As companies make money, they become bigger. As companies become bigger they make more money. It’s a great cycle of capitalism. At some point though, companies become so big they can’t get out of their own way.
I hate when this happens in advertising. A company gets a big break through, or wins an award. Two months later you see a commercial or print layout touting their accomplishment. That’s great, but what happened during those two months that kept this from coming out a month and a half ago? This print layout, I found in Sports Illustrated, from Reebok is a great example of a big company being nimble enough to accept and embrace a quick moving moment that doesn’t come around very often.
It just so happens that in a big football game a couple weeks ago, Santonio Holmes won the game and the MVP award, while wearing a nice, shiny pair of Reeboks. Two weeks later, poof, we have a great print ad depicting a pair of Reeboks making the game winning catch in the biggest game of the year.
This print ad is great. It takes a fantastic moment in sports history, that had very little to do with the shoes he was wearing, and puts the spot light on Reebok.
As an account guy, I appreciate this print ad even more. The simplicity is amazing. You take a still shot that was taken by someone else. Create some great copy to go along with it and ship it out the door. The cost is minimal and the impact is far reaching.
Kudos to Reebok and the agency that created this ad.
So everyone that has an advertising blog is legally obligated to do a recap of the commercials from the Super Bowl. I’m going to be a little different; at least I hope I am. I’m going to give you The Ultimate Account Guy’s most and least favorite commercials from the account guy perspective.
Most Favorite
The commercial that I think did the best job of combining humor and a good cause was the Pedigree adopt a dog commercial. Right from the beginning, they set a comical, yet slightly believable situation. The Rhino running through the door as the woman calls “Rusty” for a walk is perfect. The spot continues to build upon itself with animals that are odd but not so crazy that it’s unbelievable. There wasn’t a lion or tiger, which I really appreciated. The spot closes with a good link between helping a puppy with adoption and bringing joy into your life with that puppy.
Least Favorite
The commercial that I think did the worst job of combining humor and a message that consumers are interested in was the Cars.com “confidence” spot. The spot itself isn’t terrible. It’s a good idea, but there is a disconnect between this ultra smart, self-confident individual and the consumer. I understand that commercials often ask you to suspend disbelief to accept, say a baby talking. But if I’m going to believe that someone as smart and confident as this person, the person who performed open heart surgery with a pen, needs help with confidence in buying a car, there needs to be a bigger pay off from the site. Did the site give him some fact that even the salesmen don’t have?
Now don’t get me wrong. Working in the automotive sector, I know that the buying experience is one of the biggest roadblocks for car manufacturers and dealerships. I just think the character was a little too out there.
What do you think about these two spots? Is my analysis way off? What were your most and least favorite spots?
