What Makes a Good Super Bowl Ad?

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The time has come to celebrate what many consider the peak of American sports entertainment: the Super Bowl. We are about to see the two best teams in the NFL battle for this year’s Lombardi Trophy. For some, the media frenzy and advertising campaigns that air during the game are more entertaining than the game itself. The Super Bowl is one of the most prestigious televised events in North America, and brands are willing to pay to take advantage of the opportunity to reach millions of potential customers. Despite NBCUniversal charging $7 million for a 30-second spot, all of the commercial time was sold out almost two weeks before the game, according to AdWeek. As marketers, we can’t help but think about the ads as we watch the game and analyze how well we think they conveyed their message. However, this begs the question: what makes a good Super Bowl ad, anyway? Let’s explore.

It has to be simple, with a clear brand message.
If a brand is going to be spending millions of dollars for a single 30-second spot, they are going to want to cut through the clutter of the other competing commercials. Ideally, they want the audience to thailand phone number example remember two key things about their ad: the ad concept, and more importantly, the brand behind the ad. Unfortunately, variations of this exact conversation will occur across the country early next week:

“Hey, did you see that funny Super Bowl ad with (insert memorable aspect here)?”
“Yeah, that was great! Who was the brand, I can’t remember?”
”I can’t remember either, was it Tide? Pepsi? Volkswagen? Whoever it was, it was hilarious!”
In this conversation, the brand in question was able to capture the attention of the viewer, but wasn’t ultimately able to cement their name into top-of-mind consideration. Brands often try to throw a bunch of different elements at the viewer to stand out from the competition, but this often works against them. Good brand messages are memorable, clear, and often simple. Here are some examples of successful ads that stayed simple:

Volkswagen was able to create one of the most memorable and legendary Super Bowl ads of the 21st century with just a simple concept. In this 2011 Volkswagen ad, the company was able to incorporate their brand into the endearing ad while making it memorable, sweet, and easy to follow. The ad follows a young child dressed up as Darth Vader from Star Wars, who simply wants to believe they have “the Force.”

Inspired by the statistic that 60% of body wash purchases in households were made by women, Wieden + Kennedy created an ad targeting this audience in a unique way. The 2010 Old Spice ad spawned the “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” advertising campaign, targeting women who want their partners to embody the classic and “manly” smell of Old Spice.