Here we go again! Numerous websites talking about the buzz generated by the Super Bowl commercials, but almost nobody talking about the connection between buzz and sales. In case you forgot advertising is supposed to generate sales.
I tell clients that if I had the money they spent on one Super Bowl spot I could move the needle where it counts; in their balance sheet. This year’s crop of Super Bowl commercials told me two things:
1ne: Creative people at ad agencies are in short supply.
2wo: Brand marketers are lost.
Consider the new product offered by Pepsi called Life Wtr. Since I use electrolyte beverages during my bike ride I wanted to better understand what their products contained. First, I Googled Life Water and went to a competitors site, and when I finally found the right site it was more about the artists’ drawings than about the product. I’ll stick with my current product thank you.
What is really sad is how all the “social media experts have all but disappeared. Some are still active and trying to promote their own brands and some are even speaking at industry conferences to inflate their egos.
Advertising is supposed to create demand for your product via awareness, but this years commercial clearly shows that advertisers are trying both to stay relevant and have bought into the myth of buzz and having a highly rated commercial so they can pat themselves on the back. Executives should not fall into the trap of having a highly rated commercial, but should look at the sales figures and ask “what did it do for demand?”.
