(You know we mean it because we have a nice shiny "contact us" button)
For many of us, the Super Bowl is a few hours of top-notch commercials interrupted periodically by large men in helmets and shiny tights playing some sort of a game with an oblong ball. As usual, there were lots of entertaining commercials along with some big missteps (I'm talking to you, Go Daddy). But there were also some anomalies that deserve a closer look.
First off, where was Pepsi? Pepsi has been shilling their fizzy cola during the Super Bowl since 1987, but this year they decided to take a new approach. According to their spokesperson, they are taking their television dollars and focusing them on a new online effort.
Nicole Bradley from Pepsi's marketing department explained the reasons behind the move to the Associated Press in December:
"In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event and more about a movement."
To me, that's significant. Pepsi is working toward a movement instead of just an advertising campaign. It makes perfect sense then that they are turning to Internet marketing as opposed to traditional television advertising. Normally, a 30-second ad during the Super Bowl will cost about $3 million. For the cost of about three and a half minutes of high-priced air time, Pepsi is putting $20 million toward a community initiative called "Pepsi Refresh."
At Pepsi Refresh Project, you can propose community projects and vote on which one is the most worthy of funding. It's a brilliant strategy of creating a branded movement that actually affects peoples lives. Compare that to a few minutes of air time and a meaningless celebrity endorsement. Good call Pepsi.
But not everyone was leaving Super Bowl advertising to focus their efforts on the web. Google, the grand-daddy of all web advertisers, decided to go the opposite direction and buy air time during the big game. It was an ingenious 30-second spot that I thought was one of the best of the night. The question is why? Didn't Google have better things to do, like Pepsi?
Derek Thompson at The Atlantic offers some insight into their reasoning. With the increase of mobile traffic and rumors that the iPhone might make Bing it's default search engine, Google wanted to stay on the top of everyone's minds and fingertips.
He added, "In addition, I'll bet Google wanted to take a shot at Microsoft, with an ad that said: We know you can launch a $100 million marketing campaign for Bing, but we can make the whole world talk (and maybe also cry) with one $3 million ad in the most high-profile TV event of the year."
Did they succeed? You tell me.
The open house was a huge success. Our office was packed, the food was great, and the conversation was scintillating. If you missed it, here are some videos of the event and the ribbon cutting. In about an hour we’ll have some video up of the drawing for $1,000 worth of free advertising. (I already know who won, but you’ll have to wait for the video.)
Thanks again to everyone who stopped by today. We had a blast.
Ribbon Cuttin’ and Speechifyin’
Prize Drawing
OK, the last few blog posts have been dedicated to open house stuff. We’ll get back to the exciting world of search engine optimization, social media, web design, video production and branding soon enough. But first, three more reasons to be at our open house on Friday, Oct. 23 at noon:
We put together a new commercial to run in movie theaters, television, and online. We’re pretty proud of it. Check it out:
Wanna be friends?