All Posts, Branding, Marketing
The power might have gone out in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome for about 30 minutes but that didn’t slow down the momentum of 2013’s NFL Super Bowl XLVII powerhouse marketing commercials for this highly anticipated event. Yes indeed – the business of the NFL Super Bowl is big business for the marketing and advertising world. Anyone from car manufacturers to soft drink brands and celebrities alike want to capitalize on the most widely televised and watched American broadcast event. So although not a huge football fan, I couldn’t resist witnessing the branding and advertising giants go head-to-head in one of televisions most highly anticipated sporting event.
As highly anticipated as this years Super Bowl XLVII is, it’s got some benchmarks to surpass based on last years numbers. According to the International Business Times, “Super Bowl XLVI (2012) was the most-watched television event in American history.” Check out this cool Super Bowl infographic created by Nielsen reflecting how much consumer exposure there is to the event as well as the marketing and advertising opportunity derived from this volume of viewership.
Despite the exposure upside of the jaw-dropping amount of people tuning in, equally jolting t a hefty price tag that viewership for Sundays event comes with. The price of a 30-second 2013 Super Bowl advertisement was $3.8 million and a whopping $7.5 million for a 60-second commercial spot. Needless to say there is big money coming from fat wallets to make you move, groove and laugh all they way to the brand loyalty bank.
Several talented advertising agencies and internal marketing departments pushed the envelope and some emotional buttons as power brands caused us to laugh, feel sentimental and gave us lots of eye-candy in these coveted commercial spots. Let’s see who ranks MVP among marketing genius with innovative concepts and content.
Game Time Advertisers – The Most Valuable Players
Get Happy with Volkswagen! You can’t help but to smile and even crack up thanks to Volkswagen’s innovative and fun commercial during this years Super Bowl. Their marketing team scores big points with the release of several teaser ads leading into their game day ad and a campaign that actually has some longevity thanks to branding not just the concept but downloadable music as well!
Coca Cola gets the most sentimental and socially conscious MVP award with their Give A Little Bit “Security Camera” Super Bowl ad. It reminds us that despite horrific school shootings and self-centered “team me” mentality, there remains quietly kind humanity across our globe. This ad will surely be one of the most memorable ads for me and many others.
Equally moving is Jeep’s “Whole Again” ad reflecting our nation’s wartime heroes, family values and unwavering perseverance all to the powerhouse voice of Oprah Winfrey. A smart move in the wake of our country’s wartime to reflect patriotism from one of America’s most well known brands – kudos Jeep!
Talk about guts for God’s glory! Dodge Ram unapologetically campaigned for brand loyalty with their Guts & Glory ad celebrating God and the life of the hardworking farmer.
The Songstress & The Scintillating Siren
Alicia Keys gave an elegant and jazzy rendition of the National Anthem that gives this Queen of the Ivory’s the bragging rights of having one of the longest renditions ever at 1 minute, 56 seconds.
The much-anticipated Super Bowl Halftime Show left not just the crowd, but I’m sure many of the football players, swooning as Beyoncé brought her A game with a high-energy, sexy & gyrating performance this year.
Post Game Winner
It’s not just the pre-game teasers and during the game advertising where brand giants coveted consumer face time. Some companies were smart enough to leverage marketing oppotunities even for the team that lost. Check out this unexpected and funny ad from Jello Pudding products for San Francisco.
The Touchdown
So whether it was the funny commercials or the super sexy Super Bowl Halftime show, this years Super Bowl XLVII revealed great sportsmanship as well as great branding efforts. Stay tuned next week when I discuss the impact of Super Bowl XLVII on Twitter and Facebook and how brands leveraged these mega social media outlets to their advantage.
All Posts, Branding, Events, Marketing, Social Media
There are over one billion people on Facebook.
Just about everyone on the planet knows that Facebook has become the go-to media strategy for business promotion. Using Facebook provides businesses one of the best opportunities on the Internet for targeted advertising. This is key because Facebook users provide pertinent information such as their age, gender, location and interests, which allows you direct access to target your audience. These Facebook ads can be used for lead generation, traditional brand advertising, and more all to promote your business – FOR FREE! Here are just a few ways to leverage Facebook advertisements for your business.
