Few events in our culture generate as much discussion about brands as the annual advertising showcase on the Big Game. But PR should be as excited as their advertising
counterparts--and should play a big role in creating a strategy that maximizes the impact of the investment.
PR can make or break the ROI of a Super Bowl ad. Even with an audience of 90 million viewers, it's hard to justify the most expensive 30-second commercial time of the year on
traditional advertising criteria alone. Based on research and analysis of the media coverage and consumer discussion around last year's advertisers, here are two critical roles
that PR should play.
*Earn Coverage Before the Game to Drive Discussion After the Game: Marketers always try to generate coverage about their ad to increase the impact, but almost half of the 40
advertisers failed to drive any significant amount of buzz. They need PR's help to find the hook, craft the pitch and make a compelling story to the many journalists writing pre-
game stories about Super Bowl ads.
While media coverage before the game is important for its ability to increase the brand's reach, more important is the fact that this coverage catalyzes the consumer discussion
after the game.
Consider the following segmentation of advertisers based on how early they announced their participation in the Super Bowl, as compared to their levels of media coverage and
consumer discussion. Here are two highlights:
-
Brands that announced before January 15th got 10 times the coverage and discussion as those who announced in the final week before the game.
-
The top six brands in pre-game media coverage remained among the top seven brands in post-game consumer discussion.
While it is not too late to gain some coverage, ideally PR should be brought in on the earliest stages of planning. PR pros should counsel their advertising colleagues on
enhancing the campaign idea to provide newsworthy stories; staying in tune with the ad development to uncover behind-the-scenes stories; and bringing the ideas to key journalists
well ahead of the game.
Doritos was the PR MVP in 2007. Their "Crash the Super Bowl" consumer-created ad contest vaulted the brand to the top spot in pre-game media coverage for the first two weeks of
January and generated over 40 million traditional media impressions before the coin toss. They finished third in overall coverage, behind only Budweiser and Snickers.
*Prepare a Crisis Plan: The audience expects breakthrough advertising, and brands oblige with edgy, push-the-envelope creative that risks crossing the line into offending
segments of the audience. It is not PR's job to veto creative, but their advance assessment of potential risks and preparation of an appropriate response can help rescue the
investment if things go wrong.
Here is an analysis of three ads which crossed the line into full-blown controversies:
-
Nationwide's ad that offended the National Restaurant Association for what it perceived as an insulting depiction of fast-food workers. The flap ended up driving more
positive discussion about Nationwide because consumers thought the ad was amusing and the association's complaint frivolous.
-
GM's ad in which a factory robot dreams of jumping off a bridge after being fired raised concerns among anti-suicide groups for making light of this serious condition. GM's
apology and revision of the ad played well in traditional media, but not consumer discussion; consumers criticized GM for its insensitivity to its workers.
-
Snickers' "Mechanics Kissing" ad that angered gay rights groups. While some consumers came to Snickers' defense, the divisiveness of the ad was not beneficial for the
brand.
In each case, the PR team was no doubt pulled in to fight the fire. But with last year's examples demonstrating the potential for a crisis to erupt, PR should work with their
brand colleagues now to assess the possible sources of controversy and create a response strategy. The course of these controversies is unpredictable and advance planning is
essential to provide a foundation to respond effectively and flexibly as the situation unfolds.
Just as the kicking squad's late-game field goal can make the difference between winning and losing, PR's partnership can turn a marginal Super Bowl investment into a positive
ROI. PRN
CONTACT:
This article was written by Jim Nail, chief strategy & marketing officer, Cymfony (a TNS Media Intelligence company). He can be reached at [email protected].