How Super Bowl LII can teach you to be a better Marketer
Super Bowl has come and gone, here’s the lessons it’s commercials have left behind in 2018
Did you know, 1 in 4 Super Bowl viewers were watching purely for the commercials?
This year, a 30 second ad cost on average 5 million dollars.
That makes the price per second for a 2018 commercial: $168,333.
Now we both know that Super Bowl advertisements climb up into the millions…after all, it’s the Super Bowl. The scary thing is, most of that money got flushed down the toilet. 80% of Super Bowl commercials don’t boost sales.
W T H ?
But what if I told you, there was a better way? Imagine if you could make a better advertisement without a crazy budget and hit more people than a Super Bowl AND boost sales?
In this article we’re going to:
- Find out where to spend your ad dollars in 2018
- Learn how to make your advertisement a success
- How to hit 100+ million people without spending 5 million dollars
Why Super Bowl Commercials LOSE the Big Game!
Every year, millions of Americans gather in front of their televisions to watch the biggest sporting event of the year: the SUPER BOWL. But it turns out that a huge portion of these people are only watching for the commercials!
WHY?!
Do they actually get people to buy anything??
Using real data, MatPat from the Film Theorists set out to discover just that!
The results are quite entertaining…Using science, Film Theory proves that these ads DON’T WORK, and reveal how to make the BEST SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS!
The ultimate answer to how to create the best Super Bowl commercial is…
You don’t.
Sure, you could shell out five million dollars; sell that new snack item, add a cute animal, shove something funny into the second half and then cross your fingers that the masses:
a) are watching
b) don’t hate your ad
c) no one else is selling a similar productor you just spend that 5 million dollars somewhere else.
Because here’s the thing — making a Super Bowl ad is the biggest gamble of the game. -MatPat, Film Theory
So what should you do with a 5 million dollar ad budget?
I’m sure if you just had a budget of $168k you would have better ways of spending that money. But let’s imagine you had the 5 million…where would your dollar stretch the farthest?
YouTube
Right now the going median rate of a YouTube ad is only $0.20 per view. If you wanted to hit 100Million viewers like the Super Bowl, its going cost you $20,000
These ads can also be targeted, you have the ability to control WHO watches your video.
You are able to make sure that they WILL be watching your video. YouTube calls these TrueView ads for this reason. With a TrueView ad your audience has to watch the advertisement in order to watch the video that they came for on YouTube.
Even if they waited the 5 seconds to click “skip” at least you got 5 seconds of their attention.
The 6 Second Challenge
The best video ads not only grab attention. The best ads quickly and clearly communicate the most important information…leaving you wanting more.
This is true of all platforms. No matter what video advertising service you use, the rules stay the same. Even on Facebook, videos have a significant drop-off starting at the 6 second mark.
In order to beat the 6 Second Challenge you’ll need to:
- Spark your audience’s curiosity
- Clearly communicate why they NEED to keep watching
Spark Curiosity
If you waste this time with displaying a logo, or a generic video opener…you’ve lost your audience’s curiosity. Don’t waste their time.
Think of first few seconds of your ad like a movie poster or an irresistible movie trailer. Your going to want to show the MOST interesting thing first (very briefly) to wet the appetite of your viewer.
Why do trailers show the action packed clip of a guy running off a cliff from a dinosaur in the first 2–3 seconds?
They are trying to get you to wake up, and pay attention.
*CRUNCH*
The crispy sound of the Dorito is heard, and a fireplace grows in a dimly lit hallway.
If you have a product or service, I would immediately show the PROBLEM your solution is able to fix. Add some dramatic flair, make the audience re-live their pain…only for a few seconds though.
Keep Paying Attention
Now that you have got their eyeballs on the screen you have to keep them there. This is perhaps the hardest part for a marketer. But it can be easy for you.
Why did the guy jump off the cliff? The plot thickens…This is where a commercial starts to pitch you WHAT they are offering.
*BOOM*
The fireplace booms in the background, theres fire everywhere, Peter Dinklage starts spitting rhymes like a rap god. You don’t know whats going on, but you are hooked!
For your product or service, you’re going to want to show your solution in action. Immediately begin to show your customer how you alleviate the pain they felt in the first 3 seconds.
Keep inviting the audience to watch a little longer past the 6 second mark. After your audience has stayed with you for 6 seconds, you can start showing them how this is going to change their life, make them better…and ultimately call them to action.
#Spitfire
Peter Dinklage ends his sick rhymes. Stares at the camera, and exhales a plume of fire. Suddenly you get it…these are spicy Doritos!
Which Super Bowl ads got it right?
Learning from marketers with ridiculously big budgets is like hearing a cautionary tale.
You can learn what not to do very quickly.
But you can also learn from the ones who did things really well! Using the 6 Second Challenge as a way to measure effectiveness that you want to emulate, lets look at some of the better ads of 2018.
What Wix did right:
First 3 seconds:
“With Wix you can make really amazing websites for anything you want.”
In the first 3 seconds, Wix went straight into describing what it had to offer with clarity. You can make amazing websites.
Next 3 seconds:
“Check out all these templates, there are hundreds of them”
Showing you the CTA button, START TODAY the final 3 seconds Wix decided to follow up with a promise of ease of use by displaying all the templates you can use. They all look really great. It shows me I don’t have to put too much effort to get a good design.
They follow up this promise by inviting you immediately into the rest of the ad, by slowing it down a bit and saying “I — like — this-one”
They then proceed to show you how easy it is to use the Wix platform.
What Jeep did right:
First 3 seconds:
There is a giant footprint in the mud. You see in the reflection of Jeff Goldblum’s face in a puddle of water within the footprint.The water ripples. Something is coming. Jeff is seen on the back of a Jeep in the iconic scene from Jurassic Park.
“We gotta get out of here!”
Next 3 seconds:
“Must go faster” the Jeep speeds away right before you see the T-Rex that is chasing it.
Now this looks like an ad for Jurassic Park, but it’s not…but they keep the audience interested long enough to see what happens. Kind of a nostalgia gamble, but it has thrown you right into action.
10 seconds in we see Jeff now behind the wheel instead of terrified in the back…he looks confident now.
Features of the Jeep are represented with problems represented as the T-Rex. Can’t see “Rexy” in the rearview because its muddy? Use the back windshield wiper that is able to remove mud.
The ad ends with him chasing the dinosaur instead, the roles are reversed.
“How do you like it now my friend?”
Jeff is now chasing danger in his Jeep.
And of course…the Dorito Ad
What I loved about this was the very end, they did a unique twist. What do you do after your mouth is on fire? You drink this new icy cold refreshing beverage. They met a need with a solution. Brilliant!
What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial and why?
Let me know in the comments below!