1st – Know How It Works – When you run your ad or sponsored posts/stories you are charged for the number of impressions (CPM) or clicks it receives. The amount that you pay can be restricted by your daily or lifetime budget and there are no additional fees associated with running ads or sponsored stories on Facebook. Facebook suggests you name your campaign, select your budget and set the time schedule for running your ad. When multiple ads are running in a campaign, Facebook automatically allocates more of your daily budget to higher performing ads. You can use the Ads Manager feature to monitor your campaigns performance, to measure its success and ultimately determine if you are spending your Facebook advertising $’s in the best way possible.
2nd – Consider Psychographics vs. Demographics in the Setup – Psychographics study and measure attitudes, values, lifestyles, and opinions versus demographics, which provide quantitative data based on geography, age, gender and the like. Psychographics give a true, life-like portrait of the targeted audience and consumer base for your individualized marketing purposes. Facebook gathering this key information allows advertisers to target & pinpoint their audience in a very precise and henceforth successful way.
3rd – Always Use Effective, Eye-Catching Tools & Creative Options – We know that we “eat” with our eyes first. What catches our attention through imagery certainly opens the door leading us to the relevant information. So smart use of imagery in your Facebook ad will make a significant impact on the success of the advertising and marketing campaign. And there are various forms of these eye-catching options to consider.
- Infographics are a great way to grab the reader’s attention especially when you add imbedded links to your page to promote key information about a product or service being provided.
- Video Ads – For those who prefer to watch than read, video ads are a great way to convey pertinent healthcare information or solicitations to the masses. For example, there are sports companies like Nike that use ads like Nike’s Football: The Vapor Trail to create amazing & captivating video ads to entice their target audience and promote their products.
- Job Opportunities – In need of more sales associates or another CPA for your growing accounting firm? With over 1 billions people on Facebook, it is no brainer to use ad space to market career opportunities within your business.
- Free Services & Apps – Nothing attracts new customers like the words FREE and even more so when they can actually obtain something. What better way to entice a consumer than offering a limited service for free? What about creating engagement via a free app offer as you lead consumers to your own website. Use Facebook the way Facebook uses you – to get new subscribers i.e. new consumers.
- Emotional Response Ads – Emotions are one of the most powerful influences we have. Emotional Response Marketing & Advertising works wonders in the various forums such as healthcare because there are emotional attachments to health concerns, issues and supportive causes such as Shriner’s Hospital Love to the Rescue.
- Hosted Event Ads – Events promoted on Facebook have a greater chance of success than any traditional marketing method. Business exhibitions and conferences, trainings, and career events can have a much higher participatory turnout when advertised through Facebook.
So are Facebook advertisements worthwhile for your business and particular industry? Only you know who your general audience is comprised of. But if there are more than 50% that you believe are online and use Social Media – than the answer is YES. Especially if you look at the IMMENSE EXPOSURE opportunity versus the amount of money spent on the campaign. Using Facebook creates unlimited opportunities to attain new customers, host successful events and bring global awareness to your company’s product or service. 
Web Design
Every common website, whether it be a business owner, freelancer, writer, blogger, or non-profit has “space” on their website. And by “space” I mean those blank zones on various pages of a website with no content. These areas are ideal for affiliate links, banners, ads, newsletter sign-ups, and more. Why is this important for you? It is important because these types on content can help generate more traffic to your site while also improving your site’s SEO (search engine optimization) for better ranking.
Take our site for example. We have affiliate links on most of our pages with other businesses both local and abroad. There is a method to which links, ads, or banners we promote on our site. You never want to litter your lawn with junk mail or trash, and the same theory goes for your website.
I won’t say that it is easy to make a lot of money selling ad space, or easy to get ads from major named brands; but that would be a nice goal. If you’re just starting out, you may want to consider selling space to local businesses or existing clients you already have or know. This is a great way to build more traffic for each site with reciprocated links. When applying for CPC (cost per click) or CPM (cost per impression) programs be sure to fully understand the fine print and what you’re getting into. Google Adsense is a great start for newbies and after you reach the $100.00 threshold you are eligible for a check.
You also can just get creative with your extra space in various other ways like using search boxes, recent client images, award pictures and such. The one thing you want to try and do is be consistent with your ads and links. Like the text in each of your pages that describes the services or products your provide; your ads and links should be somewhat similar to your line of work or industry.
Alicia Keys gave an elegant and jazzy rendition of the National Anthem that gives this Queen of the Ivory’s the bragging rights of having one of the longest renditions ever at 1 minute, 56 seconds.
