olay, Persil
Media & Online: T-Mobile, Mint Mobile, Verizon, Bumble, Wix, Hulu, Amazon
Others: TurboTax, SimpliSafe, WeatherTech, Sketchers
Mercedes Benz – Say the Word feat. Ludacris
Agency: Merkley+Partners
This Mercedes ad has not really been mentioned in either the top or the bottom section, but it definitely made it on my top list. It’s just simple, not trying too hard, puts a smile on your face and most importantly brings the message across- own a Mercedes, and get what you actually want.
Amazon – Alexa, Not everything makes the cut
Agency: Lucky Generals
Alexa might not have made the cut in all sorts of products, however Amazon did with their commercial. It was one of the more pleasing ones to watch, probably also because of Harrison Ford’s acting.
Bud Light & Game of Thrones
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5
The genius collaboration of Bud Light and Game of Thrones scored a TD amongst the viewers! The creative twist in the end of the commercial, despite the risky move of having the Bud Knight getting knocked off his horse, turned out to be a huge success. The unexpected crossover with the teasing of the final season of Game of Thrones definitely got everyone talking about it.
Sketchers – Easy feat. Tony Romo
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy, Droga5
Whether you’re a Cowboys fan or not, how can you not like Tony Romo?! – It might not be a smashing commercial but come on “Romo Mode” and that smirk, just pure entertainment!
Given the fact that PepsiCo was an official sponsor of the NFL, which was held in Atlanta- the hometown of Coca Cola- it’s interesting to take a look at them as well.
PepsiCo undeniably had their full branding game on, eg. they put up ads all over Atlanta with slogans like ‘Look who’s in town for Super Bowl LIII’ and ‘Pepsi in Atlanta, how refreshing.’ An extremely witty way to approach the rivalry between those beverage giants.
When it comes to their big Super Bowl ad it’s not quite sure whether the question ‘Is Pepsi OK?’ will be answered with certainty. The commercial is not bad, but it also doesn’t really hit the mark, rather features a mess of celebrities.
What you could also observe was that a lot of companies used cross media marketing extensively to get the most of their ads, spendings, respectively. Basically this is not a new strategy at all, however this omnichannel approach has been extended so that brands started to create a wider story around their messaging. Whether it is an extended ad, short movie, live-stream, online game etc. the viewer is supposed to interact with the brand in a deeper way.
Overall, the commercials this year really tried to stay away from anything controversial or politic and focused on sending across positive messages including climate change, diversity, unity, empowerment and human connection.