The un-falling sky of Super Bowl ads

There are some things that, as Americans, we simply cannot avoid—like bad music made popular by tweens and Christmas advertisements before Halloween. The most unavoidable force, however, has to be the Super Bowl. 

This Sunday, close to a third of the American population will sit down just to watch a football game featuring two of the best quarterbacks in the NFL right now—at least that’s what I would like to think. But I have a feeling that this isn’t going to be a game where many people are going to TiVo past the commercials.

It’s no secret that arguably the biggest draw to the Super Bowl is the commercials, but late in 2009 Pepsi, who had featured a Super Bowl ad the past 23 years, announced they would not be participating this year. This obviously was a big deal, as I said in a previous post of mine, and was the talk of the industry for a while. I even had some of my friends ask me if this was the beginning of the end for Super Bowl ads. 

In this Web 2.0, “get it done yesterday” world we live in, I can see why some people could view this as a commercial apocalypse, but I don’t think it changes anything. People were saying the same thing last year when vendors like Cash for Gold secured spots. Yes, the vendors might change, but that’s nothing new; the show goes on.

While the faces may change, the overall spirit of the Super Bowl stays the same. AdAge’s Tom Denari put it perfectly when he pointed out that this is the one day out of the year that people will actually sit down with the intent of watching commercials. It’s just what we do; we watch the game and then after each commercial airs we lean over to our friend and tell them what we think—it’s the same thing we do after previews at movie theaters.

The Super Bowl has become an American holiday and the commercials have become integrated into its tradition. You wouldn’t want to have a Fourth of July without the fireworks would you? That’s why, no matter how much the Super Bowl changes, as long as it’s still there, advertisements will be right next to it.

A strange turn of events for Apple

The release of Apple’s iPad disappointed me more than the fact that Chick-fil-a is closed on Sundays. I mean, seriously, the keynote and the rumors leading up to the iPad’s announcement were a huge tease. Apple built all of this excitement and hype and they did not deliver; to make matters worse, they came up with a name that people will continuously mock.

As I was watching the live feed of photos and descriptions online, I couldn’t help but wonder when the “Aha!” moment about the iPad would happen. What would make this product so special that people couldn’t live without it? Why would a designer like me have to buy this, when a laptop and iPhone could more than suffice? Well, there wasn’t that moment. So far, all I can decipher is that it’s a cooler version of the Kindle.

However, blogger Mike Rundle makes a valid point that the “iPad is For Everyone But Us”— us being “power users.” Rundle goes on to explain that power users are those that use computers to do their job and pretty much anything else (designers, developers, etc). Many power users misunderstand the intended audience of the iPad. For example, let’s say your roommate is the intended audience; your roommate is the person that only uses their computer to upload their photos from last night, chat on Facebook and glance at their work e-mail. So now, the iPad looks like a great tool for the people who use a computer for these tasks and may want to switch from a PC to an Apple. Aha! The light bulb just clicked — talk about cheaper, smaller, and more convenient overall.

So now my parents, who are technically challenged, can have a mobile computer at their fingertips. Also, since Apple has revolutionized such an “easy to use” interface, they won’t be calling me non-stop for help, and that is always nice.

In addition, I was talking with a friend of mine, who is a developer, who had some thoughts from a business standpoint. He thinks that iPad is a great new platform to build more full-featured applications for the public. Also, he thinks for someone like him the iPad will be a great “toy” — it’s something casual and sleek that he can use to browse the Web at home or in the airport lobby without the hassle of finding a place for his laptop. Aha!

So I’m curious as to what Apple will do in the coming months. How will this platform keep changing and what are the first quarter sales going to be like?

To put another bug in your ear, Apple is considered a “lovemark,” meaning people, no matter how upset they are about the iPad, are still loyal to the brand and still love everything Apple. These consumers have a strong relationship with the Apple brand and will continue to do so — even if they are disappointed with the iPad.

For those that are still pouting, remember, in the words of Rundle “The iPad is not made for you, it’s made for everyone else.” Right now, I’d rather watch Bill and Ted tell me how “Caesar is some salad dressing dude,” because that seems to be better than listening to news and commentary about the iPad.

My first rodeo experience

It was off to the rodeo for me last night, and man was it fun! It was my first time there, and I was impressed. When I first walked in to the stands at Will Rogers Coliseum, it was dark, but loud, with the sound of the MC echoing throughout. It was a major production – there were lights, fireworks and even a woman from Canada doing a handstand on her horse as it trotted along.

I immediately wondered – where do they get the money to put on this show? Granted, our seats were $22 a piece, but then I realized sponsor logos were all over the place. XTO Energy, Lone Star Ag Credit (a GCG client), Justin Boots and Harris Methodist seemed to be the primary sponsors for the night. So, of course, I had to weigh the pros and cons of this marketing strategy, and I decided to share them with you.

1. Awareness, awareness, awareness! The amount of people that see and hear each company’s name is remarkable (I’m assuming the sponsors remain for the entire rodeo.)

2.  Targeted marketing – this one can be a pro and con because on one hand you’re able to reach your target market all in one place (i.e. Justin Boots and Lone Star Ag Credit), but on the other hand you could be spending a lot of money simply to be reaching one of your target markets (i.e. XTO Energy and Harris Methodist).

3. There is a lack of messaging for each company. Thankfully these four companies are Fort Worth-based or so widely known that key messaging isn’t really needed, but if another company were to come in and sponsor, people may not recognize it.

Those are just a few things I noticed from the rodeo last night. If you haven’t gone yet or just want to go again, go online and see the schedule of events at www.fwssr.com. Have fun!

Mad Men in the real world

Have you ever watched AMC’s Mad Men? Well, I hadn’t before last Thursday night, but I’m definitely going to get it programmed into my DVR now. I had the opportunity to meet Matthew Weiner, the show’s creator, executive producer and head writer at an AAF event last week.

Mad Men is set in New York during the 1960s and follows the lives of “the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell.”

The series recently won a Golden Globe and has a stable of stars, including Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss and John Slattery.

After listening to Weiner speak, I realized just how important, and similar, the creative process is in both the advertising and television. Weiner talked about how he gets his story ideas — it was simply through the experiences he and colleagues have in the world around them. That process is surprisingly familiar as I watch our graphic designers and copywriters come up with ideas.

I also caught another fascinating comment Weiner made — he said the TV show was more about life in general than it was advertising. I realized that, just like advertising, the message is 100 percent in the eye of the beholder. When one person sees one thing, another can see the exact opposite. That’s one of those anomalies that make advertising such an interesting industry – you’re always trying to send out a message that you hope at least one person will actually get.

Thanks Matthew for coming to Fort Worth. It was a real pleasure.

Celebrate your creativity!

Earlier this week, I learned that January is International Creativity Month, and being as how I work at a place that has a whole department dedicated to creativity, I felt like I should bring this to light.

Creativity is arguably the most subjective thing the world has to offer. What is creative to one person could be meaningless to another — this is why the critic exists. However, there is something about creativity that I feel can be universally agreed upon: everyone needs some form of creative outlet.

Creativity keeps our minds active and simply makes life more fun. What you do doesn’t matter; you can write a story, make an existing recipe your own or even invent a new drinking game ­— the avenues are endless.

So keep that in mind for the rest of this month. Add a little creativity to your day and see where it takes you.

To celebrate International Creativity Month, I have put together some of my favorite examples of creative outdoor advertising. My gift to you.